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Former graffiti writer Goldie is arguably the most influential and charismatic figure on the hardcore jungle scene... Top tune 'Inner City Life' is due to be re-activated on 30th October 1995It's perhaps a little too easy now to forget that there was a time when Goldie was taken a bit seriously than he now is, and when drum n'bass was seen as an exciting upcoming music that was about to become massive. In the end it didn't quite turn out that way, with the style seemingly drifting into an advertiser's cliché before it had properly arrived overground, but it certainly made an impact here in London. I remember the cool kids at my school had Metalheadz logos drawn all over everything and they were all listening to the album Timeless. Of course, I wasn't really interested at the time while I was devoting my attention to Cast, but this one song I did remember.
Diane Charlemagne contributes vocals to this track as she did for Wildchild, but this time singing more conventional lyrics (for which she earns a writing credit). Still, the overall impression I get isn't one of a linear song: it's a sort of mood piece where the voice is just another element to be played about with. And the finished production is evocative of, well, inner-city life I suppose, or at least what I imagine it must be like. It's not just the one-dimensional oppressive view you might expect, at least not to my ears: there's a warmth and a strong sense of pride and defiance amid all the confusion. It's the sort of record that leaves me awestruck at the imagination and the fascinating things that can be done by manipulation of sound. I don't know a lot of Goldie's other work, and not all of what I have heard has impressed me, but for these four minutes or so the effect is sublime. Still not much of a hit though; maybe they'd have been better off releasing it in the summer.
Also appearing on: Now 39
Available on: Timeless
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