Vintage Steel brings vintage DJ Vadim. A big-hitter on the dusty beats and breaks scene back in the mid 90s, Russia’s finest carved a niche for himself early on by utilising unique sounds that other producers hadn’t thought to load into their samplers back then - it seems Vadim had a lot of squeaky door hinges and no cans of WD40 handy to fix them! Factor in a record collection that would put several record stores’ stock to shame (although that probably isn’t as applicable a statement as it used to be, especially in today’s digital music ’revolution’), it’s little wonder that he has had a string of critically acclaimed albums and 12-inches over the years. Part 1 of this Steel can be heard via the Solid Steel Podcast (04/07/2008 show), and a download link for Part 2 can be found after the jump. So sit back and read on as Strictly Kev reminisces another tale of Solid Steel past.

DJ Food Vs DJ Vadim TX: 14/07/96: I remember this set well because it was the first show I was given sole responsibility for as neither Jon, Matt or PC could make it that week. So, with two hours to fill, I called on DJ Vadim -  freshly signed to Ninja Tune - to help me out and he arrived at the studio with several of his crew in tow including Jazz Fudge label manager Simon Rose. For some reason the show was to be recorded on videotape and the machine decided it was going to be difficult that week, sporadically stopping within ten minutes of starting. This meant I had to restart the show three times until it decided to behave which was a bit embarrassing but we got there in the end.

It was recorded in the heyday of ‘The Blue Note years’ as I like to think of them, the days when Hoxton was still a new haunt for club kids and tourists in the know, pre-333, Cargo, Herbal, White Cube and all the others that came after. This was the year it was all really swinging at the Blue Note, Ninja, Mo Wax, Wall of Sound, Anohka, Bloodsugar (Weatherall), Far Out and of course, Metalheadz all had nights regularly and the music being released was out of this world.

We were in our element as everyone was keen to mix things up both literally and stylistically, something Solid Steel had been doing for years. This set is no exception with a drum n bass section comprising Squarepusher, Photek and Funki Porcini which seemed totally normal at the time. Vadim was deep into his Music Concrete and the re-emerging independent Hip Hop scene as well as having a wealth of his own material to play with a large chunk coming from the Jazz Fudge ‘Organised Sound’ compilation. I think he sporadically played samples and jingles of his own over my set, especially at the beginning and liked layering sounds up to create atmospheres before breaking them down again and letting the beats take over.

The make-up of this show was a little odd because we had to work with ad breaks every twenty minutes so the show broke down like this: me, me, Vadim, Vadim, me. For the sake of musical continuity this time around I’ve edited my parts together and left Vadim on his own, save for a short section at the end where he backtracks some of the tunes he has just played over my last mix. If you notice the odd edit here and there it’s because I’ve cut out mic chat where I say things like “next we have Vadim on the mix etc etc” when you blatantly won’t hear him next. Also there is no master tape for this show as it has been lost and this recording was kindly provided by longtime Solid Steel collector and champion Marcus Maarck aka The Vinylizer, host of Hamburg’s Back To The Basics radio show. This is one of the oldest shows in his collection up until a few years ago and he has been an invaluable resource in getting hold of old playlists from the late 90’s. Go to his site for tracklistings of all the great mixes he has had on his show.

PS. The photos that illustrate this post were taken on a Ninja tour of Germany in 1996 by Mareike Föecking from Dusseldorf. She shot some great images at a gig in Cologne and we kept in touch afterwards whereby she sent me copies of her pictures.

Strictly Kev

Download: DJ Food Vs DJ Vadim (1996) (Part 2) (1hr, 87MB)

Tracklisting

Part 1 - DJ Food (Strictly Kev)

  1. DJ Vadim - 007 Intro (CDR)
  2. Percussion De Strasbourg (Phillips)
  3. *Unknown Ambience & Vadim Sound Samples*
  4. New Jack Hustlers - Unknown
  5. Earth Leakage Trip - The Awakening (Rising High)
  6. Cheech & Chong - Dink Winkerson
  7. The Wiseguys - The Gemini IV Incident (Wall Of Sound)
  8. Tortoise - Unknown (Thrill Jockey)
  9. Buchanan & Goodman - Flying Saucer Part 1 (Mr Jaws)
  10. DJ Krush - Mesio (Remix) (Mo Wax)
  11. The Runaways - Finders Kreepers (Ultimate Dilemma)
  12. S.E.T.I. - Knowledge (Ash International)
  13. Tom Jenkinson - Happy Little Wilberforce (Worm Interface)
  14. DJ Reedoo - Straight (Smokin’ Drum Recordings)
  15. Photek - KJZ (Science)
  16. Funki Porcini - Surge (Ninja Tune)
  17. Black Dog - Edgar Allen (Warp)
  18. Irresistible Force - Mountain High (Live) (Rising High)
  19. Unknown
  20. As One - Epic (Clear)

Part 2 - DJ Vadim

  1. Pierre Henry - Variations Pour Une Porte Et Un Soupir - Fievre (Phillips)
  2. DJ Vadim - Live From Paris Intro (Jazz Fudge)
  3. DJ Vadim - Nocturnal Thought (Jazz Fudge)
  4. Dr. Octagon - Waiting List (Mo Wax)
  5. Unknown Beat (Peanut Butter Wolf?)
  6. Ivo Malec - Opera Singer + Preacher
  7. Unknown Beat
  8. Eric B & Rakim - My Melody (4th & B’way)
  9. Mark B With M.C.M. & Lewis Parker - Certain Special Skill (Underdog Remix) (Jazz Fudge)
  10. Rae & Christian - Baseball Fury (Grand Central)
  11. DJ Greenpeace - Progressive Agenda (Jazz Fudge)
  12. Ice vs Palace - More Brother Dub (Jazz Fudge)
  13. DJ Vadim - My Radio (Ninja Tune)
  14. DJ Vadim - Relax With Pep (Part 6) (Ninja Tune)
  15. The Automator - Unknown Beat
  16. Unknown Saxophone/Beat
  17. Unknown (Female Vocal)
  18. Unknown (Marianne Brown?)
  19. Pierre Henry - Machine Danse (Phillips)
  20. Unknown Synth/Drum Track
  21. Synthesonic Sounds - Superfly (Pye)
  22. Unknown Synth Track
  23. Jacques Loussier - Secousse (CBS)
  24. Todd Dockstader - Unknown
  25. Naomi Na2 - Amoureuse (Jazz Fudge)
  26. Irrestistible Force - Mountain High (With Tracks & Shouts Over It) (Rising High)
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