Review: When I started DJing in London clubs in the early-to-mid '90s, what we now take for granted didn't really exist. Yes, there were records with "breakbeats" in them-those early rumblings of "big beat," quickly dismissed as gimmicky, cheesy piffle. But to make up a quality set of the sound I so badly wanted to hear, I had to scan, dig and scour. I would mix up electro, hip-house, deep house, obscure 'leftfield' b-sides, jungle records played on 33, and (full disclosure now) the occasional hardcore tune. I was getting there, but the sound in my head I was itching to hear through my ears still proved frustratingly elusive. I couldn't describe it, nor could I find it. That was, of course, until I discovered my first Bassbin Twins twelve-inch. That day, in Tag Records, tucked down an alleyway in Soho, a young crate-digger DJ mined 24 karat gold! This was heavy gold, too: putting needle to vinyl, I discovered the groove I'd been hearing in my imagination the whole time. It was devastatingly deep, had proper, beautifully-crafted, bassbin-shaking beats, house-rockin' energy, and those super-addictive signature vocal samples. Down to the stylin' little black-'n-white graphic on the label, the whole package was just fucking dope! In Bassbin Twins, I discovered the sound I had always wanted, no, needed to hear. For me, it changed everything: in my headspace, a whole new universe just opened anew. Without that record and the other Bassbin moments to come, my 1998 debut mix album Coastal Breaks would not have come about. In fact, without Bassbin Twins there would certainly be no Marine Parade Records. Some artists have their moment, then vanish: they do something fresh, accidentally inspire a whole new movement, and then disappear into obscurity. But the Bassbins have kept their ears to the ground and their fingers on the pulse. For our debut label compilation, we wanted to tell the story of where we have come from and how we have progressed, showing off our highlight moments and giving a tiny hint as to where we are going next. No one could do the job better than the ones who put match to gasoline in the first place: therefore, what an honour it is to present, Bassbin Twins vs. Marine Parade.
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