DJ Solo’s ‘Darkage’ is a tune that has stood the test of time from the raving days to each subsequent rave revival. The Hardcore Jungle anthem originally came out on the seminal Production House label and now joins label mates Acen and The House Crew on Kniteforce, repressed, remastered and of course remixed by a talented bunch if there ever was one!
First up is the original, a masterclass in drum programming with all manner of FX. Everything comes together nicely from the swooshes, alternating drum beats, Degrees of Motion samples, horns etc. A technical masterpiece and one of the best Jungle tunes ever made.
‘Axis’ is lesser known but no less of a banger than the A side. Take the famous ‘deep in the underground’, some generous turntablist scratching and some Italo House piano and you have an absolute gem of a tune. There is a hint of darkside in the midsection with some very Production House esque bleeps. This track seems to precede the 93/94 Naughty Naughty/Question Mark style of tunes which were the style at the time!
The DMS All Night Remix of Darkage gets deeper into the Jungle with hypnotic strings, beefed up beats and additional vocal refrains.
The DMS Logical BreakUp mix of ‘Axis’ kicks off with some very Acen like strings, a nice bassline/amens combo similiar to Darkage and a disco sample that I’ve heard in a famous House tune and I absolutely love!
DS1 takes on Darkage with amazing results!!! A huge wobbly bassline, replayed keys and a smasher of a beat! Thers even some fun Horrorcore moments in there towards the end!
Pete Cannon takes Darkage to new levels with a darkside intro, a sample of the actual MC saying ‘Hardcore Junglist’from a rave tape plus a plethora of extra samples at warp speed 10!!!
For the DnB heads, Sikka turns the A side into a roller of excellence with extra Degrees of Motion, warp basslines and rejigged hooks!
Sunny & Deck Hussy put their own stamp on Darkage with extra oomph in the amen breaks and a nice blend of dubby FX and ravey stabs like this duo do best!!! Available on Vinyl + Digital from Kniteforce Revolution
