Junior Giscombe - Step Off (1990)

MCA Records - DMCAT 1432

 

Re-up in 320 + Blacksmith mixes promo!!

Brit-Soul legend Junior Giscombe (he of Mama Used To Say fame) came back in fine style with this dance-floor smasher back in 1990.

Despite featuring D Mob's Dancin' Danny D on production and Nuff Juice on the rap (a combo that worked to great effect on D Mob's Put Your Hands Together), Step Off seems largely forgotten (I can't even find a video on Youtube for it), but still sounds great to me.

The 7" version is dope, with its Hip-Hop breakbeat, stabs, and early nineties trademark piano chords. Dancin' Danny D's Slammin' & Jammin' Mix is essentially an extended version and is my favourite of the bunch. The oddity here is The Boogie Pella, which strips out the vocals & melodics and turns it into something of a breakbeat led monster. Really good if you're into that sort of thing (like me).

Junior's story is tragic, having to put his career on hold while he looked after his lovely wife and, later, daughter, who both suffered with multiple sclerosis. I hate that disease. Both ended losing their fight against MS, and the devastated Mr Giscombe is left without his beloved ones or what was a hugely promising career. 

He has since joined the British Collective, a band consisting of some serious heavyweight dons of UK soul such as Don-e, Junior, LeeeJohn, Noel McKoy, Omar and released a seriously wicked album called The Renaissance, with hopefully many more to come. I urge you to support the boys and pick up a copy.

I've also now added the promo 12" featuring a suite of Blacksmith remixes of this that I hadn't heard at the time until I picked up a copy a couple of years back. As you're probably sick of hearing from me by now, Blacksmith are favourites of mine, and the pick of this bunch is probably the Brixton Bass Mix, which features re-sung vocals from Junior and trademark Blacksmith funky production. The UPSO single version is also pretty good to my ears, but sounds more dated.

As happy as I am to have these mixes, and as dirty as I feel for saying this,  I think I still prefer the Dancin' Danny D's Slammin' & Jammin' Mix on the regular release.

Enjoy!

Original CDS Tracklist

1. Step Off (7" Version) 
2. Step Off (Dancin' Danny D's Slammin' & Jammin' Mix) 
3. The Boogie Pella 

Blacksmith Mixes Promo 12"

1. Step Off (Brixton Bass)
2. Step Off (Radio Edit)
3. Step Off (Dub Mix)
4. Step Off (Club Version)
5. Step Off (UPSO Groove)
6. Step Off (UPSO Single Version)
7. Step Off (Timmy's Beats)

Download: JG-SO.7z | Size: 107.8MB

Big Daddy Kane - Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now (1989)

Cold Chillin' ‎– W 2635T

Here's a quick and dirty post of an utterly brilliant 12".

Apologies upfront as this is a vinyl rip, and while my rip is great, I no longer have access to to the large scanner I used to use, so I've had to borrow an image from Discogs.

The audio rip itself is particularly good. It's a 320kbp rip of a treasured slice of wax. Being a bit OCD I used to tape record my 12" records as soon as I bought them, and then leave the 12" alone, meaning there are very few pops and crackles. It sounds almost like a CD rip.

Anyway, about this tune. The original is okay, but far from Kane's greatest track. However, the two Brixton Bass remixes here (track 1 'Brixton Bass Mix; and track 3 'UPSO Mix' are phenomenal and really elevate it. 

The pick of the bunch is the titular Brixton Bass mix, with it's sweet and slick production. This mix transformed it into a smooth summer jam you can bump in your whip to this day and it sounds pretty damn fresh still, and, aside from Kane mentioning the year on a couple of occasions, has aged like a fine wine. I absolutely adore this track!

In addition to the quality of the main remix, the UPSO Mix is really good, too. Yeah, it may not be quite as amazing, but the tougher sounding UPSO Mix is still way better than the original and flexes its muscles with a lovely reverse JBs/The Grunt loop, and will satisfy the street crowd.

All in all, this is a pretty essential release, especially if, like me, you adore Big Daddy Kane.

Tracklist

1. Ain't No stoppng Us Now (Brixton Bass Mix)
2. Ain't No stoppng Us Now (LP Version)
3. Ain't No stoppng Us Now (UPSO Mix)

Download: BDK-ANSUN.7z | Filesize: 31.3MB