Chris Energy – Sidewinder
Innovative break work & bass from early spring 1993.
http://www.rolldabeats.com/release/5280/hnr/hnr9
Coming in at 160bpm on the vinyl cut, this magical piece of early drum & bass was significantly faster than the average tempo heard across 1992, and was one of a number of tracks of the new year that heralded a new sound in hardcore, one that more closely resembled what jungle/drum & bass would eventually become in 1994.
With its multiple layered breakbeats, big melodical bassline right at the forefront and intricate weaving of incidental sounds & pads, “Sidewinder” really caught my ear hearing on the pirates at the time. It took me a little while to narrow down to what seemed this weird release on this otherwise unheard of label.
Prior to this release, HNR had been something of a strange imprint. Hailing from the “Hit ‘N’ Run” record shop in Walthamstow, East London, the tracks on the label all mostly stuck to a particular formula of a TB303 for bass, a breakbeat, a TR909 drum track, and a low-bitrate sampled riff that would loop over & over… though this formula worked well enough in a handful of instances, none of the releases arrived with readily identifiable ‘stand out’ tracks and left the impression of a rather unremarkable, if not, mediocre label.
With the turn of the new year, and following the Sonic Blast EP release on Break The Limits, the output from Chris Energy suddenly began to up a gear somewhat, with an improved production quality and more advanced compositions than before – this likely in no small part thanks to Bay B Kane, whose influence can be heard most clearly on “Dark Locks In” (this release) and “Organ Grind” (Dark Corners EP).
After closing his shop in Walthamstow, Chris Energy later went on to release a couple of 12″s with Reinforced Records, also having some involvement with the ‘broken beat’ scene of the late 90s – with hints of an album project that sadly remained unrealised.
More recently, Chris can be found attending to his record stall at various record fairs & street markets across Europe.
