DJ Alex Corton – Good Looking Records

Good Looking Records / Progression Sessions

Progression Sessions Volume 1 – 10 – LTJ Bukem, Blame, Makoto featuring MC Conrad & DRS

1998 – 2004

For our final review from the collection (series) of CD’s on my shelf, we come to one of the most defining and musically historic mix series’ of the genre. One almost has to place this into an extension outside the drum and bass world in fact and into the greater appreciation of all electronic music. Greater still, all music.

    In 1998, LTJ Bukem & MC Conrad had already established themselves as the master story tellers and exceptionally talented combo that had graced our scene for a number of years prior. By ‘98, the duo had already provided us with faultless mixes and performances in a way that not only showed a telepathic connection between the two, but moments that deeply connected the listener to the fluid and unique way of composing the perfect voyage through the creations that you had in your head, and then some you never knew about. The journey in this series catches the Bukem & Conrad partnership to start things off, with full afterburners on, cracking the air with pure atmospheric bliss. Each release in this series has one CD with an MC and one instrumental mix, which at times seems odd, as listening to the instrumentals on many of the early Progression Sessions CDs finds you ending up with Conrad’s or DRS’s lyrics in your head anyway! We do have Deeizm on MC duties for Progression Sessions 9 too. 

   Propeller Design is the studio behind the work on Progression Sessions 1 – 2. I’m not sure who the design team are on Progression Sessions 3. Nick Purser takes over the design on, Progression Sessions 4, 5 and 7

Ben Brewis, from Firesnake and Gareth Jones work up the design on Progression Sessions 9 and it was Ben who continued on with the last Progression Sessions release where the ZYX Music took up the joint operations of distribution, for the then struggling GLR label. 

    A guy who’s never far away from the master journeymen, is Conrad Blame. A producer who was such a key player in GLR’s history. I seem to remember this mix was cutting it fine on time, I seem to recall? It was due to be finalized for its release and the day before it was due, Blame was still getting the mix done. At least I think it was this one, or was that Log Prog 2..? Brain malfunction probability is high here.. 

  Blame is up for the Progression Sessions 2, and he is joined by the talented MC DRS, Delroy Pottinger. The blend of Blames futuristic sounds and DRS’s voice connect superbly on this mix. It’s one that I go to a lot and we are witness to not only the edge of time that Blame seems to be light years ahead with, but also the craftsmanship of Blame’s mix with the 9 tracks on here. It really is a highlight of the series. 

  Progression Sessions 3, 4 and 5 continue Bukem’s studio mixes with Conrad on PS 4 and both Conrad and DRS on 3 & 5. The first of the live sessions hit on PS 6 in America (at The Roxy in Boston), as the series covers the countries of the U.K (At The End, in London), Japan (at Liquid Room in Shinjuku in Tokyo), and Germany (at Muffathalle in Munich), during the now worldly, Progression Sessions tours. 

   I could go on about the tracks involved with these releases, but it’s basically a lot of the released music on Good Looking and the sub labels, up until Progression Sessions 10, where the flow of tunes was basically only about 1/3 Good Looking Records tracks. The journeys speak for themselves and hold a firm place in the world of drum and bass as legendary. 

   I’m leaving the floor open now for a little vote on your favorite Progression Sessions in the series? If I had to pick, it would probably be out of the third, fourth and fifth personally (4-3-5 in that order). Which ones are your top 3, and why?

  Tomorrow we have one CD to review as it’s a compilation of music from 2002. Then we move onto a sneaky little series on Good Looking Records before finalizing the label with a couple more LP’s.