MEMORY-028_
‘Highly Recommended’ Formation Records
Various Artists ‘Highly Recommended’ Compilation
Formation Records (FORM LP003)
First time in a record shop to buy dnb records. It was a blind purchase, totally on faith I’d find something I liked on this collection of a dozen or so tracks. I wasn’t familiar with the label or DJ SS at this point, but that rapidly changed. 26 years later, I’ve lost the cover and two of the plates, but picked up a backup in CD format.
Nearly every track on this was a banger, and I started to recognize several of them from mixtapes I was starting to accrue. Some of these were slightly different from what was on the tapes, and that’s when I became aware of dubplates and VIPs, hearing DJs play tracks that were tailored to them, vocal shouts and announcing just who was playing the track.
This compilation was a hot commodity on the UMD dorm room DJ circuit… everyone I had met over the course of ‘96, hanging out in rooms, playing records, this was the one people kept asking to borrow. No one else had dnb or jungle records, and this was enough unique tracks to mix between the three plates in the package. Just hearing “V v v I I I P P P” gave chills. I remember hearing a dubstep version of one of the tracks nearly 15 years later, and still got hyped about it.
DJ SS also established a solid following in the states. Saw him and Warren G numerous times, along with a roster of solid artist. One of my two favorite raves ever was the Bassrush Formation tour, in Baltimore, autumn ‘96. Remember DJ SS, DJ Rap, Ratty (had no idea who he was then, was a fantastic set), Dieselboy & Slant (there will be a story about one of the records Dieselboy played that night), and then Trace closed out the night. Can’t even remember how many times I got to see DJ SS, but one other big thing was in ‘99 we managed to get him to come do a guest DJ set at our college radio show on WMUC 88.1 FM, in College Park.
YouTube: Highly Recommended Playlist
Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/master/147789-Various-Highly-Recommended-LP-The-New-Adventures-Of-Hardstepping-Drum-Bass-Jungle-