Recorded straight on an ancient C90, you can hear the decay of three decades, plus a number of old recordings bleeding through at various points. The sound dips and peaks while channels unexpectedly disappear. There are times big drops are lost and later created by the frayed tape. It’s not clean and it’s not pretty, but I wanted to imitate those grimy old cassette mixes I made back during the time when most of these tracks were laid down. I often recorded off of pirate radio or would have friends share bootlegs. These cassettes would sit in hot cars warping and sounding wonderfully awful over time.
So this month sees a little homage to 30 years ago before my life flipped upside down and turned inside out. I love how random the decay on this mix is and it does make me feel like I’m sitting in a souped up Vauxhall Nova. One day I’ll own a custom Lancia Delta c.1990, and crank out some Jungle, Garage, Acid and Drum & Bass through my Blaupunkt car stereo, an oversized subwoofer and some shitty 6×9 Kenwood speakers, all badly mounted on a homemade MDF frame.
No real surprises here. All great tracks from a wonderful period of electronic dance music. This mix is not for the audiophiles, but for the inquisitive and understanding listener. Enjoy with a ten pack of B&H, a Henry, and a couple of cans of Stella.
Massive!
Bad Tune 1
Snake Style 2
Source Direct
S/T 12″ Picture Disc
Tempo Records
1995, r.2022
Bad Tune 2
Dead (Too)
Christoph De Babalon
If You’re Into It, I’m Out Of It
Cross Fade Enter Tainment
1997, r.2018
Bad Tune 3
Original Ranks (Just Jungle Remix)
Cutty Ranks
S/T 12″
Fashion Records
1991
Bad Tune 4
Cybergen
A Guy Called Gerald
Black Secret Technology
Juice Box
1995
Bad Tune 5
Dark Angel
Nasty Habits
As Nasty As I Wanna Be
Reinforced Records
1992
Bad Tune 6
The Vortex
Alaska
The Vortex / Invisible
Renegade Recordings
1997
Bad Tune 7
Dollis Hill
Lee Gamble
Diversions 1994-1996
PAN
2012
Bad Tune 8
Brown Paper Bag
Roni Size & Reprazent
New Forms
Talkin’ Loud
1997
Bad Tune 9
Tundra
Squarepusher
Feed Me Weird Things
Rephlex
1996
Inside No. 9 is an attempt to share unique narratives through the mixing of 9 songs. Every episode will showcase a new theme, opening up new tributaries of discovery. Inside No. 9 is presented by Peter Taylor, a former features writer for Foxy Digitalis from back in the late 2000s. Peter is a visual artist and musician and has been creating music as MAbH since 2008.
Foxy Digitalis depends on our awesome readers to keep things rolling. Pledge your support today via our Patreon or subscribe to The Jewel Garden. You can also make a one-time donation via Ko-fi.
