Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
boomkat.com/products/origins-f0663128-a326-4e5e-8413-2de5e3a5b2d2
Steve Gurley and co.’s deeply inspirational run of ’92-’93 hardcore jungle 12”s as Foul Play, compiled on a deadly doublepack via Bristol-via-Berlin torch carriers, Sneaker Social Club.
‘Origins’ contains some of the greatest music of the early ‘90s, particularly spotlighting the transition from rave’s rugged building blocks into artfully hi-tech dance music during that pivotal period. Sifting gems from both volumes of Foul Play’s early EPs on Oblivion Records - including the all-timers ‘Dubbing You’ and ‘Ricochet’ - plus an early 12” for Moving Shadow, the set documents breakbeat hardcore hitting a creative zenith of hyper-chopped soul, dub and pop samples arranged with staccato stabs, cut-up, shuffling breaks and drum machines, right in the pocket before it was codified as jungle.
Thanks to the studio ingenuity of Steve Gurley, who cut his teeth on these recordings, the set can also be heard to characterise the development of what is known as the hardcore continuum, as defined in Gurley’s subsequent shift into jungle, proper, and then UKG - the ultimate refinement of hardcore’s 2-step shuffles and sexy swerve. The seeds of enduring styles & patterns to come are sown here, from the fractious rush of ‘Finest Illusion’ through the haunting zinger ‘Dubbing You’, to the needlepoint discipline of ‘Ricochet’ and effortless, toes-off-the-floor skip and parry of ‘Screwface’, to the jump-up jungle blueprint ‘Ragatere’.
boomkat.com/products/origins-f0663128-a326-4e5e-8413-2de5e3a5b2d2
Steve Gurley and co.’s deeply inspirational run of ’92-’93 hardcore jungle 12”s as Foul Play, compiled on a deadly doublepack via Bristol-via-Berlin torch carriers, Sneaker Social Club.
‘Origins’ contains some of the greatest music of the early ‘90s, particularly spotlighting the transition from rave’s rugged building blocks into artfully hi-tech dance music during that pivotal period. Sifting gems from both volumes of Foul Play’s early EPs on Oblivion Records - including the all-timers ‘Dubbing You’ and ‘Ricochet’ - plus an early 12” for Moving Shadow, the set documents breakbeat hardcore hitting a creative zenith of hyper-chopped soul, dub and pop samples arranged with staccato stabs, cut-up, shuffling breaks and drum machines, right in the pocket before it was codified as jungle.
Thanks to the studio ingenuity of Steve Gurley, who cut his teeth on these recordings, the set can also be heard to characterise the development of what is known as the hardcore continuum, as defined in Gurley’s subsequent shift into jungle, proper, and then UKG - the ultimate refinement of hardcore’s 2-step shuffles and sexy swerve. The seeds of enduring styles & patterns to come are sown here, from the fractious rush of ‘Finest Illusion’ through the haunting zinger ‘Dubbing You’, to the needlepoint discipline of ‘Ricochet’ and effortless, toes-off-the-floor skip and parry of ‘Screwface’, to the jump-up jungle blueprint ‘Ragatere’.
