Music
These are some of the most valuable rave records out there
This is our guide to some of the most valuable rave records from the '90s. If you have any of these in your vinyl collection, then you could be sitting on a small fortune.
One of the consequences of the ongoing vinyl revival has been the success of record listing website Discogs. The site, on which record collectors, secondhand vinyl shops, serious dealers and casual music fans compile and document their collections, has become the number one page through which to buy and sell records, and check their value. More than any other site, it has enabled the demand for vinyl rarities to skyrocket.
Soul, disco, jazz, funk, krautrock and psychedelia records are still in demand, but increasingly so are records from the 1990s, including rare, hard-to-find dance tracks. The thirst for early '90s breakbeat hardcore and rave in particular has driven-up prices. DJs and collectors seem more than happy to pay huge sums for obscure white labels, classics that slipped through the net first time around and rare editions of bona fide rave classics.
Below are a few of our favourite vinyl rave rarities. Do you have any of them hidden in your own collection?
DJ H – The Bass Project
Good luck finding one of these for less than £500/ $680/ €560. An exceptionally rare white label EP of brutal hoover stabs, Loleatta Holloway vocal samples and intense breaks, the lead cut on this 1993 release Petruccio is a full-on blast best enjoyed via YouTube unless you're a real rave completist. The track also features a sample of Bruce Willis in Moonlighting.
Discogs value: £749/ $1014/ €840
Adam F – Pressure
An early hardcore cut from the drum 'n' bass wizard behind tunes such as Circles and Metropolis – and the son of UK pop star Alvin Stardust. Pressure is incredibly good, with its rolling breaks and restrained stabs. A 'test run' vinyl edition of this 1993 release will set you back, but it's almost worth it in this particular case.
Discogs value: Up to £250/ $338/ €280
Fast Floor – On A Quest For Intelligence
If you want a mint edition of this lost rave classic, then you might need to schedule in a meeting with your bank manager. A mere 30 test pressings of this record saw the light of day, as hardcore was rapidly being superseded by the mutations of darkcore and jungle. Fast Floor's album inexplicably never saw a full release, but listening to it now, it's wonderful: full of lush atmospherics, UK house vibes and early drum 'n' bass experiments. Is it worth £1,285, though?
Discogs value: £1,285/ $1740/ €1441
Altern 8 – Full On Mask Hysteria (Picture Disc)
Recently reissued on limited gatefold vinyl, cut loud for use in clubs and with photos from back in the day, Altern 8's sole album, Full On Mask Hysteria, is probably the ultimate hardcore record. The record was released in numerous versions back in 1992, but near-mint copies of the picture disc are scarce indeed.
Discogs value: Up to £450/ $609/ €505
Dance Squad – Everybody
This full-on cheesy rave classic might be good fun, with its belting vocal, dubby bass and one-finger keyboard riff, but it's a surprising to discover that you won't get a copy of it for less than £120. Who would've thought it?
Discogs value: Up to £540/ $731/ €606
Lemon D – Pursuit Of A Vision EP
An absolutely killer hardcore EP from Metalheadzand Valve associated drum 'n' bass producer, Lemon D, aka long-time Dillinja collaborator Kevin King. The rolling Amen breaks, sub bass and synth stabs on Pursuit Thru The Darkness are, it turns out, very precious indeed.
Discogs value: Up to £250/ $338/ €280
4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse – Drowning In Her
Drum 'n' bass producers Foul Play were behind this affirmed hardcore classic from 1993, which, with its polyrhythmic breakbeat science, helped pave the way for the incipient jungle sound. Good luck finding one of these in mint condition.
Discogs value: Up to £200/ $270/ €224
Origin Unknown – Eastern Promise
Andy C and Ant Miles's infamous drum 'n' bass project are best known for their 1993 Valley Of The Shadows tune, which can be picked up cheap off Discogs. But this earlier (and very excellent) EP is rather rarer in its original RAMM 002 version. Its B-side, Losing U, slays with its compound of bleeps, hard breakbeats and a chipmunk Dionne Warwick sample.
Discogs value: Up to £250/ $338/ €280
Njoi – Strength
Best known for their 1990 piano house/rave beast Anthem, a few years later, in 1993, Njoi's Nigel Champion and Mark Franklin were clearly fired up by the new darkcore sub-genre – a brooding, darkside take on jungle that acted as the counterpoint to happy hardcore. Their very rare Strength record was the result – a relentless and raw breakbeat attack that still does damage in the clubs.
Discogs value: £350/ $474/ €392
DJ Smokey Joe – The Crimewatch Project
A real obscurity, this is peak period hardcore dance music. The record's main B-side, Kiss My Neck, packs in scratching, chopped up breakbeats and a big piano house sample, while its bonkers A-side track, Boomzabang, with its hoover noises, female vocals and big bass riff, has more ideas stuffed in it than 10 other random hardcore tunes played together at the same time.
Discogs value: Up to £200/ $270/ €224
Rave kids
© Drew Gurian / Red Bull Content Pool