DJ Alex Corton – Good Looking Records

Good Looking Records

Source Direct – Secret Liaison / Complexities

1996

If you remember the end of yesterday’s review, we mentioned how much further this label could go in terms of the level of music. I think today we will hit a mark that finds an extra few feet on top of the highest summit. Not only that, it still stands (in many peoples view), as an unbeaten height within the world of jungle and drum and bass. 

   When the people of the underground look at ‘the best Jungle / drum and bass tune of all time’ it’s usually ‘Secret Liaison’ that features in the top three at least. I’m not saying it’s everyone’s vote, just that it quite rightly sits in a unique league of its own. The thing for me that makes this deserve a place in the higher levels of recognition is also ‘Complexities’ on the other side, which is criminally overlooked by many. Now, ‘Secret Liaison’ probably ranks in my own ranking of Source Direct, as number 4 or 5. However as a 12” on the whole it’s up there with the very best. 

  I picked this up at Record Basement (no surprises), and from that day on, this plate has been battered in as many sets as I could. It’s in great condition still, which comes down to my snooker referee handling of the necessary, as I do care about the vinyl I have. I was also extremely glad thot both inlay sheets were included with this promo, so the photos of those you can see posted here. Funnily enough it has (GLR 0015) on the inlay sheet. They had visions of reaching a large number of releases there didn’t they? Ha ha! 

   Jim Baker and Phil Aslett (the latter departed the collaboration later), had been gifting us tracks like ‘Shimmer, Approach & Identify, Snake Style, A Made Up Sound and then their Oblivion tracks, among many other mind blowing pieces of music, leading up to this crème de la crème of a release in 1996. It seemed to take all the skills, the production and the creativity and patch it together for the ultimate Source Direct experience. 

     Secret Liasion’ on Side A defibrillates us from the moment the needle hits the valley of the vinyl groove and hits those cinematic tensions of the intro. You are locked into a state of fright and flight simultaneously, because you can’t move, but want to tell the world what you are experiencing, at the same time. The chimes, the tapping high hat, and that constant, high pitched spine chilling chord that slices across your brain has you gripping the arms of your sweat soaked chair, grinding muscles and twisting ligaments in one of the most resonating intros to any tune. Once the tune glides onto the bar prior to the breaks it’s just enough to make you close your eyes, breathe in and prepare to encounter a moment that stops your lungs functioning and then all hell breaks mushroom clouds into your face. 

Fucking…

WHAM!

   Source Direct had already proved their mastery of beat editing in a number of their tracks, however when this hits you, the full force of those beats and how microscopically manufactured and attentive each fucking sound is placed, you feel like you have a crown on your head hearing it. ‘Secret Liaison’ has the power and finesse to supply electricity to people in distant galaxies, while commanding a PhD in electronic engineering with music. It really is the Rolls Royce of jungle, and while it may not grab you with a catchy riff, or have vocals (well apart from someone seemingly saying “hello?”) or dolphin noises, this is designed to showcase the Source Direct boys and how fucking light years they were ahead of the game. Many techniques of theirs began with Rupert ‘Photek’ Parkes back in the Cert 18 days, but once they harnessed the tools, and then started releasing on their own label, the tricks, mastery and creativity flourished. They really were the two back wheels of the Reliant Robin (Rolls Royce powered, or rather it was BMW M3s for them two), following Photek. 

    The number of times that ‘Secret Liaison’ gets posted will never dampen the mammoth reaction this tune gets. In polls of the best ever, some just say “not including ‘Secret Liaison’” as it’s always going to bribe the judges to victory, and there’s not much that can stop it. As if the hurricane of beats and sonic booms of cranial smashing bass weren’t enough, the piano cascade and the subtle way the breakdown injects an IV of classic horror into play is pure genius. Remember the breakdown extends into the beats for that half bar silence prior to the beats returning, so cue up at the silence (if needed). Or, wait and just leave the headphones off, take the next record off too, turn it up louder and then listen to the rest of the tune. Following on with the next track after this is like taking the perfect painting and adding more to it. It’s not designed to be changed. It designed to be adored, honored and worshipped as one of the finest pieces of jungle, or drum and bass ever made. The true Junglists choice. Flame grilled, but forever leaking the raw flavors of true taste bud overload. 

    Side AA took a back seat for many when this was released. Like many tunes though, it seems to have made the tree rings of time vanish and ‘Complexities’ for me stands as a Medal of Honor in the catalogue of Source Direct. It has not only the darker, thriller compacted elements, but also that jazz burst and dynamic thrust of platinum detailed beats, simple effective bass and again, harnesses the climax of their work through the years so far. It was an also an amazing thing for the label, to have tunes that sat as a little out of orbit with the previous releases, opening doors to the labels mission for thoughtful, but also broadened spectrum of possibilities. ‘Complexities’ is a fucking killer track, that holds more and more admiration and respect the older it gets. It sounds incredible, and full of life which places this tune, on this release, with Side A as the ultimate in sound, in the glass case for all those ahead of us who need to study this plate. The history books have always taught us about a past. This one is permanently in our present and forever in our future too. 

   This release seemed to be one that finalized a period of Source Direct before they turned their attention to a really dark and nerve cutting edge with their Hokusai, Exorcise The Demon age. It marked a stage where they’d gone to the edge of the capabilities and now they could focus on other projects, which continued excellence but led eventually to the dead end and split in the partnership. 

   Jim ‘Source Direct’ is back in the studio, so hopefully we’ll have something new from him soon. Plenty more Source Direct coming up too, however this is their only release on Good Looking. It’s onward with the Good Looking label, so tomorrow we start the conveyer belt up again and find a suitcase we recognize for a third time on this magnificent label. 

Good Looking Records

The Chameleon (Featuring Kirsty & Isla) – Links / Just Close Your Eyes & Listen

1995

As we trek further into the hive of Good Looking Records, we remain in 1995 and swerve toward the summer of that year, with today’s priceless 12” release from The Chameleon. 

   The Chameleon was a one off project from Tom Middleton & Mark Pritchard, who we reviewed independently on The Beloved’s – ‘Sun Is Rising’ and Mark’s work on Droppin’ Science as Harmonic 33 and Use Of Weapons. His work with Chaos & Julia Set and with Tom, as Global Communication needs no further proof on their dedicated and talented ways. To have them release this perfect duo of tracks was a glimpse of just how impressive their skills are. One side has a rhythmic carnival of ideas that move you with nourishing tropics and one of the most famous samples in the deeper side drum and bass, while the other side opens up the windows in you mind to a sunshine that casts rays of eternal warmth and happiness. The two vocalists credited with this are Kirsty & Isla. Kirsty is Mrs. Adam F, Kirsty Hawkshaw, who lent her talents to an abundance of electronic acts, and it’s on Side AA that we get her unique voice. Not sure what happened to Isla though. 

   Side A was the tune that had me from the very first radio interference noises. I was intrigued, and vacuumed into the quest to hear where this was heading. Then we have that quote. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…life moves pretty faaast. You don’t stop and look around once it while.. you could miss it” (Ferris Bueller – 1986). What follows from this is a journey through crowds of assorted percussion, golden piped plumbing, with a few circuit board drops seeping though for that urban life essence, along with a mix of vocals and bass that create this tank, packed with variety and depth. ‘Links’ is a presentation of art that moved the boundaries of the scene we were in and experimented through a lens that no one else could do in quite this way. It not only showed how majestic and elegant music like the could sound, it also broke a mold in my view, by stepping into a world of abstract and worldly acceptance. This was a tune that connected with people from outside the UK dance music scene and lights were coming on in places that were suddenly hearing these incredible sounds. It was not only enriching, but fresh and clean. I think even Bukem realized that this release had a calibre that made him pinch himself that this was on his label. We’ve covered so many executive tunes on this label. ‘Links’ just pushed out the boat further more, and stitched another pocket in this Good Looking coat of history. Those beats at the end of this track just add to the fucking perfection of this tune. Untainted lessons in real music. 

    Side AA I first heard Bukem play on his Kiss FM show on April 10th, 1995. ‘Just Close Your Eyes & Listen’ had a movement within it that lifted you away from the darkness, the clouds, and the negativity with ease. You just feel happy listening to this tune. The tune itself is another beautiful beat workout, but check the bass line out in this tune. It’s like nothing else. The vocals make the tune feel more like a love story with the sunbeams streaking across the sky onto your face. If you could bottle up the goodness gained from this piece of music, it would need reinforced glass. The Chameleon boys have given not just Good Looking, but the atmospheric drum and bass world, a 12” piece of music that you could play to anyone, anywhere and to me, and this release proved that this label was more than just a label distributing full on dance floor classics. It was music given to the people of the world and Bukem was taking this ship through another zone of appreciation. 

   On a side note, it was great to hear that Peshay’s fight was successful, in getting his 1996 studio set mix back without hiccups after the whole debacle over ‘Links’. People taking work as their own, when you have the history of this music, experienced by so many of us who are like…”excuse me?” Just farcical, and I know it doesn’t end there. One small step and all that..

   The status of GLR was not slowing, not dipping, just soaring higher and higher. You had to wonder just how much further could this label go, pushing this mass of pure brilliance. Well, we’re about to find out and It’s not a surprise that more was to follow.

Good Looking Records

Aquarius & Tayla – Bringing Me Down / Soul Searching

1995

To continue with another highly prolific release of music, we move onto our next review on the Good Looking Records label.

   We have reached number 13 in the catalogue and I’d take a guess at somewhere between February and April of 1995 for this next release. You also have to remember that at this point in the labels history, Looking Good Records had also become a sister label outlet for artists, signed to Danny’s label. We will reach that label extensively, at a later date. 

   Today we have a one off venture with Rupert Parkes & Russell Tayla. Aquarius & Tayla. Rupert (Photek) had been blazing a scorched path through the fields of music for about 3 years by now, while Tayla returned after a couple of years since ‘Bang The Drums’. To have been a fly on the wall of the studio with these two working in it, would have been quite the experience. If you have any stories or info, Russell, feel free to drop it in. These tracks have many tales to tell and I’m sure I speak for many of us when I say that the background behind the people making these tunes is as fascinating as the music. It’s so rich in history and one I find consistantly hungry to know more about. 

     I remember picking this up in Record Basement in Reading..surprise surprise, and it being ‘Soul Searching’ that grabbed me in a huge way. It’s the reason I bought the release and I really didn’t gravitate too much toward the A Side. My negligence and naivety once again, proving a problem with my judgement. Since my aging and maturity seems to have finally kicked in a little more, I am now a little more appreciative of this 12”. In fact, I have probably grown more in understanding and eureka moments than with any plate on GLR. It has a skin of simplicity covering a body of unbelievable production, highly toned skills and a vast knowledge of technical understanding. The music here will make you dance, dream, kick back and cry, all at the same time. Let’s move the disc to the platter  for the opinions that matter. 

    Side A brings me a slight scolding as mentioned earlier. I feel like I completed a very public walk of shame with this tune and only in the last 20 odd years have I been playing ‘Bringing Me Down’ and connecting with it in a big way. It’s a tune I didn’t hear out too much apart from Bukem, DJ Lee and I think Tayla played it at MOS when I went to a Progression Sessions there. The track always sounded amazing I just found that it was almost too sorrowful and with the vocals “Bringing me Dooown” it became this fight between spiritual bliss and a hint of depression. I’m probably in a minority here though. My life was very odd back then too and like I say, I’ve been that someone who can now crank this tune up and truly wallow in its beautiful tragedy. The beat work from the beginning, with the dolphin samples (left over from The Dolphin Tune maybe?), takes us into the sweetness of the layered synths and pads. The clarity of the beats in this tune is fucking ridiculously sharp. The bassline while being prominent, does sit back too. It accompanies the moving and flowing sounds perfectly. I’ve cranked this track up really loud and I can’t tell you how impressive this piece of music is. I’m furious at my old self, but also understand that this piece of music nurtures the blinkered and if you can’t see the magic in this one, the gaps will appear and you’ll be shrouded in a radiant light of wonder on hearing this tune again. It takes the pain away and elevates all the negativity that surrounds you. Two masters that you cannot fault. 

   Side B is ‘Soul Searching’ which I believe was the earliest Good Looking plate to feature on Bukem’s ‘95 Essential mix. I know ‘Horizons’ was played in it too but that was on Looking Good and he played four of the first 6 releases on that label, in the set.

  It’s a joy to mix with too. The tiny high hats and little high crash cymbal make it one you can really kneed into those journeys. Once the amens crash in, it’s like getting pushed suddenly, and without warning, in the back at the top of a giant, greased metal slide and everything becomes an exhilarating blur of excitement, adrenaline and hope that the prankster at the bottom will remove his Raleigh Grifter. The way ‘Soul Searching’ takes the soothing and brain numbing elegance of that breakdown and then screams into the bank of overhanging snow, creates a picturesque avalanche of roaring power, shifting beauty and unstoppable speed, before the stillness and silence returns. 

   This tune carries a very special place. Of all the first 15 GLR records, I’d say I played this out more than any other. At least, I remember playing it out a lot. It was my last tune in my warm up set at a Tazzmania event in Aldershot at The Rhythm Station which was a hub around our way. I remember at the time, coining the word “Intelligent” to DJ Gillis after me, as it was the term used during that time. I know it seemed derogatory to other music (which was not the case as my record box had everything from GLR to Hectic, Homegrown and everything in between). It just felt like you could listen to the sounds like ‘Soul Searching’ and leave the place you were for a while. It was mystical, cosmic, spiritual..call it what you like. At the end of the day it’s just fucking good music. Labels create ownership, whereas this music is for the energy that surrounds us. It fills the air with vibrations that seep through us, through everything, hitting the upper layers of our atmosphere, so when those distant aliens come calling, they can raise a glass to the ear, or however they receive sounds, place it on the exosphere and catch this communication from the gods of our time. 

Good Looking Records

PFM – The Western Tune / Hypnotizing

1995

The calendar folds over into 1995 now, and the conveyer belt of first class music continues on Good Looking Records with the second release on the label for the voyagers of sonic serenity, PFM. As you can see, it’s the promo that I have, due to being at the counter in Record Basement at the right time with DJ Lee spinning on the decks and dishing out the good candy,

    This tune has a great story behind it as I seem to remember buying it but not hearing it? The strength of Good Looking was at such a level that I was never in any doubt as to the music I was buying. The risk these days is a lot more apparent. For me (as a pretty stringent purchaser based on an upbringing for quality over quantity, and financial regulation), it went against my usual principles. However, there are minuscule exceptions to this rule. Today’s 12” vinyl release is one. GLR 12 is the main release catalogue number, just for the trainspotters out there. It’s also the first, main release sleeve to be designed outside of GLR by Mark Standere. His company would be designing the two sleeves up until Jon Black took over on GLR 14

    I purchased this record, and was with a group of my brother’s friends in Reading. They all raved with us anyway. I remember getting the train back to Basingstoke and then walking to my brothers mates house and another mate of theirs (big big Bukem fan), Jonno Goodyear was itching to get this tune on too. There was a record player on in one of their rooms, so we sat it on the floor and all sat around it, and we put on Side A.. I’ve never been in a room playing this music where not one sound came out of anyone’s mouth until the tune finished. This was a moment I’ll never forget and further confirmed the way this label was changing my life. It was played again, and again.

   ‘The Western Tune’ has PFM producing one of those tracks that finds areas of our consciousness that unlock and feed off the sounds like piranhas in an underwater meat locker. The way that ‘The Western Tune’ develops, becomes an organic evolution, structured for everlasting relish. From its dream like introduction that pin points areas for a DJ to mix this tune, the figures approaching on horseback draw the faces of the town folk upon them. Will they bring hostility or hope to the commoners of the community. From the direction they have travelled, it must have been some time before they set sight on the necessities placed below them. Then the first gun shot is fired and the breaks canter along. The way the bass and that second layer of breaks hit, leading to the pads that basically rip open your heart and replace your loved ones with this music, is accepted without hesitation. The breakdown is enough to spasm the senses, with that guitar sample which, with the pads makes me shiver and puts goosebumps up my arms yet again. 

  ‘The Western Tune’ holds such a huge part of my love of this label. It’s one of the big hitters and will always be a treasured piece of music. Although don’t write off the quality of the other side.

     Side AA I always felt was vastly overlooked on this plate. I remember Pete Tong playing this track on his Radio One show one Friday night which kind of threw me. As least he didn’t mention “Buck-em” ha ha! ‘Hypnotize’ for me is one of PFM’s best pieces of music, showcasing the extraordinary capability in the way melodies, chords and synths work and how the sweeping stages of music writing could be so o infectious. There was a deep sense of magic with PFM in 1995 and I know Jamie eventually left the partnership, but those years he was part of PFM, whatever it was, something made these tunes hit floors that towered up past the ceiling of the atmospheric towers. Epic, resonating music wrapped in silk and served on a fucking Ferrero Rocher plate. This tune is the one that I now have in my head yet again, and for all I care, it can stay there forever. 

    PFM were quietly working on some of the best music around, and Danny had the label in the right place at the right time, to platform the best from the artists making tunes. Any earlier or later, it just wouldn’t have been the same. ‘The Western Tune’ has gone down as one of the most loved and and respected pieces of music, and when you have MC Conrad RIP, sliding his vocals over this tune (as we reviewed during Logical Progression on FFRR), followed by Mike PFM’s Ricochet Mix (up later in the label), the spirit with this slice of glorious music, kept moving. It started here though and planted the flag first. It’s ‘Hypnotizing’ which really needs more credit for me. Go and find it now and enjoy the very best of PFM. 

We miss you dearly Conrad! 

Good Looking Records

Peshay – The Piano Tune / The Vocal Tune

1994

The next review provides us with yet another classic example of peak jungle juices, splattered over the gorging mouth of rabid insistence. We turn our attention to a guy we’ve reviewed on 2000AD, Brain Records, Basement Records and Creative Source, along with some very impressive remixes. He is of course, Paul Pesch, AKA Peshay. 

   Peshay had been taken ill sometime before this was released but the specifics have been somewhat vague. I’m not sure where that period fell in regard to working in studios on 19.5 and this tune today may have been. Paul also had a significant hand in creating one of the most famous piano riffs in the scene, with. a certain Hyper on Experience / Flytonix legend, Danny Dermierre. Not only was this release a notch in the explosive power of Good Looking, it stamped Peshay’s return in a colossal way. While the label states this as a Promo, it was in fact the main release. The promo of this was a white label and catalogue number read GLR 11 which flips the whole “0” deal from the last release. 

   I remember hearing Fabio play ‘The Piano Tune’ in room 2 at the Farnborough Rec in 1994, having parted with my crew of nutcases and gone off wandering the sections of the event. When this tune dropped, from the beginning intro, as Fabio was obviously wanting this one to take maximum effect, I just remember hearing those intro chords and shit began stirring like nothing felt before. Was this sound for real? 

Once the piano kicked in, it wasn’t just the clarity of those keys, it was the way they hit the notes with the pads that sucked me into a state of transfixed paralysis. The slightly off rhythmic key notes that made you understand how this tune worked, and what sort of pattern you had until the seat of suspense sits you on the cliff edge with that pause, then…wham!!!  Beats, beats mother fucking beats.. The amount of continual fusion and stored power and heat in the breaks here drops C4 explosives into the room and there’s no time to run. The thing is, that’s not even the main drop. After the first small breakdown there comes the real assault with crashing amens, killer frequency bass. This is the true meat of the tune that I’ll never tire of closing my eyes too as the teeth shake, bones rattle and mind escapes. Absolute fucking dogs bollox of music. 

   Peshay returned with something that, for me, is his best piece of music, hands down. The label was pushing a territory that was now drilling up dancefloors while coasting through the cosmos. Imagine the vast and chilling depths of space suddenly being attacked by waves of destructive meteor showers. This tune provides the backdrop to the leveled scales of the music. 

  ‘The Piano Tune’ will always be one of those tunes that spits out the pips of the old and ingests all the pure vengeance of untainted jungle fodder. Mankind experiences the ultimate in jungle warfare. 

  The track was also recorded in Danny Demierre’s, EZ Rollers co-member, Alex Banks’ studio called, ‘The Shed At The Bottom Of The Garden’. And it was just that. No room in that garden shed for wheelbarrows and ant powder. There’s a list of their equipment on Discogs which I’m sure you can hunt down.

    Side AA was a tune I didn’t play as much as I do now, back when I bought it. To say it’s matured and shown it’s wise and debonair flair is an understatement. Peshay used similar vocals by India on ‘Love & Happiness’, from River Ocean, on his track ‘Represent’ on Metalheadz (engineered by Dave Charlesworth, with Hyper On Experience engineering Psychosis on the other side), which was also out in 1994. As the volcanic eruption of Side A slides down the mountain, it’s the more genteel and molasses flow of ‘The Vocal Tune’ which compliments this 12” to perfection. “I’ll sing it to you…I wanna let, wanna let the world know.” You can understand why these vocals connected so well with tracks like this. We tread on the fallen leaves and leave the skin of our footprints on the autumnal mosaic on the ground. The sparks of light blink through the trees and we retract the hood from our head to escape our thoughts and open the fresh, sharp air to saturate the well being. Peshay drops an epic piece of music here and how fucking incredible is the breakdown half way with the live bass guitar faint in the background and the natural slotting of all the beats, pads and continuing vocals. It’s a story of humankind, of freedom and of how lucky we are to have music so desired by the select like us.

It’s now a flag we unfurl for the new ears and minds to reason and forget, to make clear that this history will forever burn brighter than any sun. 

Good Looking Records

PFM – Wash Over Me / Love & Happiness

1994

As we reach the double digits in releases on Good Looking Records, we now have our introduction in the year 1994 to the world of PFM. 

Over the last three years of these reviews, Mike PFM Bolton has been mentioned on a few releases, including Earth and Deep Rooted, (both on GLR sub labels), along with several remixes, and then we had the early unreleased work that was thankfully dug up on De:Tuned, with a release that was made before today’s, called ‘Runaway’ 

   For those of us around raving in 94 though, this plate was our first introduction to Progressive Future Music. Back then, it was Mike Bolton & Jamie Saker, who later left (around 1996). We were taken on further excursions into the hemispheres of distant worlds with all the poignancy and flair of Bukem’s journeys on Good Looking, with a hypnotic and intense bass which allowed the knighthood of chords and pads to build toward unrivaled heights. PFM’s journey on this label is one of a sequence of resonating supremacy that seemed to effortlessly carry and evolve the torch of the epic. The mind opened up to hidden senses and unknown feelings through each piece of PFM’s work. The promo of this is GLR 010, for those nerd friends, of which I fit in perfectly. 

   For our first PFM track on Side A, we have ‘Wash Over Me’, working its way across the elevated sensitivity through your skin. Luckily you can mix with this one too, as the intro has enough going on within those theatrical levels of sweeping synths. Something that PFM were masters of. When we hit the breaks we press the buttons for the flight path ahead. The bass pounds its constant purity and the second layer of synths gently waft in. All we need now is a vocal wail and maybe some pan pipes?… well, look at that, you get them too. ‘Wash Over Me’ made the rounds at quite a few events, introducing us to the unparalleled and distinguishing style that we received with PFM.  Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I did hear that it was one of PFM that used to work on the oil rigs? If so, I can imagine that there’d be times where the inspiration all ideas for this music would be incredible, out on one of those. Maybe I dreamt it though..  To hit the raves with this level of music, was quite something. PFM were here and in a big big way. 

   ‘Love & Happiness’ is one of those tracks that takes all the chilled out focus and funnels it deep into the core of your being. Mixing it in, you judge the little intro chimes to sound like they do in the main tune and you’re set. So, it does miss a small section when cuing. For me, this track blew my fucking mind when I first heard it. It was most definitely progressive and in regard to future music? Well look at us now. The simplicity of the break hands over the jets of time bringing moving pads, with a tranquilizer that seals up the tender lullaby and knocks the lights out. When you think about the bold way that this music was launched, and the gift it gave us not only out on the dancefloors, but practically everywhere else, we now had music that broke the frantic fusion under the big roofs and now took the mind up and into the air, keeping the desire fluid and tempting. We also have music like ‘Love & Happiness’ to continue to stretch the headspace into a level beyond the reaches. 

Utterly beautiful.

Good Looking Records

Aquarius – Aquatic / The Dolphin Tune

1994

We venture forward into the next batch of remarkable pieces of music on Good Looking Records with a line up of artists that mix some of the big names we’ve already covered on the label, and a few that were making those early and significant ripples across the scene. 

We have a bumper crop to launch into and “time waits for no man…goodbye Reggie”…(Reggie Perrin inside joke there…”Thank you CJ” ha ha)

   Before you call the funny farm on me, we turn to the ninth release on GLR and the work of a guy we’ve mentioned on 3rd Eye, Basement, Certificate 18 and FFRR. You’ll be hearing plenty more too. Rupert Parkes went under his Aquarius name when producing work for the Good Looking / Looking Good labels and while he only had three releases to his Aquarius name (one collab with Tayla and two solo), the work that he gave us remains peak output from the studio king known more commonly as Photek. Today’s release (well, Side AA) is the top of the GLR pile for me, as it holds a time and place, a mindset and a technical brilliance which I find hard to better. That’s why it’s the only record I have two versions of, the original blue label and sleeve, and then the black & white labelled and sleeved promo. 

  Side A works with the essential addition of calming dolphin signals which during this period of UK rave and drum and bass music, carried the connotation of the mystics shrouding the movement. They were also featured in the intro to ‘Tear Into It’ which we featured last week and it seemed to portray that the calming, gliding and intelligence of this sea animal, gave listeners a sense of peace, expanse and undisturbed environments for us to seek. ‘The Dolphin Tune’ drops us in the pod of these fascinating creatures and we get the whistles, clicks and pulses to begin the aqua adventure. 

  In the scope of Rupert’s work, it’s probably toward the lower end of his output to be honest but considering the output he gave us in 1994, it still sits among some of the best there’s been. It did deliver the clearest amens and a finely polished tune but stack it against his works and there’s not that jolt of wonder you’d usually receive. If you heard it out nowadays though, it would sound fucking immense. Maybe it’s just nudged below par though, based on the strength and unbeatable piece of music on the flip side. 

   Side AA is ‘Aquatic’ and my personal number one favorite tune on Good Looking. If you were standing in the sweatbox of The Sanctuary, in Milton Keynes, on Friday July 1st, 1994 and you had Bukem ready to drop his ‘Pinch & The Punch’ set nestled between the wobbly pillars, you’ll understand what this tune may mean. Maybe I was in a perfect state of mind for the set that was to follow as Bukem and the lyrical poet, MC Conrad (RIP) began what was to be a set that gave me the clearest lenses for the music that came. The track he opened up with was ‘Aquatic’ and I sank into what must have been an attached personal vein, connecting me with the music and LTJ’s surgical precision and pin point ear for mixing. I’d been DJing enough to know what he was doing and I still couldn’t fucking tell when or how he was mixing. Of course his chopping was obvious but it was timed like nothing else I’d heard before. The journey became life for me. I needed every track and Bukem confirmed that he was the one that I needed to listen to, in order to understand the journey of a DJ set. Everything ‘Bukem’ would devour my love and quest to make DJing an art. Those sets of his still remain lessons in the art of DJing.

   The track ‘Aquatic’ contains Rupert’s mastery of beat productions, sustainable, echoing vocal techniques and then you have a piano that riffs a 6 key melody which melts you “ooo yeah….aa-ha” is lifted from the intro from Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’. This tune has a bassline that raises the bar with not just its purity, but its melody. It is an essential instrument here. The way this is put together will still astound you in its all round assembly and exquisite attention to detail. Parkes was basically on fire in 1994 and this for me is one of the top tier, full stop. His work here hit the line of summits he was exploring and there will never be a moment like this again. One to relive, rejoice and repeat until my dying breath. The very best there has been. 

    Music like ‘Aquatic’ does not happen anymore. There was a time and place and playing it just reminds me that I will never be transported by anything quite like this tune. Each play of it these days just makes me worship it all over again. Even my daughter is humming the Whitney Sample around the house. It fits every soul. 

Good Looking Records

Bukem & The Peshay – 19.5

1994

We move on..forward bound, to our next review and like clockwork, another classic atmospheric jungle track is upon us. Good Looking Records quite honestly provided us with nothing but trophy after trophy with the releases in the mid 90’s. Each one has only gained more and more appreciation over time which only goes to show just how creative, and innovative the production was. It was also a period of risks, trials and errors and stretching the given availability of the equipment. 1994 had the sepia reel of the past merged with the 3D of the future. The many paths that spun off this year were vast, but when you raved and heard the music played in one night, it really was a togetherness of variety and love. The record buying was certainly becoming more exciting as trying to keep up with the styles, became an extra gear on the wheel of vinyl addiction. You needed to have a stronger artillery in the DJ booth. That being said, if today’s release was nestled (or rather glued to be honest), in the record box, you would be cleared through customs without a second glance. 

   Bukem was steering the Good Looking ship with the sails up, bellowing with the tail wind by this time. The course had been set and GLR was handing out opportunities to the selected talents on the islands he was visiting. Peshay had been releasing tunes under the wings of Bay B Kane, Dave Charlesworth, Roger Johnson (RIP) and Bizzy B and was now connected with Danny for today’s prized possession. The results are impressive to say the least. 

   So why 19.5 as a title? Well I have a feeling it must be related to sound, but this is what the take may be, unless Paul ‘Peshay’ can spin some other secret details on it?:

  “Some sound designers and music producers might incorporate infrasound elements, including frequencies around 19.5 Hz, to create a sense of tension or unease, particularly in genres like horror or suspense.

   While direct, audible tones at 19.5 Hz might not be ideal, the subtle presence of infrasound could contribute to the overall mood and immersive experience of a piece of music or a film”

  And there you were thinking that on modern times, 19.5 might mean that’s it’s the average IQ of the 3 DJ’s dressed as tubes of toothpaste prancing around with cocks out, trying to bum each other, or the number of minutes that the DJ has to fiddle with the mixer in a 20 minute set (playing 120 tunes). Well you may be right there also, ha ha. What a contrast in worlds we live in. Let’s return to reality. The real deal.

   Side A is ‘19.5’ and once the track starts, you’ll be sent into a higher level of awareness. The beginning chords, strings and vocal wail are a monumental arrangement that pits the soul of all things good. As the beats bulldoze through they carry a bassline that pinballs your lungs around your ribcage while balancing perfectly with the rest of the track. Taking the brilliant “ooooh yeah!” which I’m sure the Omni Trio fans will recognize too, Bukem & Peshay bring to the table one of those flames that thaws the walls of ice from one hundred miles away. Everything about the pure quality of all the pieces that make this tune sound impressive are mastered with killer precision and some of the most unreal bass frequencies you’ll ever hear. 

  On the flip we have ‘19.5 (Reprisal)’ which is a track that has that rarity of beginning with a bass line. The weight of it is (like the other side) consistently breaking the scales and fractures skeletons in countries the opposite side of the world. This alternative mix of 19.5 is one that rolls the amens out a little more, and adjusts your mood to a certain degree of intensity and depth that sauté’s the jungle sounds with those deeper connections. I truly admire both versions of this track, the first side for its raw pounding flavors and this side for the build to that sucrose fed breakdown. Unreal music from two pioneering legends in the scene. 

   Bukem’s label was eight releases in and all you needed to do when you saw the logo on the wall behind the desk in the record store was point and say “I’ll have that”. You could not go wrong and lo and behold, you’d have timeless and preserved music that remains today, some of the best you’ll ever have. 

Good Looking Records

Parallel World – Tear Into It / Contagious

1994

For the next forage into the executive mystics of music, we have one of those releases that might not always spring to the forefront of your memory when Good Looking is recalled. It’s this very notion though, that makes today’s release so very special. Because this 12” lurks like an essential background soldier, waiting to unleash with full force, then retreat with grace, as the music on here captures moments that define just how many circles were overlapping in 1994. Of all the GLR releases, for me, this particular record brings together all the components that expanded the trunk of the jungle tree. The pirate stations, the London ting, the atmospherics, the rolling breaks, and the ravers and DJs that worship those moments from the then-and-now. Let’s lower the winch and descend into the key elements of all things sparkling about GLR in 94.

   It was not known who Parallel World were for a fair amount of time, at least I had no idea that it was the work of two producers that have hit some of the essential music of the scene. Andrew Richies & Jay Hurran (EZ Rollers) are better known as JMJ & Richie. They had already given us in 1993, the legendary Moving Shadow release, Case Closed & Hall Of Mirrors. As they were signed to Moving Shadow as JMJ & Richie, it was under this one off alias of Parallel World (no doubt to signify that they were both heading in the same continually gauged direction), that they put today’s release out. They then went onto more classic releases on Moving Shadow and even had a sort of remix of ‘Tear Into It’ on the Two-On-One – Issue 7 plate on Moving Shadow. It was also amazing to have them team up on White House Records for a couple of releases with Jonny Tekniq as Spirits From An Urban Jungle. 

   Let’s lower the needle and turn the key for today’s music. Side A gives us the gorgeous tune, ‘Tear Into It’. “Ding ding ding ding bass ding ding bass, ding ding bass, bass, ding ding ding ding ding ding bass…” I may have added or missed a ding ding there but you get the drift…from the intro (which has the marmite effect of love it or hate it), it’s onto the marvelous breaks and humming bass that Jay and Andrew supplied on their early work. This all leads to a breakdown that you want to wrap around “make me feel…let me feel” vocals pinch the nerves of the sweet pads and elevate them up substantially further. Another beats section works its way toward the main plume of the second breakdown “teaaaaarrr into it”. The love I have for these guys working with this way of having three different tunes within one track and they all connect in a way very few could master, is etched forever. 

  On Side B we have a tune that is one that I personally tended to veer more excitement toward than the A Side, but only by the width of a worms eyebrow. You could drop ‘Tear Into It’ into nearly any 94 jungle set, however with this next tune ‘Contagious’ you have something that is picked up by the angels and garnished with the tears of the gods within the beliefs of song writing. It sits as a moment of reflection and interpretation. 

   From the pads and aquatic dolphin signals, the mood is already one of drifting, effortless richness as the highly viscous break and simple bass prod the tectonic plates of music into reforming the way the deep and desirable sound unfolds. I could listen to the main vocal “ooo hoo..oooo yeah” and those distant chords and pads for the rest of my life. These guys had a gift for making some of the most beautiful and stirring sounds. ‘Contagious’ scoops the vibrations in the air around the London scene in 94 and delivers them here. Everything about this track bleeds the delicacies of the purest atmospheric pleasures.    

    If you ever need to seek the perfect snapshot of the GLR label, you have here two of the core components that inspired the rest of the pack to step things up. The movement was well and truly filling with the priceless content, that continued into the more thoughtful side of drum and bass. It  strengthened the whole scene by offering this complimentary side serving to the jungle tray and offering us another channel to release our thoughts and ever changing moods. JMJ & Richie will always be Jedi masters in this field. 

Good Looking Records

The Invisible Man – The Bell Tune / The Tone Tune

1994

Few of us are strangers to the importance and admiration we have for our next artist. We did review a little about The invisible Man, while on the Drumtrip Label. He will also be a big factor with Timeless and Legend when those labels become joyously exposed. By the time today’s release was distributed out through Good Looking, Graham Mew had been a very busy fellow. Doctor G and Undergraduate aliases then led to this piece of crown jewel work. This was his only release on Good Looking, (Looking Good, he had ‘Stormfields’), although he did have a release on ‘Soul Survivors’ on Tayla’s GLR offshoot label Nexus in 2000, and on Ascendent Moods on PHD’s, Ascendent Grooves label within the GLR organization, with ‘Erratic Dreams’. Both tracks are highly recommended.

   If you had to put the producers who distinguished themselves as masters of breakbeat engineering and characteristic performance in a lift, or elevator as folk around here call it, you’d maybe half fill it? Sometimes you can play a track and without seeing a name on a label or sleeve, you just know it’s their sound. Graham is one such guy. For our first track today, we have The Invisible Man displaying the full artillery of his skills and creativity, with that twist of chaos and madness marinaded over the sweetness of his music. This exceptional 12” is a true champion of the history books. 

   Side A is ‘The Bell Tune’. a track that justifies why The Invisible Man was in a league of his own. He seemed to take all the best parts of everything he did, then mold and sculpt ‘The Bell Tune’ into a masterclass of musical brilliance. From the crescendo of bell ringing in the intro, the dawn breaks and the jolt toward life begins. A tapping high hat and then a beat straight out the Invisible crates. The bass bubbles and the beats riiiise! Here we go! Those amens just roll things perfectly. When the pads lap the shore, and the waves grow, the temptation stirs. The bell chime then drops allowing those pads to crash onto land, washing over you with the healing properties of the gods. All the little beat edits in ‘The Bell Tune’ should be recognized more in this tune. Graham is meticulous, precise and I urge you to listen to this with that in mind. Yet another classic track on this sacred label. 

   For the B Side we get ‘The Tone Tune’, which doesn’t have anything to do with being told “it’s your tone” by the trouble and strife. I think the vocal say’s “unlock your tone?” I hear all sorts of random shit these days though, so…

   Far from any negativity, this one is another one of those displays of classic Invisible Man beat markets that you can immediately establish that busy, Legend engineering medallion of whisked up collectives in drum work. Like a few GLR’s, one side seemed to do more damage than the other, but it’s really hard to put one of these tracks before the other. The tone stabs keep a scent of the darkness that Graham loved putting in his tunes. The beats are again, so so detailed and focused. This is a perfect example of how unique his work is. There is a melancholy to the sine synth and even the somber style of bass fits in with this ponderous approach. We were blessed with such a momentous occasion with tracks like this. What a belter of a plate! I really loved playing this again. There were little messages at the end of many Invisible Man’s tracks. 

“Ok the shows over. Go back to your home”. 

   Graham’s work has always, and will always be admired. He had that technical knowledge to bring out more than just the sound, he carried with it, a sense of life. A blend of the frantic, the smooth, the calm and the slightly insane. I get the feeling this is why his work connected so personally. We all have those somewhere in the nooks of our lives. 

   A huge respects to you Graham!