8 Tracks – Eddie C

I was into Run DMC first, but Public Enemy completely changed the way that I thought about music. I was also 12 years old at the time which is about the age that we develop tastes for things that can last a lifetime. I’d never heard anything like this. I already dug the repetitious nature of Hip Hop music but this was like a hypnotic repetitious “emergency”! All of The Bomb Squad’s production featured deep layers of funk and noise. For someone who really had never heard the music where the samples came from, the experience was indescribable. I suppose I got into music around the time in the 80s when things changed from being drum machine oriented to sample oriented.

Same deal here. Full of samples and scratching. Hypnotic and pure dope. Rakim’s voice is incredible.

I loved Acid House and Hip House in the late 80s. I was also heavy into Twin Hype, Doug Lazy, Tyree Cooper etc.. Fast rapping and acid.. loved it. I should mention that “Yo Yo Get Funky” by Fast Eddie was also huge for me. The way it had the same beat as “It Takes Two” which to me is one of the greatest records of all time – up there with “900 Number” by The 45 King. Back then I could have listened to that Lyn Collins loop for a week without getting bored.

I could have put a hundred different early Hardcore tunes in here. This has that ‘bleep’ sound in it that was present in the early Warp records, breakbeats from harder Detroit records, sirens, that “rave” orchestra hit and ruff bass. Around this time I was also into Eon, LFO, Orbital, and lots of early British Breakbeat music or Breakbeat Techno as it was maybe once called, that then became Hardcore which eventually evolved into Jungle. I had a decent ‘Amen Break’ addiction that lasted a few years.

I was very into Techno as well from the early 90s. I bought “Techno – The New Dance Sound of Detroit” around ’89. Although I grew up near by, I didn’t go to Detroit until around ’94. It totally changed my perception of dance music and Techno. Toronto had a very strong British influence. A huge warehouse party scene that lasted until about ’95. I moved to Kitchener in ’95 and came in contact with a scene there that was very Detroit influenced. I was already a huge fan of Richie Hawtin and went to as many of the Plus 8 and associated parties that I could.

I got this one in Detroit and thought it was a Detroit record for the longest time. I associated all the minimal stuff from the mid-90s with Detroit. Only later did I learn that there was a great deal coming from Germany.I’m sure it’s been written about a thousand times but to hear music that was so stripped down and decomposed seemed completely revolutionary. Repetitious yet constantly changing.

I actually didn’t hear this until about 2000. It brought back great memories from my Junglist days. I had always also casually bought Reggae records most of my life. It’s still one of the greatest pieces of radio I’ve ever heard. The introduction of ‘Digital Reggae’ – The Sleng Teng – in 1985 by the two greatest jocks of the time. I’m endlessly fascinated by David Rodigan’s life. Watch some of his clashes on Youtube for some outstanding musical knowledge and entertainment.

It’s really difficult to only include 8 tunes! I had to pick something from my digging days of the past 13 years… I bought first, Funk and Soul records that I knew from samples in Hip Hop and then when I started to produce sample based music, began digging for more oddball things. I’ve bought Disco records for a long time and in the late 90s I was very into the ‘French House’ thing and and whatever House music was using samples. This record by Minako I found only in the last few years and it’s maybe my favourite Disco record of all time. It has the feeling of “City” to me more than any other record I’ve ever heard.