Hatemix

Last year I started picking up some white labels with no details about the artist or group just Hate printed on the outer sleeve. All I could find on Hate is he/she/they are associated to the excellent Manchester label Modern Love. The tunes themselves are are quality early/mid nineties old school breaks and jungle tunes. If you come across them bag em! Blow is a recent Hate mix that showcases the sounds that appear and inspired the Hate label.

Hatemix by modernlove

Ambient Selections

John Beltran has released a best of titled Ambient Selections recently showcasing some of his ace tracks he has released since the early/mid 90s. This man is one of my all time favorite artists. If you like the early works of Orbital or Aphew Twin you will love this guy.

Closer

Listening to the return of Mary Anne Hobbs to our airwaves she played this lovely little tune from Photek titled Closer. It's out next week on DJ Pinch's Tectonic label this one is an essential purchase.

Vista

Its been a while since I got a cd compilation and felt that I had to hunt down every single track on it. I used to love getting the vinyl companion to cd comps a few years back. To me they represented the only way of getting the tracks featured when you lived in Dublin. This was before Juno or download sites, the only way you could get something that was outside of the mainstream was to pay triple the price ordering it into HMV or take a punt on Billy in Abbey Discs, next tuesday mate. On a few occasions I even went over to London just to buy vinyl. The track below was featured on Radioactive man's brilliant Fabric cd from a few years back, I remember going to visit my Sister in Seattle and listening to the mix constantly on repeat for the whole trip.I havent really heard or seen a good compilation in any shop in a good while, prob due to the fact that you can go onto a blog and download an up to the minute mix from just about anyone in a matter of minutes, its also a sign of the times when I Pod accesories inhabit the floor space once reserved for vinyl in HMV aswel. I suppose lately, buying second hand vinyl is what excites me. Finding the gem that you cannot believe someone thought they could do without. Im sure everyone has that list committed to memory and when you find one thats on it, theres no better feeling.

Takeover Sound - Together in the dark

Hope In A Wall

I don't know what to make of acts that just pop up,put out some quality stuff then disappear just as quick. Whether you think that a small back catalogue adds to the mystique or just when they stopped before they over-stayed their welcome. France Copland are an act I really wished would have put out more of the same before deciding to hang up the boots. 2002's Pute & Mac white label was followed with the 2006 release of The Great French Institute Swindle on Omerta. Since then,not a peep. The track below is a rework of NWA's Dopeman, really love this track. You'l excuse the quality of the vinyl rip, just played it out that much its down to the bones.

France Copland - NWA's Dopeman

Trip To My Soul

Music is cyclic. Trends come just as fast as others go but at the end of the day quality always stands the test of time. There will always be innovators and inevitably there will be those who try to copy them. When I first started getting into breaks it was through compilation cd's available at the height of its popularity, but, it was only through delving a little deeper that I found what I really liked. My early vinyl collection was made up mostly of Tipper and Si Begg records, Rotters Golf Club and Fuel releases sprinkled with obscure white labels. Those days are long gone but I cant help but feel that the impression left by this music is still around today. Listening back to some of this stuff recently, its head and shoulders above any of the current crop of blog superstars productions around at the moment,and, unlike them, has its own quite unique identity.

Children Of The Cone - Bass Toy