DIGABLE PLANETS LP

The review at the top is taken from an issue of Wire magazine dated December 1994 and gives the lowdown on the album "Blowout Comb" by Digable Planets.
They only made 2 albums, this being the second of the pair.
The LP cover is from my collection - a double vinyl pack released on Pendulum Records.

UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE RECORD LABEL

Some stuff here relating to the influential 90's techno record label from Detroit, Underground Resistance.
The top item is a brief & basic overview of UR that was published in Mixmag in 1995.
One of the records mentioned in the article is the "Galaxy 2 Galaxy" release of 1993. This was spread across 2 x 12" slabs of vinyl that came out as a double pack EP. No info or graphics on the sleeve so I have accompanied it with pictures of the label details on the vinyl, each one different.
Incidentally, the scratches you can see at the top left of side d - is a cryptic message from Mad Mike!
Lastly, the same record gets a mention in a chart that was compiled by Dave Clark, giving his top 10 choice of techno records for September '93. This was published in Generator magazine as part of a page called Sound & Direction which was a monthly review of the latest techno record releases.

DUBLAB

Dublab is an Internet radio presentation based in Los Angeles that champions all sorts of underground and independent music styles.
It started up in 1999 and is still doing the biz today.
The item at the top here is an article about Dublab that was published in Wire magazine in 2000.
Then in 2001, Dublab released an album called "Freeways" that showcased the variety of music they played, and the yellow item is a review of the album that appeared in Straight No Chaser magazine the same year.
Under it is my copy of the CD - Emperor Norton being the record label it came out on.

THE COOKER AT THE THEKLA

Staying in Bristol a moment longer, I thought I'd put a few items up about The Thekla.
The Thekla (a nightclub boat) started up their jazzy sessions in 1988 under the name of "The Cooker".
Tin Tin and Dr Jam were the two main DJ's throwing down a dancefloor mix of jazz, funk, latin & hip hop and it didn't take too long for word to spread around the UK and further afield, about this hot new club.
The item at the top is from a 1989 Straight No Chaser magazine that went under the headline of "Great Clubs Of The World" and tells a bit about how The Cooker was sizzling back then.
The Thekla then closed in 1990 to have some modernisation work done to it and re-opened in 1991.
The before & after ad is from an April 1991 issue of Venue magazine, as is the review under it.
Next up (the 3 blue pages) is an article that was published in World Beat magazine in 1991 that not only gives you a bit of background info about The Cooker, it also features a few photos of the DJ's and the clubbers.
Finally, to get a flavour of some of the sounds that were blasting out on the boat, the last item is a playlist from a 1989 SNC compiled by Tin Tin, showcasing 10 tracks that were doing the biz on The Cooker dancefloor!

CUP OF TEA RECORDS

Time for a tea break now!
Cup Of Tea Records started pouring their material out of Bristol in 1994, a time when they were intrinsically linked to the Purple Penguin record shop, so both crop up in the items above.
The first 2 are Cup Of Tea ads that were published in Straight No Chaser magazine in 1995, showcasing a variety of 12's & EP's they put out, and putting Meret Oppenheimer's artwork to good use too in the process.
Underneath them are 2 ads for Purple Penguin Records - the first one appeared in a 1994 issue of Acid Jazz News and the other is from a Straight No Chaser magazine dated 2000.
Next up is a brief overview about Cup Of Tea Records that cropped up in a Rough Guide book in the late 90's. It mentions a compilation they released in 1996 and so I have accompanied the article with my copy of the CD.

QUELQUE CHOSE DE JAZZ

The chart at the top is from a 1994 issue of Straight No Chaser magazine and was put together by DJ BNX of Campus Radio in Toulouse, France.
The record at the No 1 spot was a white label/bootleg/unofficial release kind of thing, and I have plucked it out of my collection at home.
It's called "Quelque Chose De Jazz - Act 2" and was compiled by DJ Yellow & Chris (AKA Bob Sinclair).
It featured a selection of rare tracks that were doing the biz on the jazz dance floors at the time, the material a mixture of funk, jazz and Brazilian grooves.
Although the album was an unofficial release, so to speak, these types of compilations were very useful as most of the tracks involved would be rather expensive to buy if you managed to find original copies of them.
Needless to say, this was a mail order purchase rather than from a record shop.
Incidentally, the vinyl does have "YP002" scratched on it which could indicate "Yellow Productions".

SILVER BULLET

I've picked out the chart at the top from an old Echoes music paper dated July 1989 showing the top 30 hip hop singles for this particular issue, compiled by Groove Records in London.
I have quite a few of the ones listed but thought I'd accompany it with the record in the number 21 position, a 12" by Silver Bullet called "Bring Forth The Guillotine" released on Tam Tam Records.
The chart doesn't tell the full story really as this was the 3rd month running the record had been sitting in the chart after it having been active since May that year.
Quite a long life compared to many that were on the go back then.