J.M.S. Presents - Man, We Had It So Good (1990-93 Indie-Dance Anthems) Vol.1

J.M.S. Presents - Man, We Had It So Good (1990-93 Indie-Dance Anthems) Vol.1

01 St. Etienne - Only Love Can Break Your Heart (LP Version)
02 Soho - Hippychick (Happiness Is A Warm Hippy Mix)
03 The Sindecut - Tell Me Why
04 Masssive Attack - Safe From Harm (LP Version)
05 Soul II Soul - Love Come Through (LP Version)
06 Martine Girault- Revival (Rebirth Edit)
07 Shara Nelson - Down That Road (LP Version)
08 Zoe - Sunshine On A Rainy Day (Reformation Version)
09 Bomb The Bass - Winter In July (Brighton Daze Mix)
10 Coldcut - Autumn Leaves (Nelle Hooper Vocal Mix)
11 Maureen Walsh -Thinking Of You (Dreaming of You Mix)
12 DNA feat Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner (12'' Mix)
13 The Cure - Close To Me (Closer Mix)
14 World Unite - World Unite
15 Electronic - Get The Message (DNA Remix)
16 The Farm - Groovy Train
17 Happy Mondays - Step On
18 The Sugarcubes - Birthday [Justin Robertson 12" Mix]
19 Primal Scream - Higher Than The Sun
20 The Grid - Floatation (Subsonic Grid Mix)

(Proudly compiled by DJ Jaz)

This 20 track deep compilation represents (in my opinion) some of the very finest music that Dance and Indie (Baggy) music had to offer music lovers and club heads in the early 90's.

My hope is that these tracks evoke some great memories and a truly joyous trip down memory lane or if you are new to any of these then I hope you enjoy them.

I have spent pretty much all of my Life around music whether selling it, playing it in clubs/bars etc or on radio, writing about it, dancing to it or just listening to it and as I grow older (I'm 44 now with a beautiful Daughter and a Lovely Wife) I have (like many others before me) deeply gone down nostalgia lane and actually came out a better person for it I feel.

I sifted through hundreds of tracks and changed the track-listings over many times but I honestly feel that this first volume is a great compilation and does what I set it out to do.

The 90's just had soul, style, heart, substance and creativity in a massive abundance and I can fondly recall a session around or '92 or 93 where I said "Man, I wish I could just repeat these years over and over again".

I had all of these tracks on 12", CD or CD single or Cassingle at one stage but most have either got sold, lost or stolen (as it goes) however it's 2017 now and we live in a digital age and I for one am incredibly grateful for today's technology.

This compilation is especially dedicated to my old Vivian Street crew, my old Cuba Street and Stussy crew (Evening Post famous once haha) all of the old Naked Angel and Midnight Espresso crew, Clinton Smiley, Cian and Cool Tone from The Soul Mine
Colin Morris and Steve H and the crew from Colin Morris Records every single person I had the good fortune of meeting through great music and last but definitely not least...every single DJ that rocked these tracks and others like it and made me lose my mind on the dance floor.

The 90's were indeed a very special and unique time.

Until the next one ;)

J.M.S. Joint of The Week: EPMD - "Do It Again" (1997)

This week's joint of the week is from (as you would already well know) my all time fave MC team EPMD and while I dive into Erick Sermon's lengthy resume, I'm starting to wonder why he never gets mentioned alongside DJ Premier and Pete Rock, Dilla and Marley Marl when he has done so much for not only Hip Hop but R&B & Reggae/Hip Hop as well and while I'm not a fan he has also produced some commercial material that should have seen him earn big bucks but it didn't really happen and I wonder if he regrets supplying dope beats for overblown and overrated fraudulent rappers?...who knows lol

"Do It Again" is "Green Eyed Bandit Funk" formula for sure but damn it works, when I first heard this back in 1997 on their comeback album "Back In Business" I was surprised that E-Dub had not usedTom Browne's classic Jazz Funk number "Funkin' For Jamaica" before, sure E had used elements of it in L.O.D.'s "Feel It" (1996) and a few other joints but he hadn't used it like he did on "Do It Again" incorporating elements of it
and I suspect it might have been difficult to chop up as there is a lot of busy vocal work among the instruments but E flipped it superbly and Erick and Parrish throw rhymes back like and forth like old times and sound right at home.

The Back In Business LP certainly had it's moments but it's not overly an essential EPMD album in my view, some tracks felt a bit thrown together and they were capable of much better, still it is worth revisiting and this track was one of the highlights for me.

Bonus Joint: L.O.D. -"I Feel It"

Peace

J.M.S. Joint of The Week: Big Tabb - "Laid Back" (1993-94)

Peace, it has been a while between drinks but you know how busy Life can get...this week's joint of the week is pure underground East Coast flav (via Philly aka Illadelph) taken from Bigg Tabb's unreleased album Who's Wreckin The Mic (recorded between 1993-94) kindly put out there by the true heads at Chopped Herring who will be on their 200th release shortly.

Bigg Tabb aka Jakk Frost is best known for his "It's Nice Outside" b/w "Brothers In Da Hood" 12' released in 1993.

"Laid Back" produced by MG aka Mentally Gifted (a name you will know well if you listened to Da Youngsta's back in the day) is exactly why I love and miss 90's Hip Hop so damn much, a rhythm infused track with well placed Biz Markie and Rakim vocal samples and Tabb going for broke sounding like a combination of Grand Puba and Pudgee Tha Phat Bastard with a guest appearance by One Man Riot?



Pick up the CD or LP here

One

Fat shout out to Appleseed.