1991! What a year! If you have worked your way methodically through the previous years (which is kind of the point) then you'll have heard the very distinctive sound of UK breakbeat coming through, especially at the tail end of '89 and throughout '90, but 1991 was truly monumental.
It saw the UK adopt Italo house and Belgian techno as their own, birth the distinctive sound of UK hardcore, then blend both Belgian techno and UK hardcore to create jungle tekno. And while all this was going on the sound of pure jungle and drum and bass was still bubbling under the surface waiting to explode through sound systems all over the world!
For this list we're looking at the records that were hooking into that jungle vibe. The other lists in the 1991 section split the other styles on rotation into their respective genres for purposes of stylistic clarification.
But before we start......................
0. Reese Project - Just Another Chance (David Morales Remix)
While we first heard that iconic bass sound back in the 1988 section, it seems from our research that this 1991 remix by legendary American house DJ David Morales might also have been a catalyst for jungle producers picking it up and turning it into a staple part of our culture, so for histories sake and to keep things open to further suggestion, we've included it here on account of its year of release. Plus we're huge DM fans, so why wouldn't we?
1.Noise Factory - Jungle Techno
As far as we can see (and until we find a replacement) this seems to be the first time the term 'jungle techno' was committed to print. When you really listen hard to this though, there is less of the techno (compared to other tracks from 1991) and far, far more of the jungle.
We reckon this was quite early doors in '91 too, and when you pitch this against a lot of the more 'hardcore' tracks of that year, the actual jungle sound is plain to hear. Hardcore? Yeah. Jungle techno? Yeah! Proto-jungle? HELL YES!
But exactly what is 'hardcore'?????
2.Guru Josh - Hallelujah Chorus
We're not sure everyone would agree with this inclusion, but we felt it important to include for one reason and one reason only. To clarify what WE mean by the term 'hardcore'. 28 seconds in this track explodes into a blast of twisted synth scratches and booming drums. The power and intensity behind the tiny section of 32 bars of music encapsulate what we define as the sound of UK hardcore.
Guru Josh had a great sense of humour, and in 1991 almost anything went, so if you consider the period in time and the sentiment behind the entire track, you can see he was clearly having a lot of fun, HOWEVER, there is no denying the impact of those 32 bars of sound, so this track is here by way of definition.
3.Second Phase - Mentasm
So now we've looked at the very early rumblings of jungle and the in your face sounds of hardcore we need to look at Belgian techno. This style of music dominated many, many sets in 1991, and it was the blending of those distinctive synth sounds and the looped breakbeats seen in the 1990 section that birthed jungle tekno.
The sound we know as jungle that started to appear in late '93 and early '94 was influenced by jungle tekno, but they were two styles that were distinctively different. There was no techno in jungle for a start, and as well as a fierce increase in tempo, there was also a heavy reliance on reggae and of course, highly edited, impactful drums.
So why are we banging on about that here? And why are you listening to this record which is clearly techno? The reason is this:
Jungle tekno was a very unique and very British blend of UK hardcore and Belgian techno, and this record is probably one of two records that will to help explain what this sounded like.
This track is the classic sound of Belgium circa 1991. A sound known by many simply as 'Hoover', due to the weird, mechanical synth sounds that the genre utilised throughout the year and also into 1992. You can hear more of this in the Belgian techno drop down, but for now, listen to it, savour it, digest it, and then move on to track 4.
4. Doc Scott - Surgery
And now listen to this. Hoover + UK hardcore = jungle tekno
Simple!
We'll leave this concept here and you can explore both Belgian techno and UK hardcore (or 'ardkore) in more detail in the other 1991 section.
We're going to get back to the bubbling underbelly of jungle for the remainder of this section and try to detail the continuation of genre in musical terms. You're likely to hear a bit of jungle tekno while we do this, as the sound became a staple part of the UK sound, but for the most part, we're still looking at the continuation of the breakbeat era.
5.A Guy Called Gerald - 28 Gun Bad Boy
No pitch all of that up there ^ next to this and you can hopefully see how that jungle sound was starting to develop. A Guy Called Gerald was and still is an absolutely essential part of the jungle movement and this track is poles apart from the first 4 in this list. The bass is there. The drums are there. The reggae influence is there. It's ALL THERE!
