042. Pants & Corset – Malice in Wonderland

Back in 2000, just as the tsunami of Trance was beginning to show the initial signs of commercial fatigue, a new and trendy working class sound was starting to gain popularity: Hard House.

As a genre in its own right, this was something of a blip on the musical radar. Emerging out of the ashes of Nu-NRG and the gay club scene, but taking inspiration from Hardcore and Rave, it chugged away uneasily while what became known as ‘Hard Dance’ slowly and painfully began to establish its self. No one really makes or listens to what people would have called Hard House any more, and fast forwarding to 2010, you realise just how temporally fixed it is.

However, despite its relatively short lived appeal, some absolutely fantastic tracks were produced in its name. Pants & Corset – Malice In Wonderland featured on a Mixmag cover CD by then up and coming superstar DJ, Fergie. The tune is actually a bootleg of Cenith X – Feel and goes to show how much a simple change of tempo and restructuring can really alter the mood and feel of a track.

Delightfully, this is limited to only 500 pressings; yet another example of that most enchanting and precious feeling in record collecting which has sadly been evaporated by changes in technology: exclusivity.

   Pants & Corset - Malice In Wonderland by dcp84

Pants & Corset – Malice In Wonderland

[White : n./a]

(2000)

Discogs: £4.49

032. Valentino Kanzyani - La Sala Loca EP

Why I only recently bought this record I’ll never really know; it should have been in my collection from the day of its release. This is potentially one of the best records I now own, looped techno at its finest. It’s that good, I’d even say it’s touching ‘never leave the box’ status. With the funk turned up to 11, it’s guaranteed to get the dance floor hot and sweaty within seconds.

With this in the collection, my mission to own the entire play list of Valentino’s 2004 essential mix, one of the best showcases of funky looped three deck techno action ever, is one record closer.

Valentino Kanzyani - La Sala Loca EP by dcp84

Valentino Kanzyani - La Sala Loca Ep; La Sala Loca
[Recycled Loops: REELOOP12 / White Label]

Discogs: £6.30

013. Eufex - You Got It

Ok, I’ll concede that UK hard house isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. At its best it can capture a raw energy and vitality which begs to be let loose on a large sound system. At its worst, it is a collection of all the worst production clichés one can find in hardcore, jump-up and chart based dance music from the last decade crammed into one seven minute long mind numbing noise. Bad hard house sounds like the sort of music clowns would make if they broke into a music studio on an E induced rampage.

In terms of quantification, the split between these two categorisations is around 20% former, 80% latter. This is probably a generous estimate. You really have to work hard to uncover the gems of this genre. But even these caveats considered, it is a straightforward mystery why Eufex never really made a bigger indent into the UK, and even global, club scene than he did. You may not like what he produces, but you cannot disagree that the man has talent, and what he does produce is done with skill. Single handed, Eufex has been steadily supporting that slim 20%.

So why isn’t Eufex bigger than he is? Politics perhaps? While I don’t know the actors involved, nor have first hand information I am not in a position to accurately comment, but based on the evidence I can see it certainly seems that way. He had releases on strong UK labels, most notably Nukleuz. He had major support on several releases from Judge Jules. Yet in the end the man was forced to retire from the music industry due to lack of funds.

You got it is one of those big room, large sound system monsters. At home, you’re left thinking ‘ok, so this isn’t a bad tune.’ In a club, everything changes; it suddenly makes much more sense. The key point for me is after the rolling sub line ends its climb during the peak of the track and drops back down to the low end. As it climbs you forget just how much presence it originally had, only to be brought back with a bump. Add this on top of the complex layers of efx and percussion which are the hall mark of any Eufex track and you have on your hands a pristine example of what hard house should have been.

Eufex is one of those producers whose discography is so small and yet talent so great, it really is a crime not to have every production he’s made tucked away in the collection. He’s one of those little secrets, not big enough for the world and his wife to recognise, but significantly talented for those who know the difference to nod sagely when you drop one of his many underrated offerings.

Eufex - You Got It
[Ravage : RAV-105]
(?)

011. Mitch & Mart - Get Up

Elusive, rare, hard-to-find, valuable; these adjectives represent increasingly disappearing values and concepts in the age of digital DJing. Tracks get picked up by the big jocks, spend a while doing the rounds in promo then get released and distributed via MP3 format to the online stores for the world and his wife to download (if they haven’t already after it’s been sneakily ripped and leaked to the internet by a nefarious link in the chain). This is a central reason why we progressively see DJs tending to re-edit and remix tracks for their personal use only; to unconsciously reinvigorate and maintain exclusivity. As back catalogues are being uploaded, we’re rapidly approaching a point were if you can’t find a track to download, the chances are you never will be able to. While I have sympathy with values of egalitarian access, this trend undermines much of the appeal I find in record collecting and DJing. What are we supposed to admire in sound craftsmanship of the work-a-day DJ when we know all the background research he (or she) has put in has been half an hour spent downloading online? How can I respect you as a DJ if this is the case? Does a collection of music have as much intrinsic meaning if it is electronic and not physical? Can something still hold value if it lacks rarity?

Putting these somewhat metaphysical problems of contemporary DJing culture aside for one moment, here we have one track which still clings onto those adjectives we introduced earlier. Mitch & Mart’s Get Up was a regular staple of Mr. O’Riordan’s back in the hazy days of 1999 and early 2000. It’s a funky, but hard, housy number with trancy overtones. As indefinite descriptions go, that’s about as good as it will get. Despite receiving consistent DJ support from one of the biggest DJs of that era, and featuring on Ministry compilation with wide commercial distribution, this never saw the light of day. All that exist of this track are a few white labels which were pressed for promotional purposes. As a result, quite a buzz still exists about this tune. Thankfully, I’m now lucky enough to own one of those elusive copies now.

Mitch & Mart - Get Up
[White : MITCH01]
(1999)