Three Epics - Part Four: Drop 2...The Elusive Fame

 

Even with the limited European release, increasing numbers of people were listening. Band friends Leftfield had been checking their releases. Paul Daley suggested that Pressure Drop sign to Leftfield's Hard Hands label. Tearing the Silence EP was released in 1995. Tearing the Silence gained widespread respect, enough to land a deal with Columbia's British club culture Higher Ground sublabel & the release of Pressure Drop's critically acclaimed third album, 1997s Elusive. The writing was on the wall.

 

Pressure Drop - Elusive, Higher Ground/Hard Hands, 1997.
decryption codes in comments

Intro    
Writing on the Wall
Got to Be for Real
Silently Bad Minded
Foetus
My Friend
Let Me Be Me
Uh Oh
Darkness
Don't Run Away (extended version)
Dusk
Sounds of Time
Obsessed
The Road
End of the Road

 

 

 

 

Pressure Drop's music was born out of a musical fusion reflecting the multi-ethnic culture the duo  both grew up with in London during a golden age in 20th century music. They could be considered in the vanguard of early 1990s music makers alongside other luminaries such as Massive Attack or Smith & Mighty, Their last sound venture was the 2001s Tread, recorded for Columbia after the duo had moved to Brighton. This is the warrior sound!

 

 

 

Pressure Drop - Tread, Columbia 499584 2, 2001.

PD-on-Sea    
Warrior Sound    
Hip Hop Fanatic    
Senorita    
Unconditional    
The Spiral Stare    
Promises    
Rhudeboy Rhapsody    
Raise Up    
Funkee Joint    
Freak Show    
Take My Hand    
Spirit Shine

 

 

 

 

Enjoy an epic tale,
NØ

Three Epics - Part Three: Pressure 1

The second group covered by Three Epics in this series is Pressure Drop & the musical partnership of Justin Langlands / Dave Henley. I intimated about this part in a post last month, No Pressure. 

 

 

In the late 80s & early 90s in many parts of the UK, illegal rave warehouse parties were combining bass/drum throbbing Dub with scratchy blues dance grooves & hip-hop beats to create a new sound. Mutual friend DJ Paul Guntrip enlisted Dave & Justin to play their eclectic selection of funk, soul, hip-hop, rap, reggae, early house, & film soundtracks at his Heavy Duty night in the Wag Club, London.

After some sampladelic garage singles, Pressure Drop released their first album, 1992s Upset. Upset was written, recorded, produced, & mixed between 1990-1991, in a rented room situated in a house near Ladbroke Grove, London, which was used by the independent record company Big World as offices. It consisted of an intro, an outro, & 11 full tracks featuring six guest vocalists including performances by Joanna Law, the sister of Simon Law who played piano with Soul to Soul; Mark Cornell, who later formed the band Sunchilde; & Rob Gallagher/Constantine Weir of Galliano; with Paul Daley, co-founder of Leftfield on percussion alongside saxophonist Scott Garland & jazz trumpet player Gerard Presencer.

The album was licensed from Big World but due to an unfortunate business situation it was only released in Germany, Austria & Switzerland on Boombastic Records. Later that year Logic Records licensed it, releasing a limited number of copies in the UK as a double 12" vinyl format.

 

Pressure Drop - Upset, Boombastic Records LP 212 040, 1992.
decryption codes in comments

Side A (Other Side) -        
Intro    
You're Mine
Everything Will Be Alright Tomorrow
Big Noise    
The Gardener
Gotta Make it Home
I'm Your Fool

Side B (This Side) -
Nice Touch
Groove Me
Spirits Fall
People Shall Govern
Back2Back
Outro

 

 

 

 

1993s Front Row suffered the same fate as Upset & was only released in the same rather more forward thinking G.A.S. territories.

 

 

Pressure Drop - Front Row, Marlboro Music MRO 8735-2, 1993.

Call to Service    
Unify    
Symptom    
Nice Up the Area    
Running    
Wake Up the Minds
Souls of the City
Dreams
Mmmnn    
A to Z    
Mindless Games
Looking for a Life
Legacy    
After the Storm

 

 

 

 

Enjoy,
NØ

Loose Ends 3 - No Pressure

In the comments on the February 6 Cross My Heart Hope to Die post, long-time Frenz of NSS MarkyD sez:
     "have you got anything by Pressure Drop stashed away on a HD?".

Well, I explained to him then that I had Pressure Drop set to, well, drop as the kids say, in April. April is planned for a series of jumbo posts: a 4AD retrospective, a dive into Smegma, Musick that Needs Work - N, & a look at three bands under the heading Three Epics, of which Pressure Drop is part two. But April is a long time to make a friend wait.

So, MarkyD, here are two singles & a remix set to tide you over... 

 

Pressure Drop - Got to Be for Real 12" single, Columbia SAMPMS 4823, 1997.
all decryption codes in comments

Face A - Got to Be for Real (Tipper vocal)
Face B - Got to Be for Real (Tipper Dub)

 

 

 

 

Pressure Drop - Warrior Sound, Columbia COL 6697196, 2001.

Side A -
Warrior Sound (dance edit)
Warrior Sound (Ed Case & Carl H Dub)
Side B -
Warrior Sound (Adam Freeland mix)

 

 

 

 

Pressure Drop - Food of Love remixes CD, One Eye Records, 2003.

Back2Back (Dorfmeister vs. Madrid de los Austrias Dub)
Unify [Ripped] (Maddslinky remix)
Groove Me (Cuica remix)
You're Mine (Adam Freeland remix)
Part 13 (DJ Rocca remix)
Spirits Fall (Ed Solo & Skool of Thought remix)
Everything'll Be Alright Tomorrow (Black Grass remix)
Metamorph (Pressure Drop version)   
Legacy (Manasseh remix)
Legacy (Paul Daley remix)
The Calling (Freeman remix)

Enjoy,
NØ