Ballistic Brothers vs Eccentric Afro's / London Hooligan Soul

Ballistic Brothers vs The Eccentric Afro's Vol 1
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Ballistic Brothers vs The Eccentric Afro's Vol 2
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London Hooligan Soul
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Extras
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When I first heard The Headhunters' being cut up on "Blacker" back in '94, I immediately fell in love with the Ashley Beedle sound. They were a lot like the early Ninja Tune DJ Toolz and DJ Food albums but had a deep groove, were more straight-forward and not as moody and abstract. In other words, not only great for the crate but perfect summer music for patios, terraces, verandas, porches, yards and stoops which is why Soundological's give ya the real pizzoop with these long out-of-print initial efforts from Beedle's Ballistic Brothers crew.

They really fleshed out their sound on London Hooligan Soul, with Uschi Classen making a larger contribution as well as the addition of Steve Lewis' vocals and Amy Simmons providing some flute as well. Here they stretch out into ska, dub, drum 'n' bass, brazillian and more, with less reliance on samples and more on tunesmithy. In fact, this a perfect distillation of musical mindset held by the Brit kids who had moved through the Northern Soul, Two-Tone Ska, Hip Hop, Acid House, Acid Jazz/Trip Hop and Hardcore/Jungle eras. It may take a couple listens to grow on you but this album is highly regarded as a seminal classic in the UK scene for a good reason.

AMG Biography by Sean Cooper
The Ballistic Brothers are something of a quintessential London post-acid house outfit. Combining the production talents of some of the most popular figures on the progressive house and acid jazz scenes (Ashley Beedle of Black Science Orchestra, Dave Hill of Nuphonic Records, and house-tech duo Rocky and Diesel), the Ballistics pursue a hip-hop/house/jazz/soul crossover that tends to spell "party" no matter where it's played. Releasing most of their initial material on London club staple Junior Boys Own (including their 1994 debut London Hooligan Soul), the group established the Soundboy label in 1996 to release the follow-up, Rude System. The album's semantic-cum-stylistic switch came via Dave Hill's trip to Jamaica just prior to recording the album, an inspiration that also led the group to pursue a remix project (similar to Mad Professor's take on Massive Attack's 1995 album Protection) at Bob Marley's Kingston studio. Group members' individual projects also include X-Press 2, Free Soul, Low Pressing Records, Blacker, Ill Sun Records, Yellow Sox, and the Uschi Classen band.

There's a pretty thorough Beedle bio as well as a cool five-minute video interview with Ashley, Rocky & Diesel reminiscing about their old skool days over at Dancetracks. Follow the links below and you can judge for yourself if Ashley's blowin' smoke out his whazoo when he says of LHS and Rude System: “To this day,I still think those two albums are brilliant.”

Ballistic Brothers vs The Eccentric Afro's Vol 1
58.5 MB
320 CBR LAME mp3
CD rip & scans from Delancey Street Records DSTCD001

1 NYX2
2 Gangstalene
3 Uschi's Groove
4 And It Goes Like This
5 MCF 2870
6 Blacker
7 Valley Of The Afro Temple
8 Grovers Return
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Ballistic Brothers vs The Eccentric Afro's Vol 2
94.1 MB
320 CBR LAME mp3
CD rip & scans from Delancey Street Records DST005CD

1 Delancey Street...The Theme
2 Unhooked And Lost
3 Save The Children
4 Hustler (You've Been Had)
5 Jam Jah
6 Divine Fact (Blacker 2)
7 Goodvibes...Goodnight
8 Anti-Gun Movement
9 Blacker ('94 EQ)
10 Blacker (Marden Hill Sweet Green Jam Mix)
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London Hooligan Soul
138 MB
320 CBR LAME mp3
CD rip & scans from Junior Boy's Own JBO CD6, vinyl rip from JBO 31, CD rip from JBO 34 CDS

As a special treat exclusively for readers of Soundological, the version of London Hooligan Soul offered here also includes the B-Sides to the two 12" singles from the LP.

1 Portobello Cafe (Vocals - Steve Lucas)
2 Come On
3 Soho Cab Ride
4 I'll Fly Away (Vocals - Steve Lucas)
5 Jah Jah Call You
6 Mark's Lude
7 I Don't Know
8 Sister Song (Flute - Amy Simmons)
9 A Beautiful Space
10 Steppin' Into Eden (Flute - Amy Simmons)
11 Peckings
12 Uschi's Lament
13 Mystery of Ballistic
14 Step Into Eden (Rollin' Drum & Bass Mix)
15 Come On (Wax Doctor's Simon Templar Remix)
16 Come On (Luke Slater Remix)
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Extras
78.4 MB
Various
CD rips, vinyl rips and downloads from various sources

Arakatuba - Pelé (Remixed by Ballistic Brothers)
Armand Van Helden - Funk Phenomena (Ballistic Brothers Phenomenal Funk Mix)
Ballistic Brothers - Perfect Day
Ballistic Brothers - Prophecy Reveal (Night Time Is The Right Time Mix)
Ballistic Brothers - Prophecy Reveal
Brand New Heavies - You've Got a Friend (Ballistic Brothers Remix)
D-Note - The Garden Of Earthly Delights (Ballistic Barrio Boom)
United Future Organization - Doopsylalolic (Ballistic Bros Indo Fuse Per Version)
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If you like this, Soundological also has a Black Science Orchestra post here.