Special Request - Hardcore EP Vinyl

Paul Woolford's Special Request moniker was launched in March 2012 via a self-released white label 12”. A shrewd merging of UK house and pirate radio beamed jungle trends, the 12” showcased Woolford’s blend of infectious, rave tunes could sit in all kinds of sets, from 120bpm techno to 170bpm drum & bass. To date there have been four Special Request transmissions; released only on vinyl, they’ve all since long sold out.

The project captures and distils the energy and unruly conventions of the UK’s pirate radio stations, using that DIY/anything and everything goes approach as a springboard and an inspiration for a series of productions that amply blazed through chaotic, eye of the storm jungle tearouts as well as they did through hard and heavy, darkside techno.

‘Wall To Wall’ merges the jacking tradition of Chicago with the UK’s love affair with sub-bass, whilst ‘Broken Dreams’ brings up to date the music post-rave period, when the ecstasy rush of rave began to fade into the more oppressive, drum-and-bass-driven hardcore that would give a whole genre its identity. Meanwhile, two of the most exciting names to recently break onto the electronic music scene, Anthony Naples and Lee Gamble, offer respectively dense and spacious interpretations of ‘Mindwash’ and ‘Capsules’.