Welcoming back Johan S to Toolroom and Oliver Knight who makes his debut on the label, with their Brand-New collaboration on Toolroom Trax – ‘Deep Inside’. A record drenched with that classic 1990’s House Vibe, full of breakbeats, Ravey hits and Soulful vocal melodies grounded with a tight Tech House groove.
Off the back of this killer release we explore the artists’ top 10 all-time favourite 90’s Rave & Hardcore records!
Hardcore 101 with Johan S & Oliver Knight – class is in session ?
Johan S & Oliver Knight – ‘Deep Inside‘
1. Dragon Fly – ‘Visions Of Rage‘
Johan: A bit of self promotion here haha, Dragon Fly was an alias that I used in the early 90’s, but the fact is that this little track made a massive impact on the scene and is still considered a hardcore classic – for which I’m very grateful! My first big club record! A lot of people also loved the piano driven remix that came out one year after this, but I prefer the original version right here.
2. DJ Seduction – ‘Hardcore Heaven‘
Johan: I just loved everything DJ Seduction did back in the day. This one was my favourite though. When the stab sounds drop it’s still goosebumps every time haha!
Funny fact; at 1.59 he samples the bleep sound from my ‘Visions Of Rage‘ track above. I never made a big deal about it though – I think I sampled something from him later on to make us even!
3. Digital Domain – Rabbit City 003
Johan: This is a very rare record that was tricky to come by – I still have my copy! I will never forget the first time I heard it; Fabio and Grooverider dropped it in the legendary Rage club in London and the whole place just exploded. Cool label this, Rabbit City, I have pretty much all of their releases, this one is my favourite though.
4. Krome & Time – ‘This Sound Is For The Underground‘
Oliver: ‘This Sound Is For The Underground‘ by Krome & Time was the first track on an old school rave CD that I bought when I was about 11 on a school trip to London. I was blown away by it and had it on repeat for about a year. I then saw ‘Bomb Scare‘ on tape in a record shop when I was also about the same age. I wore that tape out as well!
5. 2 Bad Mice – ‘Bombscare‘
Oliver: So, after I bought that CD in London, it made me want to explore the underground rave scene a bit more. My mates uncle was a promoter and part creator of the trance night ‘Slinky.’ He told us about this record shop in town that had all the newest music: it was called Spira. So in I went, about 11 years old, no decks at home. Just a tape and CD player. I saw ‘Bombscare‘, checked it out and paid the man about £1.59 and ran home to play it. Think the tape broke due to the amount of times I played it haha!
6. The House Crew – Euphoria (Nino’s Dream Remix)
Johan: This one pretty much sums up everything that made hardcore so fantastic! Absolutely brilliant track! And the label, Production House made many many killer releases.
7. Bump – ‘I’m Rushing‘
Oliver: Bump – ‘I’m Rushing‘ is just an absolute anthem and the Dave Spoon and Jamie Jones/Darius remixes are credit to what an absolute anthem it was and still is.
8. Origin Unknown – ‘Valley Of The Shadows‘
Oliver: This next one, Origin Unknown – ‘Valley Of The Shadows‘ is a record that I used to play in my mate Harry Judda’s bedroom when we were 14 and first tried to start DJ’ing! Good memories on this one…
9. LFO – LFO
Johan: A classic, plain and simple. One of the sickest basslines ever made.
10. Adonis – ‘No Way Back‘
Oliver: Well I don’t think there’s anything I can say about this iconic record that hasn’t already been said. Such an influential record that sounds as good today as it did when it first came out in 1986.