Midnight Bass has established ‘Bongoween’ as a proper event on the Edinburgh clubbing calendar over the last few years, staging sold out events with the likes of Bailey Ibbs (2021), Ell Murphy (2022) and Arfa and Lu.Re (last year). However, this year is a different beast altogether. While previous events have featured rising stars of the scene. 2024’s Bongoween is all about a bona fide legend.
Tickets available here.
Emerging as a pioneering force in the UK’s nascent rave scene with the launch of his now-seminal label, Good Lookin’ Records, in 1991, LTJ Bukem (better known as Danny Williamson to his mum, his initials standing for ‘Long Term Junglist’) actually produced his label’s debut release, Demon’s Theme, in 1990. This tune really was quite an extraordinary stand-out when it dropped. Although still driven by furiously fizzing breakbeats and lush sub bass, rapidly become the norm in UK raves at the time, it also exhibited a much softer, deeper sound: a combination of mournful seagull cries, heart-tugging vocal samples and even more rousing pan pipes – yes, pan pipes!
At the end of a whole set (or a whole night!) of unrelenting hardcore, Bukem’s fluffy, atmospheric moods were the perfect tonic. He was also no slouch when it came to mixing his beats live, with a silky DJing touch that sliced and diced the best parts of each tune into one seamless, dreamy whole. As a result, he was consistently booked to play the final set of the night (usually 4-6am), with many ravers consequently looking forward to his set (alongside that of fellow pioneer, DJ Randall, RIP) the most.
As his label went on to deliver hit after hit (check out 1993’s Music, above, for another sublime piece of dnb history), news travelled fast, with Bukem getting booked at raves and clubs across the UK, the initial wave cresting with a two-hour mix alongside MC Conrad (RIP), for Pete Tong’s (at the time) mighty Essential Mix, which was a spin-off from Tong’s (at the time) even more influential Radio 1 show, in 1995.
Alongside a rash of other classics of the moment, this first Essential Mix featured one of 1995’s biggest dance music releases, Horizons – perhaps Bukem’s most accomplished work of all (which no less also necessitated the establishment of a sub-division, Lookin’ Good Records).
And this first broadcast was so successful, he was invited to record another Essential Mix just a year later (quite a rarity at the time). With Conrad once again rapping exquisite and perfectly pitched lyrical flows alongside him, the duo very quickly became the dream team of mid-90s dnb, their profile perhaps only matched by that of Fabio & Grooverider.
With so many of his contemporaries now successfully aping his style, Bukem had effectively carved out a whole a sub-genre of his own and his label consequently went into overdrive. Between late 1996 and the end of ’97, it released three compilation albums in quick succession: Logical Progression Volume 1 plus Earth Volumes 1 and 2, the latter of which also saw it lowering the tempo and embracing the nascent trip hop sound.
With this move and the international distribution (and licences) that inevitably followed, the Good Lookin’ wave reached international shores, Bukem’s star continued to rise and it’s hardly diminished since.
It’s no easy task to think of another UK DJ/producer, certainly in jungle and dnb, who has managed to combine such an accomplished flair for DJing, musicianship, production and, perhaps most importantly, the day-to-day business of running a successful record label. Good Lookin’ is rightly considered a classic UK dance label today and LTJ Bukem one of its number one stars.
Don’t miss this opportunity to catch him playing on a proper sound system in a proper nightclub. Tickets available here.
Categories: Blog, NewsTags: 90s, Demon's Theme, drum n bass, Earth Volume 1, Earth Volume 2, Essential Mix, Fabio & Grooverider, Good Lookin' Records, hardcore, Horizons, jungle, Logical Progression, Lookin' Good Records, LTJ Bukem, MC Conrad, Nineties, Randall, rave, trip hop
