Vinyl Fanatiks レコード& CD

Review: As any keen breakbeat heads will know, DJ H's 'The Bass Project' EP came originally back in 1993 and is something of a classic in the genre. It is now getting reissued on nice heavyweight and pink marled vinyl in mad limited quantities but all mastered from a mint vinyl copy. The record infamously suffered from a questionable mixdown and so for this new reissue, the original samples have been re-sourced and layered over the restored files. Apparently, it took some 23 straight man-hours to get the work done - but it has paid off as these sound superb.

Review: Vinyl Fanatiks take it all the way back to 1993 with this reissued EP by Fruit & Veg. It has been fully remastered of the occasion and sounds as good now in terms of the fidelity, as well as the style, as it did 30+ years ago. 'Dark Enough?' is a nice heads-down and hardcore jungle roller with broad, menacing bass that booms out beneath the silky loops. Flip it over and '25%' again has some devastating amen breaks looped to infinity while more tripped melodies bring a darker rave edge to this one.

Review: Law & Auder's latest release, Big It Up/Boomstick, is a two-track EP that showcases their unique blend of jungle and liquid drum and bass. The A-side, 'Big It Up,' is a high-energy track with a fun, reggaeton-inspired melody and plenty of samples. The B-side, 'Boomstick,' is a more atmospheric track with an eerie melody, a big Amen break, and a deep, throbbing bassline. Law And Auder's production skills and their ability to create music that is both danceable and thought-provoking. This record gives major old skool hardcore vibes.

Review: The Vinyl Fanatiks label is doing a superb job of offering up classics from days gone by that need to be heard again. They do so in a range of genres and Mad Dog is behind many of them. He is a hardcore maestro and two of his most explosive sounds are offered up on this new limited 7". 'Relapse' opens up with hurried breakbeats and skittish snares that explode and implode over menacing basslines. There is no let up on the flip when 'Secret Garden' storms out the blocks with just as much breaks-driven energy but more smooth and pensive synth work.

Review: Vinyl Fanatiks latest deep dive into British dance music's rave-era past takes us back to 1993 and an early EP from Dave 'Aquasky' Wallace under the Rave Doctor alias. All four tracks were originally released - minus titles - on Stu J's influential Adrenalin Records imprint via the 'I' EP, which in recent years has become something of an in-demand item amongst collectors. Now fully remastered, the tracks sound as rushing and energetic as ever, with Wallace flitting between sub-heavy 4/4 breakbeat hardcore (the thumping 'Live With The Hardcore'), blistering breakbeat hardcore ('Shake Your Rump', which features a typical-for-the-period chords-and-sped-up-vocals breakdown), proto-jungle insanity from the 'jungle-tekno' period ('Annihilating Rhythm') and an 'Apache' break-driven slab of sub-heavy breathlessness ('Ruff In The Jungle', with its jangling pianos and hands-aloft approach).

Review: Last year, hardcore and jungle archivists Vinyl Fanatiks dipped into the back catalogue of early 90s breakbeat heroes Rhythm Section - a crew whose members included future TCR main man Rennie Pilgrem - and offered up a 12" featuring the first four tracks from their 1995 double-pack The Sequel. Here they round up the rest of the tracks in remastered form. There's much to admire, from the warehouse-ready, 'Bombscare'-inspired melodic motifs, crunchy breaks and booming bass of 'Rhythm Is Fundamental' and the acidic squelchy of peak-time smasher 'Freakin' Out', to the hip-hop sampling breakbeat funkiness of 'Time To Hit The Floor' and the stab-happy, sub-heavy hedonism of 'Work That Body'.

Review: In the realm of electronic music, Silver Fox's Dread by Dawn emerges as a captivating time capsule from the golden age of jungle and hardcore. Originally released in 1993 and meticulously reissued in 2024, this rare gem has lost none of its potency. The album's four tracks exude a haunting and otherworldly atmosphere, characterized by ominous doom-infused soundscapes and unmistakable jungle and hardcore rhythms. Central to the album's allure is its masterful utilization of the iconic "amen break," a drum loop that has become synonymous with the genre. Silver Fox weaves this pulsating rhythm into a mesmerizing tapestry of dark and melodic samples, including ethereal voices and haunting sci-fi elements. The result is a deeply hypnotic and immersive listening experience that transports listeners back to the halcyon days of electronic music's boundary-pushing experiments.