Pinch – Influences

Here’s where it started for me, one of, if not the first LPs (tape actually..) I handed over hard unearned pocket money for and stuffed in my walkman for repeat repeat repeat listening. It’s pretty awful tbh so I wouldn’t recommend listening to the whole thing. It can be a funny album if you’re 8-10 pints into a drinking session – but otherwise…

This track, taken from the eponymous LP ‘Colourbox’ (Be careful, this is from the first of their 2 LPs, both amazingly called ‘Colourbox’ – the second one isn’t very good though.). Dubby goodness with lots of electro splashes. This track reminds me of being about 10 and reading these gaming books by Steve Jackson & Ian Livingston (the ones where you turn to various pages depending on what option you select for and roll dice to defeat opponents etc). Still love this album today. Unlike Jive Bunny and his associates.

My first real musical obsession was Jimi Hendrix, from when I was about 12-14 years old.. It was enough for me to attempt to learn guitar, which I did till I got totally bored of and disinterested with guitar music, around 15-16yrs. In this particular video he smashes the psychedelic shit out of Star Spangled Banner, showing it’s about how you play, not what you play.

Primed to the On-U Sound from a young age, again courtesy of my older brother, this was always a favourite of mine. Loved the wobbly, woozy vibe of the track – it sets you into the mood that a strong spliff on a summery afternoon will give you. Perfect!

Since it’s all getting a bit trippy and far out man… Thought it would link in nicely to one of my favourite Ted Talks! Not actually on the topic of magic mushrooms, this short overview to Stamets work is so exciting and interesting – I genuinely wanted to share it. Who would have thought the mushroom species would be so involved with maintaining the ecology of our planet – and how useful certain species of mushroom can be to humanity. Seriously, check it.

One of the most significant live music experiences I had growing up was hearing Leftfield perform in Cardiff in 1996 when I was 15. I really lost interest in pretty much all guitar based music around this time. The show was amazing, each track felt properly versioned from the LP and the energy in the crowd was paced but pulsing throughout (none of this mosh pit squash you to shit rubbish). Couldn’t find the Cardiff one on youtube but this is them playing live, same year.

Similar time as going to see Leftifield I went to check Goldie live on the Timeless tour, supported by Doc Scott and Peshay on the wheels of steel. This was definitely the start of my jungle love affair (we’re still seeing each other actually…) and my pick from a genuinely perfect dance music album.

Jungle turned to Drum & Bass and in the process it became much darker, more rigid in the beats and more tech-driven. A tape that came free with Muzik magazine immediately became a permanent feature in my tape deck, showcasing Grooverider’s The Prototype Years. Here’s the A-side to the actual demo freebie tape! This moody D&B whet my pallet and left me seeking more, I was hooked!

As jungle mutated into Drum & Bass, many of the original producers moved their sonic to new territories, keeping things swinging: UK Garage, 2-Step, UKG and so on… First heard this track on a tape a mate recorded from London pirate station Mission FM, with Heartless Crew controlling things. Love the blend of smooth and rough on this one – even has some photo dubstep elements going on.

When I first heard dubstep it got me good and proper! 2004-2005 was when the real gold happened and this Loefah rhythm touches on a lot of the things that especially appealed to me at the time – the percussion, the raging sub bass – the mood. There’s just so many early dubstep titles I could have drawn for and in some ways this isn’t ‘the best dubstep tune ever’ but I do think it captures the feeling of the scene at the time (early 2004); back when there was only about 150 people in total in the scene, including all the ravers/punters! “This is dread man, truly dread”. Pure gold.