Friday, March 7, 2008

LTJ Bukem


LTJ Bukem Presents - Logical Progression (1996)

Featuring Singles
Demon's Theme(12") 1991
Music (12")1993
Horizon / Rain Fall (12") 1995

When the acid-house explosion hit Britain near the turn of the decade, Bukem gradually stopped going to sound-system battles and began attending the ever-growing raves dotting England's countryside. He began mixing at them as well, and produced his first track "Logical Progression" in 1990. Bukem soon grew frustrated with a lack of control for his own recordings, however, and in 1991 decided to form his own label, Good Looking Records. Bukem's production style was a continuing anachronism on the rave/breakbeat scene; early Good Looking tracks like "Demons Theme," "Atlantis" and "Music" provided a soulful, melodic alternative to the prevailing hardcore tracks then in vogue.
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Arguably the prime innovator in the development of jungle from its early status as an offshoot of hardcore techno into the respected, stylistic genre it became by the end of the 1990s, L.T.J Bukem gained fame as an auteur in all fields of the DnB movement: as a top-flight breakbeat DJ, owner and label-head of the Good Looking/Looking Good stable of labels and, of course, for his recordings -- inspired by the lush strings and natural ambience of ' 70s jazz-fusion masters, Chicago house and moody Detroit techno. Allied with the early-'90s rave and hardcore scene, Bukem began working on production near the end of the 1980s; though his light, airy sound made little sense to his contemporaries, Bukem's style was emulated much more as the jungle scene gained momentum during the mid-'90s. While such producers as Roni Size and Goldie gained the limelight for their solo work, Bukem purposely downplayed his own artistic career in favor of mix albums and label-spanning retrospectives which highlighted dozens of artists from his labels.

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