Wednesday 30 April 2014

DEEPEST SHADE OF TECHNO





The item at the top is an album review that was published in Generator magazine in May 1994.
It's for a compilation called "The Deepest Shade Of Techno - Volume 1" and features the likes of Beltran, Fowlkes, Wink and a few others.
I've put my LP cover up on display to go with the review, a double vinyl pack released on Reflective Records in'94.

Saturday 26 April 2014

WARREN G DEBUT ALBUM





Here's a couple of items that were published around the time Warren G's debut album was released.
The top one is an ad that cropped up in The Ticket magazine in August 1994.
The item under it is a hip hop chart compiled by the Tuff Times crew in Switzerland and was published in Acid Jazz News magazine in September '94.
I have accompanied the items with my own copy of the LP - the debut vinyl version released in 1994 on Violator/RAL and titled "Regulate... G Funk Era".

Sunday 20 April 2014

MOWAX STUFF













Some early bits and pieces relating to the MoWax label...
First up is a brief overview of MoWax that was published in Mixmag in 1995 - a bit of basic background info and a few examples of their records.
The Mixmag item mentions MoWax started up in 1992, and from a 1992 Straight No Chaser magazine is the item following it - James Lavelle's record review page also called Mo'Wax, which went on to become a regular feature in SNC.
Next is an ad that appeared in SNC in 1993 and is for a compilation called 'Jazz Hip Jap', various artists from Japan showcasing the likes of DJ Krush, DJ Takemura, El Malo etc.
Under that is another SNC ad also from '93, this time featuring a variety of releases from acts such as RPM, Federation and so on.
MoWax got together with illustrator, Swifty, to design the MoWax merchandise in the mid 90's and the next item is a mail order ad published in SNC in 1994 featuring a few of the T-Shirt designs available.
Futura 2000 is on board by the the time of the next SNC ad, dating from 1998 - it's for UNKLE's "Psyence Fiction" album.
Underneath that is an ad out of Jockey Slut magazine dated 2000, and it featured a wide variety of names to look out for - Divine Styler, South, Blackalicious, Quannum and plenty others.
The sheet of stickers was a limited edition of 5000 and features graphics for acts like Major Force, Dr Octagon, DJ Shadow and so on, not to mention various MoWax logo stylings as well.
Finally, I have raided my record shelves at home to accompany the MoWax goodies and I have chosen an album that gets a mention in one of the ads - the 'Jazz Hip Jap' compilation which was released back in 1993. There are 4 images that make up the double vinyl LP cover - the front & back and because it's a gatefold design, I've included the inner details too.

Wednesday 16 April 2014

DIGGIN IN THE CRATES




The ad at the top was published in Breakin Point magazine in May 2001 and features a batch of releases relating to the Rawkus label.
One of the albums mentioned however - D.I.T.C - had their record out a year earlier in 2000 on the Tommy Boy label. The Rawkus version, I think, was the same but with the tracks in a different order.
I have accompanied the ad with my Tommy Boy version on CD.

Friday 11 April 2014

MOJO CLUB PRESENTS DANCEFLOOR JAZZ





In the early 90's, the Mojo Club in Hamburg, Germany, began a compilation series called "Dancefloor Jazz", consisting of various jazzy grooves from the 60's & 70's in the main.
The ad at the top is from a Straight No Chaser magazine dated 2002 when they had reached volume 11.
Going back to near the start of the series however, the other ad for the London based Mr Bongo record shop dates from 1993 and has vol.2 of Dancefloor Jazz on their list.
So delving into my own collection, I have accompanied the items with my LP from back in '93, vol.2 - subtitled "For What It's Worth", and was released on the Polydor label.

Sunday 6 April 2014

HOT BISCUIT RECORDS






I used Hot Biscuit Records mail order service quite a lot around the early/mid 90's period. They supplied regular newsletter updates containing jazz, funk and soul grooves, a variety of which I ended up buying.
The top item is one of their ads that was published in a 1991 issue of Straight No Chaser magazine.
Under it, is a review of the Hot Biscuit mail order service which was published in Birmingham Vibe magazine in 1994, when they ran a special feature on some of the mail order outlets that were available at the time.
A couple of examples of the kind of rarities I purchased from Hot Biscuit are the 2 LP's above - first is a bootleg/white label job called "Seven Sought After Tracks", a compilation of hard to find jazz, funk and Brazilian grooves that would cost a fortune if you bought copies of the originals.
The second album is along the same lines but was released on Resolution Records in 1994. Called "Darker Than Blue - Vol 1", it too was a compilation of rare & retro jazz, soul and funk grooves that were doing the biz on the dancefloor back then.

Wednesday 2 April 2014

WARP STUFF










A few bits & pieces relating to Warp record label...
The item at the top dates back to 1995 and is a brief overview of Warp that was published in Mixmag.
Forward-wind 11 years to 2006 and now a book is published about them, so needless to say this goes into more detail dealing with the history of the label, the acts, the artwork and includes a full discography.
I have quite a number of Warp records at home so have opted to focus on 2 which were released either end of the 90's.
First is the excellent "Aftermath" single by Nightmares On Wax which came out in 1990 - so along with my vinyl copy, I have supplied a House Chart that was published in Echoes music paper the same year, compiled by Zoom Records in London and featuring "Aftermath".
In 1999, Milesahead magazine published the above record review which contained 3 Warp releases - "Classics 89-92", "Remixes" and "Influences" - and I have chosen my "Remixes" CD to accompany the item.