I don't think there were many record shops that were of the customer is always right mentality, but then there were some who went out of their way to be mardy & I can genuinely say that never happened in Sheff & the even smaller places had really friendly staff. Cushty/Cushdy records an example of that, dunno how you spell it. Think that was in the Forum & had a great selection of records. Remember again, bumping in to the owner in the Marcus Garvey in Notts & him being pretty amazed that I knew about his shop.
90s techno thread
- Thread starter killer b
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I don't think there were many record shops that were of the customer is always right mentality, but then there were some who went out of their way to be mardy & I can genuinely say that never happened in Sheff & the even smaller places had really friendly staff. Cushty/Cushdy records an example of that, dunno how you spell it. Think that was in the Forum & had a great selection of records. Remember again, bumping in to the owner in the Marcus Garvey in Notts & him being pretty amazed that I knew about his shop.
ska invita
back on the other side
i dont think anyone would dispute that the bass/bleep scene was a northern thing, not to mention the whole manchester scene...its with the protojungle breakbeat stuff when london really got its own distinct sound (and basically created a split away from drum machine techno)
really loving that Swag Dark Corners, what a monster, look forward to playing it loud. anything else like that on the house meets techno tip, would love to hear it (will check some more Swag cuts - ETA Swags' Version12 is great too i see! maybe getting away from techno though)
sunnysidedown
caput mortuum
you could also check Russ Gabriel if you’re not already familiar. Does a good range of stuff in both camps. I remember hearing Doc Martin play this in a house set.
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sunnysidedown
caput mortuum
His Ferox label put out a good range of styles as well.
sunnysidedown
caput mortuum
And PWOG went a bit housey with this track.
sunnysidedown
caput mortuum
Back on the techno proper. I was a bit obsessed with PWOG and when I heard that their mate Starfish Pool was playing in London I took a 5 hour bus journey to check him out. Turns out the venue was a tiny downstairs room in Soho and there were about half a dozen tables and chairs next to a small stage with all the gear set up so no room to dance. Must of been about 10 people there including the bloke sat on my table who turned out to be from Generator magazine. Good night nonetheless. This mix must have been made a little later.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
sunnysidedown
caput mortuum
Some gems there. It was great to see that live footage from 91 when it got posted. I saw them live in 93/94 and it was outstanding. Alex Knight DJed before and after (he was probably my favourite DJ at that time)
bmd
Island in the stream.
Ignore me mate. I'm pretty sure I'm just talking about myself.
Cushty? Wasn't that at the other end of Division St? I remember there was one that started up down there when the rave scene was really banging.
Ignore me mate. I'm pretty sure I'm just talking about myself.
Cushty? Wasn't that at the other end of Division St? I remember there was one that started up down there when the rave scene was really banging.
It's hard to remember exactly but I think Cushty was upstairs in the Forum. I remember buying some R&S stuff from there in probably late Spring 1992. Although, I think there was a smaller downstairs shop in later years in the Forum, nothing to do with Cushty, but selling electronic stuff.
Down the other end of Division street, near to Devonshire Green, I remember a brilliant, think it was almost like a 'pop up' record shop that opened up possibly only at weekends. Again on the first floor, very near to Rare & Racy & it was just a treasure trove of electronic vinyl. Quite pricey but anything you wanted, was there. That was slightly later-possibly 95/96.
Then do you know Broomhill? Down one of the side roads, there was one of the best collections I've seen of vinyl- but the guy was charging like £20 an EP- we are talking about almost the complete catalogue of U.R. & rare BC bits, but still. Imagine it was his own private collections and he just set up shop.
Finally, behind the city hall, again 95ish, there was a woman called Amy (I think) who was importing Dancemania & the like. Not many places like that in Sheff.
Spandex
A crazy bulbous punchbag of sound
Was that VM records? I loved that place while I lived in Sheffield 95-98. I've still got one of their stickers on a CD box.
God only knows. I wish I did.
bmd
Island in the stream.
Thinking about Rare & Racy made me think of that bloke who used to drive around in the E-Type Jag. Him who made a load of cash from posters? I remember Dino just looking at him and I knew what he thought.
Did you know Dino?Yes, it is.
Not really. I knew of him as a DJ but not sure I ever heard much by him. I didn't go out in Sheff as much from 1990, moved to Notts, so plenty of the bigger events like Nelson Mandela building/Palais (Wednesdays in the Summer) when I came home, not so much the smaller places though.
Not really. I knew of him as a DJ but not sure I ever heard much by him. I didn't go out in Sheff as much from 1990, moved to Notts, so plenty of the bigger events like Nelson Mandela building/Palais (Wednesdays in the Summer) when I came home, not so much the smaller places though.
bmd
Island in the stream.
bmd
Island in the stream.
Selectadisc. I used to speak to them quite a lot when I worked for The Cartel via Red Rhino, sell them the new releases. Mad to recall how big record shops were in those days. Red Rhino was two huge floors, mainly vinyl. Selectadisc was quite big too, wasn't it? Weren't there a couple of them at one point?
Selectadisc. I used to speak to them quite a lot when I worked for The Cartel via Red Rhino, sell them the new releases. Mad to recall how big record shops were in those days. Red Rhino was two huge floors, mainly vinyl. Selectadisc was quite big too, wasn't it? Weren't there a couple of them at one point?
It was actually 3 at one point. Dance was at the bottom of the hill, then you had a CD shop next door to the two storey vinyl shop. Eventually the dance section was moved to the upper floor of the 2 storey shop, which maybe explains the grumpynness of some (but not all- some were lovely) of the staff.
When did you work in WARP?
bmd
Island in the stream.
bmd
Island in the stream.
I've just started getting into making electronic music after a bit of a swerve onto, um, less interesting paths. It's a bit frustrating tbh. Imagine wanting to race cars and having to understand how a combustion engine works, build one and then learn how to drill for oil, extract it and make your own high octance fuel, before you get to the track.
bmd
Island in the stream.
I'm listening for the drum machines etc when I swap out a missing track with another one from the same artist. There's quite a few on the playlist from the noughties. If anyone wants anything taking off then just let me know. I thought about making it public so anyone could edit it but I don't trust them lol.
Monkeygrinder's Organ
Dodgy geezer swilling vapid lager
sunnysidedown
caput mortuum
Infonet were another great label (maybe not taken as seriously as they should have been due to being a subdivision of Creation), probably best known for Bandulu. I used to love this EP, all tracks are great.
Ozric sampling Techno from '92
Ozric sampling Techno from '92
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ska invita
back on the other side
Enjoying all the reminiscing...reminded me of a couple of excellent record stalls on markets - Camden had a couple of quality sellers in the early 90s, was a good one in Lewisham too, Something really nice about buying a killer record at a market stall I think. Maybe because has some of that DIY hustle of the scene
That RAC - National Breakdown EP is really great, all tracks, can/will definitely play those next to 92 (hardcore) rave tracks <another gem thanks this thread, thank u
Would love to check out more 1992 UK techno that might sit alongside around the 140bpm mark (or thereabouts). I think 1992 is the last gasp for that kind of cross-scene unity, by 93 the splintering into different distinct directions is pretty complete. 1991 was a great melting pot year
That RAC - National Breakdown EP is really great, all tracks, can/will definitely play those next to 92 (hardcore) rave tracks <another gem thanks this thread, thank u
Would love to check out more 1992 UK techno that might sit alongside around the 140bpm mark (or thereabouts). I think 1992 is the last gasp for that kind of cross-scene unity, by 93 the splintering into different distinct directions is pretty complete. 1991 was a great melting pot year
sunnysidedown
caput mortuum
might be worth also having a look at those two Earth Leakage Trip eps on Rising High (both 92) if you’re not already familiar with them.
sunnysidedown
caput mortuum
Slight derail. two of the associated scenes of nineties techno I had no time for were Terry Francis’ Tech-House crap, he took the best bits of both techno and house and threw them away. I had the misfortune of seeing him DJ at Heaven around 97, awful stuff, I fucked off early.
the other scene was that bloody awful London acid techno rubbish they had going on at club 414, seemed to be mostly comprised of the sort of people who wore jumpers on the dance floor and danced like they were wading through treacle. The music was a bloody awful racket too. I got thrown out when I was there for having a kip in the ambient room.
the other scene was that bloody awful London acid techno rubbish they had going on at club 414, seemed to be mostly comprised of the sort of people who wore jumpers on the dance floor and danced like they were wading through treacle. The music was a bloody awful racket too. I got thrown out when I was there for having a kip in the ambient room.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
the narrative being questioned in the book is the story of acid house in the UK originating at Shoom with DJs returning from Ibiza after having the time of their lives, when in fact clubs up north had been playing it for a while when Shoom started.
Spandex
A crazy bulbous punchbag of sound
Tech-house was one of those scenes were there were good tunes - that SWAG tune a page or so back is a perfect example of good tech-house - but it was very hard for DJs to put an interesting set together. The odd person could manage it (Nils Hess & Richard Summerhayes from Eukatech for example), but all too frequently (and pretty much always since the millenium) tech-house sets seemed to be a functional rhythmic tool for people who'd had one too many pills to move their body to until they realised it was time to go home. In short: can be good in small doses.
Acid-tekno was trance for people who were too cool to like trance.
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