Old Skool mixes

De Underground was a hardcore and jungle record shop based in Forest Gate in the 1990s run by Mike De Underground, Cool Hand Flex, Uncle 22. and Randall. 

By pure chance, it opened on the very road that I lived on and I ended up being in an out of that shop most days until I moved to a different part of town in 1994, and looking back it was a very important part of my life in those days.

It was much more than just a record shop though. As well as essentially being an important hardcore/ junglist social centre with everyone who was anyone in the scene passing through at some point, it was also an umbrella for a multitude of in-house labels with vinyl being pressed up (on what seemed like a weekly basis) of tunes made in large part by Cool Hand Flex and Uncle 22 in a studio based at the back of the shop. Added to this were contributions and releases from Asides, Lennie D’Ice, Hype, MC Fats, Randall, Marlon and Navigator. Though not one of the shop’s labels as such, Reel 2 Reel Records was based just around the corner and was (literally) part of the family too, being run by John Reel 2 Reel, brother to Cool Hand Flex and Mike De Underground. For those that knew, (it’s legacy is often overlooked in the history of hardcore and jungle) the shop served as an exclusive outlet for labels such as i.e. Records, In Touch Records, Oddball, Pure Energy, Ruff Groove, U No Dat, Reel 2 Reel, and of course De Underground records itself.

This mix set me an a personal journey to go back through over 100 or so records from all the De Underground labels and also Reel 2 Reel. There’s the big ones that I've always gone back to, but then there’s also a wealth of undiscovered gems that with the help of Discogs I could actually work out and rediscover what some of these mysterious white labels were.

There’s definitely scope for a part 2 to this mix. There’s so many more tunes I could have played and you have to think that some of these EPs come loaded with 3 or 4 tracks, plus things very much continue after 1994. That’s an immense back catalogue.

As Asides recently said, the back catalogue is “a mystery waiting to be unravelled”. This mix starts that process, but if you have an evening spare and want to dig deeper, then check these 2 links. 
www.discogs.com/label/2947-De-Underground-Records
www.discogs.com/label/15731-Reel-2-Reel-Productions

You can find out more about the history of De Underground records as part of Newham Heritage Month in May, which features podcasts from many involved with the shop and labels, a publication, and details of a QR code led tour around Forest Gate. www.rendezvousprojects.org.uk/portfolio/de-underground-records/
  
Tracklisting below. You can also buy digital files of some of these tracks over at https://hardcorejunglism.com

Uncle 22 - Pain (i.e Records) 91
Uncle 22 - Do It Again (U No Dat) 91 
Cool Hand Flex - Flexin’ (Reel 2 Reel) 92
 Lennie D’Ice - We are i.e (i.e Records) 91
Flex - Programme Part 2 (i.e Records) 91
 Flex & Uncle – Party Time (i.e Records) 91 
Asides - Rizzla (U No Dat) 91
Cool Hand Flex - Dance Floor Move (Ruff Groove) 92
Asides - Mix To The Max (Reel 2 Reel) 92
Raw From China - Welcome (Reel 2 Reel) 91 
2 Boasters, A Digestive & A Jammy Dodger - LSD! (Reel 2 Reel) 91
Randall - House Your Body (Oddball) 92
Cool Hand Flex – Lock Me Up (Ruff Groove) 92
Flex & Uncle – Dick-Turpin EP (U No Dat) 92
Cool Hand Flex – Welcome (Ruff Groove) 92
Cool Hand Flex – On The Strength (In Touch) 92
Cool Hand Flex - Your Risk (De Underground) 92
Cool Hand Flex - Energy (In Touch) 93
Cool Hand Flex – Out Of Control (De Underground) 93
Cool Hand Flex - Hold Back (In Touch) 93
Uncle 22 - Love Me Once (U No Dat) 93
Cool Hand Flex - Mars (In Touch) 93
Hype feat. MC Fats - Do Or Die  (De Underground) 93
4 Wise Men Featuring MC Fats (Oddball) 92
Mike De Underground - Blind Date (U No Dat) 93
Cool Hand Flex - Melody Madness (In Touch) 94
Uncle 22 – 6,000,000 Ways 2 Die (Uncle 22 Final Remix) (Strictly Underground) 94

De Underground mix 1991-94

Well it's not all from London I know, but like many a scene, London has often been a processing point for what's being generated elsewhere. In this case, very much courtesy of Frankfurt, Detroit, Rotterdam, New York and of course the UK itself. This is a fairly close recreation of the regular sets I played at VFM, Dead By Dawn, Eurobeat 2000, Institute Of Goa, Helter Skelter and various squat parties (Spiral Tribe, Bedlam) in and around London. Hard banging techno leading up to some of the decent first instances of gabba.  It's at a point where things were quickly splintering off from the highly successful UK Rave Hardcore sound of 92 and reconnecting with a harder updated version of what had previously been coming out of Detroit, Brooklyn, Belgium and Holland around 89/90/91. Looking back, though it seemed such a very separate sound from breakbeat hardcore, with the distance of time they were both very much shades of the same rave. Ah the memories….


www.twitter.com/warlockdj

Warlock - The Hard Sound Of London 1992-1994

Our next party on Saturday 21st August at the Fox & Firkin in South London. 
TICKETS HERE https://ra.co/events/1452872
Check out this wicked set of Jungle Rollers from Warlock at Distant Planet recently.

Warlock Distant Planet MOT 03.07.2021

Check out this set from our party last November by DJ Warlock.
Warlock took the Distant Planet ravers on a journey of all things breakbeat hardcore starting with 1992, a year that many involved weekly trips to shops like De Underground to get the latest wax to play at parties around the UK and on his weekly show on Pulse FM 90.6.

You can catch Warlock playing alongside Louise +1, Hughesee, FFF, Dwarde, Gand and Equinox on Friday night @ Bangface Weekender 2022 as part of the Distant Planet takeover of The Queen Vic.

Warlock @ Distant Planet - Venue MOT Nov 2021 - Bangface Teaser

Warlock opened up NYE with a treat of set! Bouncing around from Garage to breaks. Wicked set to bring in the New Year! Check it!

Warlock -WCHC NYE23

WARLOCK-HELTER SKELTER - ZOOM 1995 (TECHNODROME)

Wicked set of Hardcore, Jungle and Gabber from DJ Warlock.
Check out our recent video, which features Warlock on Distant Planet TV
youtu.be/k1aM_BjjOxY?si=PQHC-N_iGYIt5DKL

Distant Planet TV, our YouTube Channel
www.youtube.com/channel/UCMEcajrXzq2YGrPyZYaep2A

Insta - www.instagram.com/dpravecrew/

Warlock live at Distant Planet Venue MOT Oct 2024

Headlining proceedings 2-3am next Saturday night in The Leisure Centre is a DJ and producer who's pushed boundaries across the electronic music spectrum since the early days of rave - Warlock. He's chosen to draw on a golden era of DnB for his BoomTown set and prepared this mix as a taster. No tracklist for this one, so you'll have to do your homework. Over to Jason...

"Focusing on the darker and harder edged drum and bass from the late 1990s and early 2000s, the mix includes tracks from Technical Itch, Dom & Roland, Dylan, Doc Scott, Loxy & Ink, Krust, DJ Die, Digital & Spirit and more…"

Follow Warlock on Soundcloud here:
https://soundcloud.com/warlock
Keep up to date with Leisure Centre business here:
https://www.facebook.com/LeisureCentreHQ

The Leisure Centre Mix Volume 21 - Warlock

This is the recording of me DJ-ing at one of my favourite techno clubs from back in the day. Finally got round to encoding the cassette. For those that don’t know, KNOWLEDGE was a weekly Wednesday night techno haven and I was there religiously almost every week. This was one of the occasional all nighters I played at and I remember getting together about 10 pages of guestlist comprising listeners on Pulse FM and loads of mates (shouts to anyone who was there!!). It was such a good night, the place was rammed and I think Aphex was playing a live set before me. Kicking off with some faster techno and acid of the time and leading up to some full on gabba and distorted 909 kick drums. The mix isn’t perfect but it captures the time. Recorded 7th April 1993.

DJ Warlock set at Knowledge SW1 April 1993

THE PULSE 90.6 FM REUNION 
DJ WARLOCK & MC FUSION
RECORDED LIVE ON SATURDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER 2016
@ UNION NIGHT CLUB

DJ WARLOCK & MC FUSION : PULSE 90.6 FM 25 YEAR REUNION

A classic tape from back in the day.... DJ Warlock, London Town with the sounds of the solid groove!

DJ Warlock & MC Ribbz - Helter Skelter 1996

This is a vinyl excursion from the faster Hardcore of 93, through Jungle’s heyday of 94 and 95 and just edging up to the beginnings of drum & bass. Plenty of amens, lots of darkness, obligatory big bass and a ton of my heroes. 

Bad ass music from the likes of Dillinja, Ed Rush, Face Records, Remarc, Juice Records, Lemon D, Krome & Time, D Bridge, No U Turn, FBD Project, Legend Records, Pascal & Sponge, Metalheadz, M.T.S, Krust, Technical Itch, Marvellous Kane and more.

Mix is downloadable.

Warlock - Jungle 93-96 Mix

Tracklist

Spacework - Spacephantom [Mad Bass]
Heavyweight - The Way Of The Future (Cool Aid Mix) [The One After D]

Warlock

Byron Lewis - The Warning [II Exodus]
Raw From China - More Bass [Reel 2 Reel]
New Era - New Era [Great Asset]
Timebase feat. Kromozone - Fireball [Boogie Times]
Kicks Like A Mule - The Bouncer (Original Mix) [Tribal Bass]
DJ Trace - Ain't Gonna Wait No More [Orbital]
Acen - Close Your Eyes (Vitamin 'E' Mix) [Production House]
Jimmy Crash - Crash Course (The After Dark Remix) [Hardcore Records]
DJ Phantasy & DJ Gemini - Everybodys Under The Influence [Liquid Wax]
DJ’s U-Nite – Untitled (Vol.1 Side B) [Liquid Wax]
Dave Charlesworth - The Energizer (B) [Energizer]
Protocol - Autoload (Remix) [Coolin]

January 1992

Warlock - Pulse 90.6 FM - January 1992

Our Next Party: https://www.residentadvisor.net/events/1321912
Check the video out here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRXb18Y8TYI
Download the set here: http://mytings.org/Distant_Planet_MOT/July_2019/Distant_Planet_MOT_Warlock_130719.mp3

Links for DJ Warlock;
https://soundcloud.com/warlock
https://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/warlock
https://www.facebook.com/WarlockDJ/

Distant Planet @ MOT 13-07-19 DJ Warlock Oldskool Hardcore/Jungle - Download enabled

Helter skelter 3

WARLOCK---HELTER SKELTER (TECHNODROME)- THE BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND -1994

Warlock --Helter Skelter The Best Of Both Worlds (Technodrome) 1995

This is a mix of 91/92 tunes I used to rinse back in the day at such places as Slimetime, Roller Express, Labrynth and of course on Pulse 90.6FM. There's no let up, it's full on face melting nut nut hardcore, as dirty as you like. 

Warlock - ONLY FOR THE HARDCORE mix

DJ Warlock - Pulse FM - 29th Aug 1992

Here's a mix of some of the heavy, jackin techno tunes I was playing in the early half of the 90's. Roughly 1991 to 1995 and the sort of pounding analogue 909 beats I was dropping at Eurobeat 2000, Knowledge, Analogue City and Helter Skelter's Technodrome. Loosely speaking, it's on a Beltram -Armani - Landstrumm flex. Great days, great days…..

Warlock - 91-95 Classic Techno mix

A true hero of UK underground music we are thrilled to have the one and only Warlock stepping up to the plate providing a special 2 hour session of all things dark in garage. A seminal figure in uk rave scene since the early 90s Warlock has carved unique path whether being involved in the early free party scene playing warehouse techno, playing forward thinking electro at vital parties such as haywire or even nowadays where his productions can be found on labels such as Sneaker Social Club; all of this only scratching the surface.

This one is not one to be missed, read more about the mix from the man himself below

“This mix captures the really exciting times that were the early 2000s. That 2-Step sound was a perfect melting pot for all the garage, breaks and drum & bass that had come before it. A cross section of producers taking influences from left right and centre. I’ve got fond memories of traipsing around Soho record shops like Black Market and heading down to Croydon to Big Apple, picking up these tunes, blagging promos, and then times spent at FWD particularly the early days at Velvet Rooms next to the old Astoria (all now sadly demolished).  It was a big influence on me at the time - just as I was setting up my label Rag & Bone Records which it was also a big influence on. Great days, overlooked for years but finally coming of age.”

SnS Members Mix 021 - Warlock

Latest Kool FM/ Rinse FM shows here >> https://rinse.fm/shows/warlock/

Rag & Bone/ Sneaker Social Club/ Kool FM/ Distant Planet/ Furthur Electronix/ Pulse 90.6FM/ Eurobeat 2000/ Helter Skelter/


Booking: lou@rocketsciencemedia.com