DJ Timestretch: Live at the Casualty Ward ('97 drum & bass)

Anyone who was around in Boston's drum and bass scene in the 1990s will definitely remember dj Timestretch. Me, on the other hand, am on the new school tip so never got the chance to meet this cat. Regardless, he made his mark back then and was regarded as one of the very first people to promote the sound of jungle around parties and raves in the city during the mid 90s. As this was before the widespread proliferation of the web and even prior to 4front records the only way he would even be able to get dnb/jungle vinyl is to actually travel to the UK to get it! When he was there he was able to network a lot and even get some dubs cut. He took things a step beyond DJ'ing though and ran a record label (Advance Recordings), produced, and threw parties.

This tape is a perfect snapshot of drum and bass music at a time when the sound of techstep was at it's infancy while jump-up and ragga were slowly starting to gravitate away from the spotlight. Almost all of the well known tracks from '97 are here, as well as a few of Timestretch's own tunes and even a couple dubs of tracks that were unreleased at the time (and I'm not even sure if the D'Cruze track even came out at all!) Good mixing and even a little bit of scratching on here too.

DJ Timestretch-Live at the Casualty Ward (side 1) 

John B: Slamfunk Remix (dubplate)
Dillinja: Light Years (prototype)
Ed Rush & Optical: Funktion (v recordings)
Nemesis & DJ Kane: System (optical & fierce remix) (renegade hardware)
Snuggles & 3D: Template (dubplate)
Genoforce: The Germ (hardware)
D'Cruze: ??? (dubplate)
Krust: Warhead (v recordings)
Optical: To Shape the Future (Remix) (metalheadz)
John B: Starburst VIP (dubplate)
Roni Size: Trust Me (talkin loud)


DJ Timestretch-Live at the Casualty Ward (side 2) 

John B: Secrets (dubplate)
3D: Millenial Dawn (dubplate)
Timestretch: Electrobolt VIP (dubplate)
Goldie: Temper Temper (Grooverider Remix) (ffrr)
John B: Sight Beyond (new identity)
SS: Symphonic (new identity)
Decoder: Circuit Breaker (Peshay Remix) (tech itch)
Moby: James Bond Theme (Grooverider Remix) (mute)
Faith No More: Ashes to Ashes (Dillinja Remix) (london)
Doc Scott: Swarm (metalheadz)
Roni Size: Brown Paper Bag remix (talkin loud)
Scorpio: Trouble (v recordings)
Sci Clone: Everywhere I Go (dubplate)
 

DJ Overload: Subsonic Soundscape (house, electro, florida breaks, mid '90s)

Really nice tape I've had for a minute now by a DJ who was well known in Boston's dance and rave scene in the early-mid 1990s. From what I have heard in his mixes he appears to be very versatile and used to play everything from techno to hardcore to techstep drum & bass. He was involved with promoting one of Boston's first dnb events, "Jungle Roots", with Al Fougy. This tape shows a bit of what his interests were on the other side of the 140bpm range however. I have 2 of Overload's mixes on my computer and have this one on cassette-although I found a web link for it courtesy of dj Entropy!

Over the course of Subsonic Soundscape's 90 minutes we hear bits and pieces of detroit techno, classic electro breaks drenched in 808's and vocoders Miami-style, synth laden deep house, club-oriented vocal house, even a little bit of acid towards the end. Sound quality isn't the best but is a nice journey regardless.

Overload-Subsonic Soundscape (side 1)
Overload-Subsonic Soundscape (side 2) 


ps- anyone from Upstate NY recognize any of the flyers in the pic there? ;)