Bass of the Trap? BM Funksta?
God knows, but this is a potentially unreleased dubplate from the mighty Aphrodite around 1997. Sampling the same sample used in Mystery Man’s ‘DJ Business’ from 92 and bringing the standard Aphrodite bassline that made him famous it’s a wonder why this wasn’t released past dubplate.
The well know BM Funksta and the VIP featuring The Jungle Brothers uses prety much the same structure although does away with the samples used in this version which pretty much made the original what it was.
Aphrodite’s kept pretty quiet about this one, no feature on his Soundcloud account and certainly nothing official from his well maintained Facebook page.
Who knows where it ended up or what the story was behind it, sadly it doesn’t look like it will ever see an official release.
After my last label mix (Kartoons) I thought it best for my next mix to pay homage to my all time favourite Drum & Bass producers, two artists who I have stalked on Discogs in a kind of worrying fashion over the last few years, trying to pick up obscure remixes and forgotten bits of vinyl. Aphrodite has carried his style well over the years and since the early days of Jump Up his production has been duplicated, copied, ripped off by many - some have succeeded in manipulating that trademark bass, others have blatantly done a poor job. I don’t think that Drum & Bass would have been what it was in the mid 90’s without contribution from both Mickey Finn & Aphrodite, nearly every set in ‘95 and ‘96 featured heavily with tracks from Urban Takeover and other sub labels. I think for me, the clever use of Hip Hop samples, straight kicks and snares along with the original wobble bass seems to be a winning formula.
It really hit home when Stalker was featured in Human Traffic in 1999, the same year Aphrodite released his self titled album - this was a time when, for me, the direction of Drum & Bass seemed uncertain. A time when new genres were popping up all over the place, most of my close DJ friends had moved over to the likes of UK Garage or the deeper aspects of Drum & Bass. I think Mickey Finn lost the production plot a while before this, this was almost certainly demonstrated many years later with the release of the label Finn People - a kind of, dare I say it, Clown Step affair which didn’t really hold a identity or feature any big releases - mind you, by ‘07 the days of BIG tunes was far gone. This was the digital age by then.
Aphrodite obviously still plays all over the world, his sets these days still seem to feature the same spark his production did all those years ago, he seems to have moved on though bassline wise with his own production - not really something I am that keen on. That’s just a person thing though although I guess he had to move on sometime.
So here’s part one of some of my all time favourite releases by Mickey Finn & Aphrodite, a collection spanning many years and many samples. All mixed on 2 Technics 1210’s and a DJM700, nothing fancy but then I don’t think this series needs it.
If I was being really picky I should have also included Darren Jay but I should think his contribution to a few tracks was just a head nod, belly scratch and a few tweaks of the EQ - a bit like his mixing these days.
Here’s the tracklisting:
01) Frou Frou - Breathe In (Aphrodite Remix) - Island Records - 2002
02) Aphrodite - Karma Sutra - Aphrodite Recordings - 2001
03) Aphrodite - Cool Flight - Aphrodite Recordings - 1999
04) Blackstreet - No Diggity (Urban Takeover Vocal Remix) - Not On Label - 1998
05) Amazon II - Music’s Hypnotizing - Aphrodite Recordings - 1996
06) Aphrodite - Def Jammer - Aphrodite Recordings - 1999
07) Yum Yum - Fallen Angel (Aphrodite Remix) - Sperm Records - 1998
08) Aphrodite - Ganja Man - V2 Records - 2002
09) Aphrodite - Tower Bass - Aphrodite Recordings - 1996
10) Aphrodite Feat. Alibi - Tonight (Heavy Duty Dub Mix - Urgent Records - 1996
11) Barry Boom - Stand and Deliver (Darren Jay, Mickey Finn & Aphrodite Remix) - Universal Music - 1997
12) The Fabulous Baker Boys - Oh Boy (Aphrodite Funky Assed Remix - Multiply Records - 1997
13) Natural Born Chillers - Rock The Funky Beat (Urban Takeover Remix) - Warner Brothers Records - 1997
14) Apollo 440 - Raw Power (Urban Takeover Mix) - Stealth Sonic Records - 1997
15) Aphrodite - B.M Funksta - Aphrodite Recordings - 1999
16) Spring Heel Jack - Bells (Aphrodite & Mickey Finn Remix) - Trade 2 - 1997
17) Aphrodite - Cool Rock Stuff - Aphrodite Recordings - 1998
18) Mutiny - The Virus (Urban Takeover Remix) - VC Records - 2001
19) Aphrodite - Fanfare - Aphrodite Recordings - 2000
20) Just Jack - Triple Tone Eyes (Aphrodite ‘Bring it Back’ Remix) - RG Records - 2003
21) Aphrodite - Woman That Rolls - Aphrodite Recordings - 1996
22) Aphrodite - London Massive - Aphrodite Recordings - 2005
23) Aphrodite - Stalker - Aphrodite Recordings - 1999
24) Aphrodite Feat. Alibi - Sexual Healing - 1996
