Date posted: June 10, 2009 By: Jimmy J

in the beginning there was bass side b

The flip side of this tape is a bit of a mess. We get jolted around, songs and mixes get cutoff and there’s partial duplication of side A. It’s still well worth a listen, lots of obscure techno tracks.

About half way through the tape you’ll end up on the flip side of obscurity with Get Ready For This by none other than 2-Unlimited. “How dare you!” you say?  Remember where we are in time right now, Get Ready For This had just been released around this date in 1991 and like most mainstream tunes they make their rounds in the underground first. Try hard not to skip forward because there’s some smooth mixing that makes the exit from this song even more enjoyable. Unfortunately who ever was mixing ran out of incoming beats and then we’re jolted around again.

Soon after we’re greeted by Joey Betrum’s anthem Energy Flash. One minute it’s “ecstasy, ecstasy” and the next it’s, “total destruction!” with Annihilate by The Annihilator. What ever is left standing gets taken care of by Hurricane when Sykosis 451’s track gets mixed in.

Enjoy.

Date posted: May 27, 2009 By: Jimmy J

in the beginning there was bass

Enough with the definitions already, let’s insert the first tape in the mix.

In order to preserve the integrity of the original recordings all of the mp3s we’re going to showcase have not been edited in any fashion. As a result the music may jump around, contain static and/or other strange (but wonderful) sound bites – all of which apply to this first tape.

It’s quite fitting that we kick off our mixtape to mp3 series with this one since this it’s one of the first tapes I got my hands on and ran around Toronto jamming it in to any tape deck within close proximity. But it’s the accidental intro on the tape that solidified the decision for it to premiere our series of audio.

Whom ever first recorded this tape (I’m pretty certain it was Captain B. Mental) scans through Toronto radio stations on a Saturday evening in 1991 hunting for CKLN 88.1.After hearing several genres of music (and making a few questionable pauses ie Ooh It’s Kinda Crazy by Soul Decision) it becomes quite obvious he’s reached his destination when Hurricane by Sykosis 451 starts pumping through the speakers.

03/08/2010 – At least, that’s what I believed was the explanation for the radio intro until one of our readers pointed out that Soul Decision recorded Ooh It’s Kinda Crazy in 1998. Then I realized that the Stone Temple Pilots song played briefly was released years after 1991. Explanation? Aside from a radio that tunes in to music of the future? I have two versions of this tape, I opted to showcase the version donated by Ben F., because the intro had a novelty aspect to it. Ben must be the culprit behind recording the radio scanning snippet over top of one of his old tapes. Shame on you Ben. Thankfully his mistake was short lived, he realized was he was doing and pressed stop to get us back to ’91.

We’re jolted around for the remainder of the tape. This is the result of Captain B. Mental’s habit of combining tapes and making his own mixes. He was actually quite masterful with a tape deck and could seamlessly stop and start recordings and replace sections of a tape he didn’t favor. Captain even had a nifty mixing tape deck that was capable of audibly playing two tapes at once – whereas most double decks, like my own, sadly, had a “feature” to prevent this.

The next anthem is K Groove’s The Future which features samples from 80s tune How to be a Millionaire by ABC. And speaking of 80s samples Keep the Fire Burning by The House Crew features a little Annie Lennox, which I clearly remember echoing through 23 Hop and then my mind for many days after the event.

By this time you’re probably thinking, this sounds really groovy, could you play some more, like, right now? “Sure” says the Electropeople with Technoboy.

Then we’re treated to some classic Canadian content with Nick Holder’s Frantic and M1’s Feel The Drums. Back off C.R.T.C. our mixed tape CanCon quota has been met.  Nicolette make’s a cameo with The Dove Song and eventually we hear a quick bite of the Radio 1 FM’s Essential Selection with none other than Pete Tong who is still going strong.

Enjoy.

Date posted: May 11, 2009 By: Jimmy J

Before we get started, let’s clearly define what the “golden age” is exactly.

The golden age of Toronto raves can be neatly packaged within the Captain B. Mental era. Lest we forget one of Toronto’s original ravers who was a driving force behind the inception of Toronto’s scene. In the September 1995 issue of The Communic8r, John Angus of Exodus Productions cited Captain as an influence while forming Toronto’s first raves. B. Mental was also the brainchild behind Pleasure Force, he owned and operated X-Static (“Toronto’s Rave HQ”) and financed numerous other rave companies. He earned the scene’s highest honors for being an integral part of its heritage and growth. And yet it was the Captain’s integrity that would eventually be questioned under court-martial.

In mid-1995 he went AWOL from the scene after purchasing a one-way ticket out of Canada. Numerous extra-curricular activities had caught up to Alan Stephenson (the not-so-secret identity of B. Mental). Rumors swirled that he was spotted in Mexico, then Russia, and later confirmed that he was back in Britain. His departure triggered a series of unfortunate events where truth became stranger than even Lemony Snickett’s fiction. With no Captain left to pilot the ship and tragedy surrounding Stephenson’s replacement, Toronto was in uncharted territory.

Regardless, by the time 1996 rolled around, the scene had evolved so prematurely there was no more room for innovation. This status was the result of the city’s pioneering promoters who were aware of the scene’s potential and overzealous to synchronize it with the UK. Our events were laced with top live acts, amazing attractions, and massive productions which always outdid the last. The city’s earliest ravers were spoiled at the expense of the promoters, their staff, or the service providers they couldn’t afford to pay. Barring Britain, our scene couldn’t be topped, even literally, given one event would land on the then highest free-standing structure in the world: the CN Tower.

The only thing left to achieve was to grow the scene which contradicts the clandestine concept of raving; nevertheless, by the late 1990s Toronto raving became so mainstream it rivaled the popularity of clubbing in the entertainment district. The term “rave” which once represented a surreptitious society no longer needed to be explained to joe public thanks to negative media coverage. This prompted heavy involvement from the police department followed by a city hall agenda of anti-rave resolutions for the new millennium.

Having said all that, I feel the period spanning 1991-1995 defines the golden age of raving in Toronto.

Relax, I’m not saying there were no good raves in ’96 and beyond; I know there were plenty. Although I do firmly believe Toronto’s first five years were its best. Whether you agree with me or not, surely you must agree that the latter part of the scene left everyone with mixed emotions on the movement. Unfortunately, the worst parts of it were strung together and immortalized in a 1999 book titled, Rave America: New School Dancescapes.

Upon publication, it was clear those who offered their words weren’t prepared for the author’s intent to throw them under the bus with her sensationalized portrayal. Claims of misquoting and misinformation appeared online and eventually, author Mireille Silcott surfaced, stood by her work, and fired back. I’ve reviewed the material several times and am surprised by the amount of incorrect information it contains. There’s an obvious lack of thorough fact-checking. Yet sadly way too much is accurate.  So, the rest of the scene, now guilty by association, jumped in the shower to get rid of that not-so-fresh feeling the book left behind.

Let’s start from scratch and remind ourselves there’s a hell of a lot Toronto did right. Toronto’s rave pioneers paved the way for the massive EDM scene that now flourishes in this city two decades later.

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