Cassette
"Triple cassette edition totalling 4 hours covering '92-'04 high calibre breakbeat hardcore, jungle, D&B, and breakcore...
Calling all hardcore! The Death of Rave’s Conor Thomas wheels back to '92-'04 on the 2nd volume of 3 x triple tape packs traversing the hardcore ‘nuum, expanding on his 2016 mixtape as The Smoking Man for MBE with 4 hours+ of high calibre breakbeat hardcore, jungle, D&B, and breakcore
Where the original MBE mix, ‘The Smoking Man 2002-2004’ dwelled on the sound of free parties and warehouse sessions in Manchester - back when he was unwittingly compared to the titular X-Files character - ‘The Smoking Man Redux’ nods to the pivotal, 3-part X-Files storyline with a labyrinthine expansion spanning helter-skelter hardcore thru to jungle percies, darkside D&B and the raggo breakcore which fuelled his early raving days around Northern England during the early ‘00s.
Also leading down the timeline from his ‘Reel Torque Volume Douzzze Part Deux’ mix, the tempo picks up to 150bpm, and much faster, across a stack of tunes dusted down and rediscovered during lockdown. The first tape runs from ’92 to ’95, channelling a rush of energy from early rave anthems thru Gurn-force breakbeat and junglist depth charges. Tape 2 follows from gangsta jungle steez to high pressure rollers, Reese bass tear-outs and pitch black tech-step, with a 3rd tape gunning hard for his love of late ‘90s and early ‘00s breakcore and drill ’n bass - the good stuff, not the shite, though.
Part historiographic, mostly chronological, and all properly up for it, the ruff ’n ready mix is intended as a love letter to a certain cross-section of the hardcore rave spirit, from its nutty to lush and darkside styles, hopefully raking up tunes that have been lost to mangled memories and the shifting sands of style and pattern. Warning: side effects may include bruxism, dilated pupils, bouncing off the walls or keeling face-first into mud." BOOMKAT
