M0by - M0ve (MK Blades mix) (1993)

It's funny how a track can do nothing for you at one point in your life, and completely blow you away at another.

Going through my old vinyl collection, I came across a 12" with this on it, and found it just amazing. Marc Kinchen was on great form in the early nineties, with a trademark sound that never got tired (although not all his mixes were at the same level), somewhere between NY house and almost-cheesy dance. His subterranean Nightcrawlers sound sparked a host of copycat records and soon his mixes became part of the blueprint of what was to become speed garage.

So this mix entirely passed me by back in 1993, and apparently the label didn't think it fit for CD release either (or not in the techno-rave sound they were pushing for Moby at the time), as it only ever featured on an American promo CD... that I found on the web and snaffled up immediately. Since then I've listened to it so much and love it to such a point that it's the only track on my iPhone in Apple Lossless, and I have a shitload of music, believe me.

The track's built out of sparse, carefully combined elements, a killer deep bassline, a few fake horn stabs and a bit of shrieking diva. It's really hypnotic, a great, jacking track that is just as devastating today, 17 years after its original release.

Have a listen and download it if you like by simply clicking the download button. Hope you love it as much as I do. So pleased to have found it on CD. And once again, there's no way to buy the track legally anywhere. Records companies are so dim sometimes...

Saundra Williams - I Want It, I Need It(Real Love) (1994) MK mixes

About a month ago, when I was writing my post about Zami Girl, I had a look on Discogs to see what else the ä Records label had released. That led me to Saundra Williams and my interest was piqued. I found a scatchy vinyl rip of the track on a blog, but the MK mixes - that I'd never heard of before - were pretty damn good, so I ordered the CD through Amazon. The CD finally came through today, apparently haing taken its merry time by travelling via New Zealand. Very odd.

Saundra Williams was active in the early nineties, although she's still ticking along today. Her website is clunky, has butterflies buzzing round it, an excruciating bio and - best of all - a welcome song that launches with the homepage, with Saundra herself singing a special sultry R&B number, "Welcome to Saundra Williams dot com". Fabulous.

Although her site says once you've heard her you'll never forget her, I Want It, I Need It (Real Love) has not found its place in the garage hall of fame. Perhaps the catchy name had something to do with it? It sounds much like a Robin S copy, but the song isn't half bad, and the MK mixes have aged rather well.

I decided to take the MK vocal and dub and put them together, to form one 13-minute whole. The two mixes were not at the same BPM, which is unusual, so the dub is basically pinned onto the end of the vocal. Not rocket science for sure, but nice stuff all the same.

Have a listen here (isn't Soundcloud great?)

You can download
Saundra Williams - I Want It, I Need It (Real Love)
(MK Vocal / Real dub Fust fusion)
as an audiophile FLAC file here (97MB)
or an iPod-friendly AAC file here (26MB).