Unknown To The Unknown announce OHM reissue
Unknown To The Unknown have announced details of their next vinyl release, a reissue of OHM’s classic 1992 track “Tribal Tone”.
Given Unknown To The Unknown’s wide ranging remit, including bassline garage, Detroit electro and Chicago house, and label owner DJ Haus’ appreciation of the genre and era (he recently got MK to remix one of his tracks) it was perhaps inevitable that a genuine 90s house record would find its way onto the label at some point. “Tribal Tone” was produced by the OHM duo comprised of Alan Watson and Yogi Haughton, and released in 1992 on Hubba Hubba, a label based in Falkirk in Scotland, run by Utah Saints manager John MacLennan.
The original comprised Watson’s “Ruffneck Mix” and Haughton’s “Mo’ Better Grooves Mix”, the latter supposedly the first tune to use the Korg M1 sound that was later immortalised by Robin S’ “Show Me Love”. It had considerable impact at the time, being championed The Shamen frontman Mr C, being licensed to R&S sub-label Global Cuts and US label Vibe, and finding itself remixed by the Sabres of Paradise trio of Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns. As DJ Haus succinctly tells us, “Yogi recalls being outside the Ministry Of Sound one night and seeing a car come screeching around the corner with 6 blokes in it all hanging out the windows with “Tribal Tone” blaring out, and the car literally swaying from side to side with them jumping about to the tune.”
Unknown To The Unknown’s reissue will contain both original versions, with some well chosen remixers offering their own takes on the track; UTTU regular Capracara, whose recent forays into the classic house sound have provided some of a crowded market’s best recent examples, and Marquis Hawkes, whose raw, slamming cuts have helped turn Dixon Avenue Basement Jams into a must check imprint. The “Mo’ Better Grooves Mix” can be heard below, while we also took the opportunity to send DJ Haus some questions about how the reissue came about.
When did you first come across the record and what’s your personal connection to it? It sounds as if it might have influenced some of the Hot City sound…
I have the original on vinyl which I picked up at the Exchange a few years back, then read about it again on the Feel My Bicep blog which I have become addicted to. I started playing it out all the time alongside Ejeca and Plezier anthems and it always got a great reaction…
How did you go about finding the guys behind the original record?
Well, I tweeted if anyone had a contact, then Capracara replied saying it was Yogi, who was a friend of a friend who works at Soul Jazz – Rich from Rubadub then mentioned they might have a contact. Then Yogi called me up and was like, “yeh man we’re starting to make music again now anyway so let’s do it”. It seems as though the cosmos aligned and we were all on the same vibe. They’re now producing under the name Northern Souls, hopefully more releases on UTTU (fingers crossed) – they did a sick new remix on this reissue!
What was their reaction when you offered to reissue the record? Was it unanimously positive or was there some arm twisting involved?
Well they were pretty wary of labels in general, but they realised it’s not the 90s and record sales are fucked so I’m not really in a position to rip them off!
Juno Plus favourites Capracara and Marquis Hawkes have been tapped up for remixes – what led you to choose those guys specifically?
Caparacara is the G, Rubadub were really keen on getting a remix from him too and he smacked it , plus he’s a fan of the OG so it made perfect sense. The Marquis connection came through Rich at Rubadub who has been a huge help in general for UTTU so yeah, team work!
This is the first reissue on UTTU, correct? Is it something we’ll be seeing more of from the label?
Actually no, Zibba’s “Say To You” was the first re-issue, and I was super chuffed to get access to that track as well (hold rite DJ Q). There’s no real agenda with what I’m doing, if I have the opportunity to do something cool I’ll jump at the chance, whether it’s reissuing this or putting out a brand new baseline producer or giving away a tune…
There’s no official release date for the record as yet, but we expect it to arrive in the next few months.
Tracklist:
A1. Tribal Tone (Mo Better Grooves Mix)
A2. Tribal Tone (Ruffneck Mix)
B1. Tribal Tone (Marquis Hawkes Remix)
B2. Tribal Tone (Capracara Remix)