DJ Alex Corton – Good Looking Records

Good Looking Records

DOPE – Travelling Pt. 2

1994

As we steam across into 1994, the Good Looking Records label was now in a position to gather the work of artists from different backgrounds, with a hardwired vision on how the sound could be experienced. Piggybacking off the essential and thunderous work that Ben and Ray (who worked downstairs at Passion in MASH, on Oxford street), produced as DOPE on Rugged Vinyl, the adaptation to the sound on here is quite remarkable. For the class of ‘93, when they released ‘When We Were Young’, the power and energy that boiled over, was piping hot, largely due to the DJ Easy B and T Bags Revisited Mix. Let’s roll out this one and drop an Aspirin into the glass of Good Looking. The DOPE initialism stands for “Defenders Of Planet Earth”. This release also has the ‘Rugged Vinyl’ logo stamped on the label, as it was one of the only joint ventures on the label, at least one of the only that I can think of. Golden Girl by Makoto & MC Conrad, Earth Vol 7. and Progression Sessions 10, had ZYX (Benz Music), distribute with GLR. Rugged Vinyl did work with Naughty Naughty too, but that’s another story.

   To mix with his A Side is one of the most fun and crossfade friendly experiences for a DJ. There are a number of sections within each bar that you can use and maneuver with. Not only with its intro, but its outro (where you don’t have to be fooled by its 4 bar quiet section toward the end, just drop the tune when that begins and you’re all set*). This first tune is one that I’ve battered through the years, but thankfully it’s still in good nick.

   ‘Travelling (Pt. 2)’ is a track that you could drop in nearly any jungle set, as it’s breaks and sounds barrel along like a glass cased locomotive, displaying all the inner workings of a machine in poetic motion. As the beats hit that first breakdown, you are engulfed in the middle of the cogs, belts, chains, pistons and steam of a golden age of music. The galloping, rewinding and frenetic culture of this tune is summed up with these beats, a bassline that plunges a depth charge through your core and the echoes of the myriad creatures bounce off the subjects in the undergrowth of atmospheric bliss. Once we hit the breakdown, we hit a moment that words will never justify. Euphoric, tear jerking and very hard to leave. The climax is a true testament to the DOPE boys who dished up the finest entrée of musical wizardry. Pure class.

   Side B returns to treating us to a track that holds a slightly different approach to the normal run of things. Much like GLR 003 with its ‘Return To Atlantis’, we get a stripped down ambient version of the flip, and while this maintains the drum and bass flow, it’s a lesson in percussive expertise from DOPE. ‘Travelling (Slow Train To Philly Mix)’ takes the Red Bull out the machine and lets things open up, gliding up with the thermals and silently drifting across the skies of paradise. This is one for the chillers, designed to turn down the pressure cooker inside your mind. 

   DOPE really nailed it. A very special release this. 

*There is no charge for that DJing tip. Next time I’ll send you an invoice..ha ha! 

Good Looking Records

Apollo’s Two – Volume 1

1993

Release number three on Good Looking, brings together Bukem and one of his old school mates (Witty Jnr.) into play, for one of those 12”s that spreads an even coat of purity paste across the surface of music. It’s no shock to have a plate like this with one side focusing on main stream drum and bass and a more techno based track on the flip, when you have LTJ Bukem expelling his background and vision out through his label. Having already pushed the door open on his personal trajectory he continues to develop his own path with this ageless release. It’s Friday and time to crank this one up beyond the levels of comfort and into the cosmos.

‘Return To Atlantis’ takes one of those techno laced routes as it brings to Side A, a composition that deserves a standing ovation. This track may not have had the impact or lure that the anthem on the other side has, but it has grown into a classic in its own right over the years. While the “OK, take it slow and easy going in” sample from The Abyss, prepares you for the rhythmic fruits and gentle but engaging synths, the perfect pace and character is something that you have to take your hat off and respect toward Bukem. It’s a 45RPM tune this, as opposed to the 33RPM we’ve had on the last two GLR’s. Theatrical tribal techno that fills every pore with golden music. How fucking bold was it putting this out!! The future is now.

Side B really is one of the most prolific tracks on GLR…among the other 20 or so…you know what I mean. Bukem’s remix of ‘Atlantis’ (I Need You)’ is one of those tunes that opens up any set with something you’ll be hard pushed to better. The tune breaths a life of its own when you kick it off on its own. Rolling atmospheric perfection with a metronomic bass, great bongos, luscious pads and that ever graceful guitar twanging breakdown. “Gotta..gotta..gotta have.. mmmMMM” then that little hiss which sounds like a Fabio “S” of respect, or inhaling auras of musical vibrations. When this drops, the place will never stand still, will never become baron and will always contain people that get taken somewhere they never knew about. This has a hall of fame stamped through it for eternity. A legendary track on a legendary label.

That’s this review complete from me. The fireworks of Good Looking are now well under way, so we move into the next five on the label, situated on this blog. I better rest my fingers as I feel I’ll be typing up a vast number of words over the next few weeks. As long as this music plays, the emotional writing flow remains.

Now, go dig out those GLR’s and celebrate THE best in the business.

Cheers folks.

Good Looking Records

Tayla – Bang The Drums / Remnants

1993

Day two of our journey through Good Looking Records, and we turn to a guy who has largely remained hidden from the music scene over the last couple of decades. Do not fret though as Russell Tayla is out there having set his studio back up, plus he’s set up to have a mix on Eruption FM in the not too distant future. This is great news!

TAYLA is an artist who never swarmed the scene. I got to see him DJ at The Ministry Of Sound back in the 90’s on one of the Prog Sessions there. His work not only demonstrated his unique abilities in the studio, but his ethic of quality over quantity. He only put together a handful of tunes, which largely consisted of collaborations with the likes of Bukem, Photek (Aquarius), PFM, and then with the engineering prowess of Intense and Olly ‘Artemis’ Lomax. Russel’s work remains some of the most indelible music of the last 30 years. He did have some material out with Furney and on the black and white GLR era of releases with ‘Turn It Around’ (which we’ll review down the road), but for today, we start with his first venture. This release is produced and engineered by LTJ Bukem

‘Bang The Drums’ is a great tune to play out, no matter what jungle or drum and bass set you’re playing. If you are mixing it, don’t forget to release the plate with those little blips, between the first and second beat of the first bar. “Listen and learn, now it’s my turn” and…wham! Igniting the beats that make your screwface crunch up and cheeks bellow out an expulsion of satisfactory, audio-ecstasy carbon dioxide. The bells keep chiming, the vocal sirens calling, and the beats rolling strong, as the bass booms out across the tundra of blissful harmony. The breakdown swoops in and lifts things up another level. It’s like coming up for air after that final kick underwater, before the lungs explode. The pads speak volumes of unbridled delicacies, London airwaves and steps beyond the boundaries.
‘Bang The Drums’ is a true monument in the jungle world. A tune that deserves a place in the history museum of music. I use the word ‘classic’ all too often at times, but for the first Good Looking plates, I feel the word does not do enough justice in relating just how important they all are. A vintage, historic, sacred and protected snapshot of everything we’ve experienced in this beautiful scene.

So, how can that track be beaten? Well, it’s not a competition, it’s a celebration. Tayla provides a track on Side B which is like nothing else on the Good Looking label. ‘Remnants’ is a tune which I started a few studio sets with back in early ‘94. As the perfect counter balance to the raw, gritty power of ‘Bang The Drums’, we have here the Diazepam of music from Tayla. This track is such a hot clay pit of therapy that once you sink yourself into it, you cannot leave. Nor, do you want to. If music could put you under its spell, you’d have here the leader of the pack, as ‘Remnants’ plummets your mind into a state that transforms you. Utterly devoid of outside infiltration or disturbing your well being. “Feel it”

That’s the second release on GLR, we end the week with the third release, and…you guessed it, another piece of music that transcends the perimeter of sounds and feelings. Remember to keep an eye and ear out for Tayla’s Eruption FM set! Big up to you Russell!

Good Looking Records

L.T.J Bukem – Demons Theme / A Couple Of Beats

1992

The wait is finally over, as the day has arrived following huge anticipation right from day one of this project. We’ve got some big labels over the last few years, including Basement, Certificate 18, Creative Source, Creative Wax, Dee Jay, and Formation to name a handful. Today though, we reach THE biggest label of my life, my existence, translated into a vast amount of vinyl and some of the best music you could ever wish for.

I present to you, Good Looking Records.
My body is buzzing, sweat beads forming on my brow, (not from the heat over here), as the power of the tunes we are about to embark on, await us. Even when you look at the first few records on this label, you have not just music that sounds as good as it did back when it was made, but you also have the birth of a movement within the rave scene. The creator, visionary and basically determined as fuck legend behind it all, is the god of all things atmospheric, Danny Williamson.LTJ Bukem.
This label is a deep passion, however I know that all things attached to Good Looking may not be known. I had the honor of being asked by some guys to help run the Good Looking page when it was operating in the ‘White Label’ era (2012-2014). Answering questions and general info.. on that note I do want to add to this, Paul Bendall (tagged) who I know is someone with plenty of expertise on GLR. I’ll also be gathering info from Luke Créateur and Nick Purser along the way, I’m sure. There’s also all the artists that are connected too. I’ll tag those I can as we journey along. All of you guys have some incredible stories and details, so the floor is open as we venture along.

As the story goes, Bukem wanted to steer things toward a deeper, enduring and fulfilling style of music, than the breakbeat hardcore sounds of 1991 and 1992. He had dabbled with tracks like Deliteful, Teach Me To Fly and Logical Progression, along the more blissful sounds, but it was all under the management of others that seemed to restrict his real passion for the epic expanses of ideas within him. It was at this point that Danny made it his mission to do things his way. I was tempted to review Who Knows Vol. 1 to begin this journey, as it was really the springboard into GLR. It’s waiting for us at another time though.

The first Good Looking Records is regarded as a prolific gateway to the music we worship as atmospheric, drum and bass and jungle. It was probably the boldest move in the history of drum and bass, based on all the other music around at the time. Taking ravers away from the high energy of manic breaks, piano’s, chipmunk vocals and rave Hoovers, into Bukem’s world of majestic waves of pads, jet streams of hypnotic bass and beats, along with doubling the length of tracks, all changed the mindset of dance floors and opened up the doors for DJ’s to nurture journeys that embedded themselves into your mind. Bukem picked up the diversion sign and said “this is a new road, let your mond wonder and absorb the sound”. It was less instant gratification, it was a full on dream of beauty, designed to assemble within you, bit by bit. Good Looking had landed and I’m sure I speak for many when I say, “Thank god GLR became operational”

Bukem has probably provided more memorable journeys than any DJ I’ve heard. They are constantly played at my home, my work and wherever I go. Danny, you are the true don of the decks.

We should start the review now. I could fill a hundred pages talking about Bukem, but we should get the tunes rolling. Over the next few months, get ready to dive into the best of the best.

Side A is where we start this voyage through the heavens, with ‘Demons Theme’. I feel like waking up on the morning of a long awaited holiday right now. The pure happiness is flooding me. From the moment the needle moves its way into the intro, it’s not just a page turning, it’s another library with the new section of a new book. This is the Bukem sound that blows us away. From the silky pads, the loon bird, that massive hypnotic bass and a perfect rolling break, the scene is slowly constructed on Bukem’s religious canvas of music. Once the second break sits on top, we kick the heat up. If you had to define a classic sound for this music, look no further. The panpipes send shivers of desire out and then we hit that breakdown. Nothing can explain just how impactful and meaningful this tune is. There is music and then there are sounds that go beyond the realms of understanding. Bukem made ‘Demons Theme’ and the our sacred world changed. Art in the highest order.

I think I’m going to combust with feelings during this labels output. Words sometimes do nothing to translate the music. We flip this 12” over for ‘A Couple Of Beats’. With its barreling intro of drums, on an almost old techno foundation and high hat break, this throws us into the tribal delights of Bukem’s world before the killer bass and breakdown that sedates the body and mind. The vocal wails and subtle bell chimes cloak the mystery of the future and fittingly the risk that Bukem took in pursuing his beliefs. Nowadays, no one steps into the flowing river without checking for the stones we cross with. He just took one step and fucking flew. The point being, he took the step. As we near the end of this side, that choral synth lifts things up and into another orbit of passion. Utterly mind blowing. For the gadgetry of today, you don’t get the sense of nourishment and basic needs like you did when this arrived. This plate will probably be buried with me.

I included in the photo’s the slipmatts I have on my decks 24/7 and my lanyard for work each day, (with the Good Looking logo on the strap). I did have a T-Shirt but the logo disintegrated over time. No tattoos yet though.

The clock is now ticking, and we move on tomorrow to another classic. I think I might as well copy and paste this last paragraph every day for the next few weeks though…

Good Looking Records

L.T.J. Bukem – Music (Happy Raw) / Enchanted

1993

As we enter this full write up (of many full weeks), of Bukem’s Good Looking Records, it’s the second solo on the label from its captain, Danny Williamson. I hope you all had a good weekend and the tunes flowed like a burst water main. 

    Having reviewed those first three plates on GLR last week, we now venture into a release that changed the way I understood things. I’m going to let you know that when I first heard ‘Music’ by Bukem, I passed on it. I can still remember Marvellous Cain playing it me in Sight Sound Motion in Basingstoke and me shaking my head and saying “no”. Maybe I was expecting more variance? More hands in the air? I had him skip through it too quickly too I think. Whatever it was, I left without it and felt that I just hadn’t connected with it. I was 18 years of age and if I’m going to be honest, I just wasn’t ready yet. Time ticked on and slowly appearing through the cloud of naivety and jammed door of understanding, I took the time to go back to the store and say “ok, let me just hear that Good Looking tune all the way through”. For me, that changed my whole appreciation and respect for ‘Music’. I did wonder how it would drop in a set, being so different from anything else in my collection at the time, but also knew that it would be a track that took you somewhere you’d never been. I still really wasn’t ready for just how ahead of its time this tune was.

   Side A bell rings its way into play with easy horn infused synths and the stillness becomes chilled with the calls of the wilderness. The break comes in with that deep and mind controlling bass ‘bom bom bam bam’ which maintains the movement of the tracks on throughout. The bass switches to a a high-high, low-low, a bit further along which I love about this track. A simple change but so fucking slick. The pads prize open the portal to another dreamworld. The vocal wail “ohh oh a ho”. Then it’s back to just those beats and the additional layer of high hat detail. The build to the major breakdown is the cherry on the icing of this cake. Imagine that you’ve already become mind numbed to all outside stresses and strains and then this happens. The podium positions move up to the top level “I feel it”…enter the moment you’ll want to remain for the rest of your life. This track gave us the key into Bukem’s plans for the future. A moment of history that we now know, was pivotal in how the rave scene could span a widening spectrum of music and emotions. 

   ‘Enchanted’ on Side B is a track that deserves just as much credit as the A side for me. It presses down on the accelerator a tad more with its rolling freight train of breaks and imputing some of those magical Bukem chords in, while the little sound effects of blips, whales, rattles and then the “eyeee”. The bass has more of a constant which becomes one of the riffs in a way. ‘Enchanted’ has everything you expect from Bukem in here. Seductive, flowing, addictive and exploratory within the realms of the known and unknown. The synth raises the suspense around 3/4 in and arouses the senses beyond the dimensions of space. Bukem wasn’t going to have another solo release out until ‘Horizons’ after this (well, ‘Atmospherical Jubilancy’ was the one we should mention, although that’s another story). 

   This 12” carries the eternal vapors of all things good about this label. The strength of these early seeds allowed Good Looking Records, to grow into a Giant Redwood of the music we love. Danny was making it happen and our drum and bass world would be a very different world without it, going as far to say, would it have pulled us through? The need for this style and especially for those of us who are kicking back a bit more these days, allows us to revisit these tracks from the armchair, with huge pride and volumes of memories. Plus, if we do get out on a dancefloor in our slippers, dosed up on pain killers, we can still appreciated just how incredible the music on this label will always be. Timeless, connected, paradise.