There is this one antique shop sort of near me that actually has dance music records for 2.00 a piece. Over the years I've found some jungle records but it was more recently this past winter that I found some classic late 90s techstep vinyl. I bought some on a whim because I never liked techstep when it was new, I really hated it. However upon hearing Spirit "Final Chapter", Trace & Nico "Cells", and Skynet "MK Ultra" I started to really miss hearing this stuff.

You don't hear this drum and bass in my country anymore. There is no longer a scene in the USA thanks to bad politicians like Joe Biden (he created the Rave Act), unfortunate world events, and the fact that most of my generation in the USA who did go, just went for the wrong reasons or are now married, have kids, and don't care. There was a DnB event recently in Brooklyn last march that I should have gone to but traveling to it was too difficult. Also at that event the dominant style was not techstep but clownstep. No one likes calling it clownstep but that's what it is and I don't hate it, it's just not my cup of tea. I'm shocked that clownstep has outlasted all the preceding styles of DnB, almost 20 years of clown at this point? This makes me long for the more complex and intricate style of techstep all the more. I also listened to Dara's "Full Circle" Moonshine CD Mix for the first time last winter and the stuff on that CD (minus "Tough at the top") was absolutely amazing. This music sounds way better to my ears now then when I heard this stuff as a young adult. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that at that time I came out to those events to hear amens, pianos, sick riffs, and chipmonked vocals. By 1994 DnB moved on to ragga jungle, hardstep, and finally techstep. At this point thanks to discogs, I'm able to buy all the 1991-1993 stuff I want and I have most of what I've wanted out of that. Problem is, everyone else is able to snatch those up too and now the prices are now too high. The repress runs of these records isn't much better as those repressing aren't making enough for the demand and those are going for almost the price of the originals on discogs. Techstep is also great for this. No one is collecting techstep so the prices are normal. You can get a Trace & Nico record in between 2.00 to 20.00 USD vs what I spent on a 1993 record I really wanted: Ironik "Fantasy" 200.00.

This mix marks the last one of the Techstep records that I either already had or got really cheap at an antique shop. I started to collect these intentionally on Discogs. Unfortunately most are still at original retail price on that site but at least they're not 200.00. The one that gets me is that Grooverider "Charade" techstep record. It was pressed only a year ago for the first time yet it came out in 1998. Due to the fact that hardly any were pressed and now its going for 50.00 on Discogs. Being the Grooverider fan that I am, I'll eventually have to cross that troll bridge but not now. I also recently revisited that antique shop and went through the whole wall of records with my smartphone as a listening station on discogs. I ended up finding a rare Dillinja remix of a Ron Wells record, a Calyx record on Moving Shadow, and a very cool DJ Zinc record that samples "Interview with a Vampire".

Tracklist:

This was not a planned mix so some records listed here may have both A and B sides in
the recording.

01). 808 State "Pacific (Raymond Bingham's Jeep Mix)" (ZTT Records 98TA-01) 1998
02). Spirit "Freezing Point" (Tyme 002) 1999
03). Ed Rush "August (Remix)" (No U-Turn NUT-014) 1996
04). Hydro "The Zone" (Emotif LP 001) 4/30/1996
05). Dom & Optical "Quadrant 6" (Moving Shadow 1011) 1997/2001
06). Mark XTC "New Dawn" (New Vibe 002) 199?/2001
07). Ray Keith "Dark Soldier" (Dread LP003) 199?/2000
08). A-Sides "On The Streets" (East Side 14) 1997
09). Decoder "Vapour Dub (Remix)" (Hardleaders 51) 199?/2001
10). Decoder "Fog" (Hardleaders 10) 1997
11). Brian "Bizzy B" Johnson "Fat Beats Vol.2 (White side)" (Fat Beats FAT002) 1997
12). 1.8.7. "Cross The Line" (Liquid Sky EP3-JS138) 1998
13). DJ Surreal "Runnin'" (Hardleaders 024) 1998
14). Makia "Polaris" (Precision Breakbeat Research 08) 1998
15). Q "Proteous" (FLEX 23) 1997
16). Nasty Habits "Shadow Boxing - The Remix" (31 Records 31R-004) 1997
17). Ray Keith "Chasing Shadows" (Dread LP003) 199?/2000
18). Solar Nine "See How it Sounds" (Splash Records 017) 1997
19). Secret Weapon "System Exclusive" (Protocol PTL004) 1997
20). Substance "Home Boyz" (Ruffneck Ting RNT004) 1996
21). Embee "Acid Splash" (Splash Records 027) 1999
22). Dom & Roland "The Vandal" (Moving Shadow 1012) 2001
23). Trace & Nico "Cells" (No U-Turn NUT019) 1997
24). The Prophecy "Psychosis" (Dark Age Recordings 001) 1999
25). Bad Company "Seizure" (Virus 006) 1999
26). Absolute Zero "Code (Usual Suspects Remix)" (Renegade Hardware RH2000LP) 1999
27). Floyd Dyce & Wild Child "Hitch-Hiker" (Redmaster RM001) 2000
28). DJ Reality "Detroit Blues" (Renegade Hardware RH2000LP) 1999
29). Spirit "Confusion" (Timeless DJ030) 1998
30). Mampi Swift "Hi Tek" (Charge 004) 1998
31). Skynet "Altered States" (Skynet ABPR002) 1997
32). Genoforce "The Germ (Usual Suspectes Remix)" (Renegade Hardware RH018) 1998
33). Venom. "Blacked Out" (Dread 26) 1999
34). Konflict "Road Block (Matrix)" (Renegade Hardware RH2000LP) 1999
35). Todd Terry "Black Out" (Astralwerks ASW6259-6 0170 4 66259 6 8) 1999
36). Usual Suspects "Killa Bees (Optical and Fierce Remix)" (Renegade Hardware RH2000LP) 1999
37). Bad Company "The Nine" (Bad Company Recordings UK 001) 1997/2001

I never intended to upload this mix but I figured I would for some techstep fans on the Bad Company message board that have helped me out with some awesome techstep record recommendations recently which I'm thankful for.

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