MEMORY-030_

Ed Rush - "The Raven"

Ed Rush - "The Raven"
Metalheadz (METH024)

This is the one that hooked me, the beginning of my trainspotting habit. I distinctly remember the first time I heard this, Kemistry & Storm at Ultraworld's Eclipse rave at the DC Armory, Easter weekend 1996. The event was a day party, one act at a time, with bands playing the four corners of the room, and DJs playing from the center, on a raised pillar. There was a lot of excitement in the scene as it was the first event like this at the DC Armory, and for the dnb/jungle community, Kemistry & Storm were a hotly tipped duo from the UK, representing the Metalheadz label. As hoped, an amazing set, I had no idea what any of the tunes were, but over the coming months I started to hear some of them in other sets, and getting IDs on them.

A few months later, at a smaller all-dnb event in Baltimore at the Raza warehouse, Kemistry & Storm were back and headlining. I had some friends (Pat E., Eric K., Ryan B.) from high school that were home for their summer break from university, and were open to going to raves. They were along to hang out, dance, party; I was keeping my ears open for new music to hunt down. Probably 1AM or so, I hear the intro chimes, and I rush over the side of the stage. Jason / Method One had played earlier and was hanging out. I knew who he was but had not worked up the courage to talk to him. I bought his Mood Swings mixtape a few months prior, was listening to it often. I went up to him and asked what the tune was, and he turned to whichever of the duo was not on the decks, and they let me know it was Ed Rush's "The Raven", and it would be out on Metalheadz later in the year.

In the past year or so I've heard and read a few interviews with DJ Storm, where she explained how she and Kemistry worked out of one crate at gigs. I've always thought of "The Raven" as a Kemistry track, there was this dark tinge to the track, sort of a danger to it, which I attributed to Kemistry's rough side, paired up with Storm's smooth.

That summer 1996 rave at Raza was a major event in the decline of raves happening in Baltimore. There used to be a very extensive news article or personal account from Lonnie Fisher about the Baltimore police and city hall targeting Ultraworld, cracking down on non-club events. This pushed events down towards DC, where house, dnb, and breakbeat seemed to be the big three draws for events. That particular night at Raza though, it was either the tail end of Kemistry & Storm’s set, or around 3AM, when the police arrived and shut the event down. It was supposed to go until 6AM. I can’t remember if the cops just shepherded everyone out, or if anyone got taken away in handcuffs.

I’m pretty sure I got to hear Kemistry & Storm once more in DC, and then in January 1999 I got to hear them both at Metalheadz Sunday Sessions. I was recently on a Zoom call with @ob1_rebel_music from @rebelmusichq, and he was the manager for the Metalheadz label and/or nights at that time. We got to chat a little bit about the night, which was no longer at the Hoxton Blue Note venue, but may have been at the Dingwalls location. I remember it having two rooms, the bar was like an upstairs balcony, and it was a long sloped walk down to the WC area.

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Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/master/111344-Ed-Rush-Skylab