Holy shit! I was very excited to finally locate this mix, a big thanks to Mixmaster Morris for pointing it out I have been wanting to hear this beauty again for quite some time, a long lost mix tape we had recorded off the radio and caned time and again... whilst caned on a variety of substances fashionable in the early 90's.
The Synergy Tour and the En tact album were both massively influential and really were something special in the early days of my foray into the dance music scene. I had always been band focussed massively into The Jam, The Cure, FGTH and Happy Mondays so the likes of New Order and The Shamen made sense to me.
Some classic material on ‘In Gorbachev We Trust' an album that caused controversy as The Shamen began to make a name for themselves. In 1990, the band's third album, ‘En-Tact', saw the arrival of rapper and DJ Richard West aka Mr. C. However, it was also marked by the tragic departure of Will Sinnott, who drowned in May 1991 while filming the video to ‘Move Any Mountain' in Tenerife. Reading interviews at the time they had been engaged in massive ecstasy binges and sensory deprivation experimentation in caves whilst on the shoot. He drowned in the midst of all this. A sad accident and a marked change in their sound and ethos soon followed.
The band decided to continue without him and the single 'Move any Mountain' (Watch it on 'Top Of The Pops') became The Shamen's biggest hit to date, peaking at number 4.
After that it all went a bit commercial with some appalling cheesy crowd pleasers and Mr.C playing the court jester and to be honest giving the band a bad name, as the masses took notice of Ebeneezer Goode putting it at the top of the charts for many weeks. By then I had long lost interest and saw it a signal of the demise of acid house culture and a quick cash in on the once underground, now tabloid scene.
The Prodigy made a statement album with Music for the Jilted Generation, commenting on CJA and it's impact on youth and the rave culture it suddenly destroyed. An excellent album with no deliberate mass appeal, it was hugely successful and lead them onto an international headline career, with multiple No.1's and further albums, production commissions and festival appearances worldwide
Have a listen to Possible worlds and imagine hearing it at 6am on a frosty morning in Ascot, courtesy of Spiral Tribe. Nothing is impossible.... quite a long way from TOTP
Andy Smith // Art of Tones // Arthur Baker // Binks // Birdee // Brandon Block // Cody Currie // Dr. Packer // Eliza Rose // Faro // Late Nite Tuff Guy // Le Visiteur // M.ono // Nick the Record // Nico de Transilvania // Pablo Contraband // Paris Cesvette // Phonk D // Ralph Session // Rayko // Rebecca Vasmant // The Emperor Machine // We Should Hang Out More // Young Pulse // Yuksek
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