Tuff Jam Presents Underground Frequencies Vol.1 - Various Artists

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	everything
Disadvantages:	n/a

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

‘Tuff Jam’ was a DJ/production/remixing duo consisting of Karl ‘Tuff Enuff’ Brown and Matt ‘Jam’ Lamont. They worked relentlessly from the mid-nineties until around 2002, when the guy parted ways and began working on other projects. They are responsible for some of the biggest anthems in the UK Garage scene, in fact, I would recommend you do a quick search for their work on the world wide web as they did have some commercial success and so there may be something that they have done that you know!

The UK Garage scene was reaching it’s most popular in 1997 and so ‘Underground Frequencies Volume 1 was released. A double CD (one mixed, one unmixed) was compiled by Karl and Matt containing the biggest tracks of the time.

Tracklist:

CD1 (Mixed By Tuff Jam)

1.01 Roy Davis Jr. - Gabrielle (Live Garage Mix)
1.02 Todd Edwards - Push The Love
1.03 Tyanda - I Get A Rush (Julian Jonah Dub)
1.04 Xavier - Tumblin' Down (Original Mix)
1.05 Sneaker Pimps - Spin Spin Sugar (Armand's Dark Garage Mix)
1.06 Rosie Gaines - Closer Than Close (Tuff Jam's Unda-Vybe Remix)
1.07 Bobby D'Ambrosio - Moment Of My Life (Classic Club Mix)
1.08 Terry Hunter - Harvest For The World (Dan's Classic Mix)
1.09 Double 99 - Ripgroove (Tuff Jam's Groove Dub)
1.10 Smokin Beats - Dreams (Vocal Club)
1.11 Tuff Jam - Dangerous (Unda-Vybe Dub)
1.12 Operator & Baffled - Things Are Never (Dub)
1.13 Mutiny - Bliss (3:41)
1.14 Nuyorican Soul - Runaway (Mongoloids In Space Mix)
1.15 Double 99 - Jump
1.16 Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go (Kelly G Bump 'N' Go Dub)
1.17 Nu-Birth - Anytime (Tuff Jam's Remix Kick Dub)
1.18 New Horizons - Find The Path (Tuff Jam's D.I.Y. Dub)
1.19 TJR - Just Gets Better (TJR Dub)
1.20 Industry Standard - Industry Standard Vol.1 (What You Want)

CD2 (Unmixed)

2.01 Double 99 - Ripgroove (Tuff Jam's Groove Dub)
2.02 Rosie Gaines - Closer Than Close (Tuff Jam's Unda-Vybe Remix)
2.03 Todd Edwards - Push The Love
2.04 Roy Davis Jr. - Gabrielle (Live Garage Mix)
2.05 Operator & Baffled - Things Are Never (Dub)
2.06 Smokin Beats - Dreams (Vocal Club)
2.07 Nuyorican Soul - Runaway (Mongoloids In Space Mix)
2.09 Sneaker Pimps - Spin Spin Sugar (Armand's Dark Garage Mix)
2.10 Tyanda - I Get A Rush (Julian Jonah Dub)

‘The songs on the second CD are already on the first?’ I hear you shout. Well, yes, they are. BUT the first CD is mixed, meaning that each of the twenty songs play seamlessly, from one to the next. This is because a DJ (in this case two) have mixed them together and recorded this as a performance. It’s unusual for a mixed CD to come with what are commonly known as DJ friendly versions of the tracks so this is a real bonus. The songs on this CD were not (and still are not) widely available on CD (or MP3 for that matter), for some of the songs here, this is the only place they have ever been released on CD, they are a vinyl only release. That fact alone makes this an invaluable purchase. It may be slightly trickier to get a copy now, after all, it was released 12 years ago, but if you look in the right place and are prepared to pay the price, you should be ok.

The tracks on this CD are a really good representation of what was going on at the time, if you tuned in to one of the many pirate radio stations or went to a club that played this particular genre, you would almost certainly have heard these songs. Unlike some compilations or mixed CDs, this album contains nothing but the best tracks available; there are no fillers here or tracks that were licensed ‘on the cheap’. In fact, this CD has some of my favourite tracks EVER!

TJR’s ‘Just Gets Better’ still gives me goosebumps whenever I hear it; Xavier’s vocals on this track are superb, silky smooth and delivers the more than catchy hook perfectly. This is produced by Tuff Jam themselves and has a bass so deep that it rumbles your speakers, even when listening on a low volume.

Todd Edwards (my all-time favourite record producer) has one of his tracks on here too; ‘Push The Love’ is not one of my favourites of his but was very popular upon release (and still is in fact). This has a nice bumpy beat and a really interesting vocal sample. It originally came out on i! Records in 1997 and has been regarded as an anthem ever since.

‘Ripgroove’ by Double 99 was released commercially around the same time as this compilation was out and did fairly well. It is one of the few UK Garage tracks to do well in the mainstream during this period. Double 99 consisted of Omar Adimora and Tim Liken (who went on to achieve huge mainstream success as Tim Deluxe). The original version of this track was an early example of what evolved into speed garage but this particular mix (Tuff Jam) was pure underground UK Garage. The beats were choppy and the bass was heavy, perfect club music.

The Tina Moore track ‘Never Gonna Let You Go’ was originally a soulful r&b song which was remixed by Kelly G to give it a slighter tougher edge, however, it wasn’t meant to be a garage track but the tempo fit in with that of UK Garage and the rest, as they say, is history. Tina’s smooth vocals, coupled with the laid back beats and distinctive bassline makes this an awesome track that still gets played on commercial radio stations to this day!

Enough of the track by track analysis, its safe to say that this is an excellent compilation, mixed to perfection by Tuff Jam. For an outsider, this is probably one of the best starting points when learning about the UK Garage scene. Ok, it may have more than a few Tuff Jam tracks on it but such is the quality of their work that they are all stone cold classics.