Classic Pure Closers By Steve Robbins

Pure was my home; every Friday I was there - I can't remember how many nights I missed, but it wasn't many. Did miss the final night at Dream nightclub because I thought nobody would go and it'd be too much of a downer, but Will-E rang me as soon as he got home to let me know what a great night I'd just missed. Apparently the floors were shaking because there were so many people rocking till the last track. Oh well.

It started out in the rear room of St. Kilda's Palace nightclub, I think in May 1991 - but it's all a bit hazy. It was Melbourne's first straight up rave techno night, although Maze @ Commerce had previously championed techno alongside underground house. Run by DJ Mark James, this was the club that made Will-E-Tell a star, yet what I remember 20 odd years later are the end of night sets of DJ Steve Robbins (later of techno group FSOM). He was older than the rest of us, and, shall we say, more learned in the art of getting off your head, but he'd been DJing since the first days of electro and had a fantastic record collection that leant heavily towards the 303 acid end of the spectrum. Steve didn't like to mix his records too much, so you got to hear great tracks in their entirety, and he always brought the night gently down towards close (none of this banging to the end and then tell the punters to fuck off nonsense).

Steve in the box at Pure after it moved to Dream Niteclub in late '91.
(Scotty working the lights)

So, with that I present two of his best closing tracks, both house, and both out of New York: Chapter 1's "Unleash The Groove (E-Funk Mix)" on Strictly Rhythm and The Sound Vandals' "On Your Way (Deep Mix)" off Nu Groove. Really fantastic tracks that deserve to be played in their entirety to the munted at 6am.
And they still sound great two decades later.

Discogs

A1 Unleash The Groove (E-Funk Mix)
A2 Unleash The Groove (Love In Sheffield Mix)
A3 Unleash The Groove (Blips In Heat)
B1 Unleash The Groove (125th & Lenox Mix)
B2 Unleash The Groove (Screamin' Pipes)

Vinyl Rip _ 320kbps MP3 ...mediafire




Discogs

A1 Tonight's The Night (Club Mix)
A2 Tonight's The Night (Bonus Beat)
B1 On Your Way (Deep Mix)
B2 On Your Way (Bonus Beat)

Vinyl Rip _ 320kbps MP3 ...mediafire





1990's "Unleash The Groove" is a particularly strong release; "Blips In Heat" is a piece of blissful beatless bleep, and the b-sides are completely insane organ workouts. "Tonight's The Night" on The Sound Vandals' 1991 release is a quite annoying bit of New York sample house, but the bonus beats are good.

Crash Course

Fookn H A R D C O R E.

Maybe the first thing I bought on Nu Groove. It's a product of its day, and there are many greater tracks than this on the label. It did represent the beginnings of that harder Brooklyn sound championed by Lenny Dee, Frankie Bones and the rest - but hardcore wasn't for me for very long.

Still, Crash Course is a classic piece of banging tek. Like many rave tracks of the period it gets an energy boost by adding new elements every 8 bars (instead of the more leisurely 16 or 32 commonplace today), so the track crams a lot into a short duration. Industrial edged sounds make it feel like it was recorded in a Depression-era iron foundry - the major break is particularly evocative with its chanting and whirring noises - John Lennon's "I get high with a little help from my friends" doesn't hurt either.

The B-sides are a bit of a disappointment, being just simple rhythm tracks with minimal usability. A bit of a let down after the A-side. The English license dispenses with the rhythm tracks in favour of a an even more hardcore remix of Crash Course - but it loses the industrial simplicity of the original.

Discogs

A1   Crash Course
B1   N.Y. Jungle
B2   Crash Rhythms
B3   Free Style Groove

Vinyl Rip _ 320kbps MP3 ...mediafire

Major Problems - City Under Siege (1990)

Nu Groove. The underground label of 1990/91. 


So much a product of its time, I doubt if it would work these days - such a diverse output of music. Everything from faggy house beat to mind bending techno. In hindsight, it could only have come out of New York; yet it made its way around the world to inspire us white kids here in Australia - who would have thought?
I've got many Nu Groove releases - treasured bits of plastic that they are. So which to post, and what first? Well, with a nod to my old dance buddy Craig E M (who named his sound system after them), lets post some Lenny & Ralphie Dee - aka Major Problems - and their first release together on Nu Groove, "City Under Siege".
As the title suggests, three pieces of quality, fucked up New York techno.


Much more Nu Groove to come folks...........

Discogs
A1 Murder (25 To Life Mix)
B1 Arson (4 Count Version)
B2 Manslaughter (First Degree Mix)


Vinyl Rip _ 320kbps MP3 ... dmca deleted.