Strictly speaking a subsidiary (XL), Locked On would wait for hits to come out of the clubs and pirates then release them all over the country giving the sound a foothold which later led to commercial success. It wasn't just any big label subsidiary jumping on a trend though; some of the earlier tracks they released really smack of a pre-commercial garage age, when it was all about soul, cut up samples and groove. Some smart person at XL/Beggar's Banquet must have realised the music's potential and I'm glad they did - if they hadn't a lot of the music would have been lost or forgotten due to the rarity of many of the original white label releases.
Posted below are a couple of tracks from either end of the time I was checking for Locked On. Dem 2 - "Destiny" (1997) really heralded the new "2-step" sound and Zed Bias's "Neighbourhood" (1999) was both a throwback to jungle and speed garage and a sign of the more hard edged lyrical based stuff that was to later kill garage's popularity and eventually split into grime and breakbeat.
↓ Dem 2 - Destiny ↓
↓ Zed Bias - Neighbourhood (Zed Bias Vocal Mix) ↓
Locked On: discogs
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5 comments:
Great tracks, can't wait for the Feb Mix!
remember there was a time, when you didnt even listen to the new locked down record release in the shop, you just bought it straight from the shelf, as it was guaranteed to be good.
i remeber as well, the people at locked on were kind enough to release 'hype funk' on a very thin and slippery peice of vinyl, ideal for scratching up the 'hype hype hype funk' bit, belt drive stlyee!
ahh good times. my hyperfunk was warped on the good side as well for ultra speed soundlab scratching
The Neighbourhood tune was by the Architects i thought. Although it had a Zed Bias remix on the flip which is what most folk were spinning back then.
interesting beezer, i never knew that. had a quick look round and couldn't really find anything to back it up though. have you got anything to proove it? post if you do, i'd like to see.
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