Jessica Rabbit

Tripping hard at Universal Studios, 1995

In 1992 - just after the legendary club Medusa's closed in Chicago - a friend of mine gave me a cassette she had gotten that summer in London. I had been taping House & Techno sets on B96 and Z95, but this was the first time I had ever heard "rave" anthems & early breakbeat: the groundwork for drum & bass. It soon became my soundtrack for psychedelic self-discovery over the next bunch of years.

In the halls of my HIGH school, I'd recognize other psychonauts dipped in JNCO & Q Ambient jeans no doubt bought at Untitled, and we became friends sharing bubble-letter and wild style sketches in spiral notebooks after exhaling huge hits in the bathroom. We'd share Visine before class.

On the weekends, we'd meet at checkpoints listed on colorful flyers, and dance together at all-night parties on Chicago's south side. There were no phones, and there was no social media: the friends you made were real. Algorithms didn't pick the music for you. Instead, there were DJs with deep crates, dubplates, and white labels to keep the biters guessing. What's "Shazam"?

I appreciate all the recent nostalgia for "the late 1900s", but it never went away for me. So here's the playlist: tunes from and based on this time, this feeling, and this absolutely ridiculous picture of me posing with Jessica Rabbit at Universal Studios in 1995. It was taken on film with a real camera.

Tracklist:

1. Meat Beat Manifesto - Hello Teenage America (Mute, 1990)

2. Jonny L - Hurt You So (Tuch Wood Records, 1992)

3. Liquid - Sweet Harmony (Original Mix) (XL Recordings, 1992)

4. Sonz Of A Loop Da Loop Era - Far Out (Suburban Base Records, 1991)

5. Manix - Feel Real Good (KMS, 1992)

6. SL2 - DJs Take Control (XL Recordings, 1991)

7. Bizarre Inc - Playing With Knives (Quadrant Mix) (Deep Groove, 1991)

8. Opus III - Up (PWL International, 1992)

9. LFO - LFO (The Leeds Warehouse Mix) (Warp, 1990)

10. Praga Khan - Injected With A Poison (Profile, 1993)

11. Orbital - Halcyon and On and On (Internal, 1993)

12. Acen - Trip To The Moon (Part 2) The Darkside (Production House, 1992)

13. Deee-Lite - Call Me (Method One Remix) (Elektra, 1994)

14. Origin Unknown - Valley Of The Shadows (RAM Records, 1993)

15. Goldie - Saint Angel (FFRR, 1995)

16. The Sentinel - Heavy Vibes (Basement Records, 1994)

17. DJ Rap - Spiritual Aura (Engineers Without Fears Remix) (Dee Jay Recordings, 1993)

18. Omni Trio - Renegade Snares (Foul Play Remix) (Moving Shadow, 1993)

19. Run Tings & Liftin' Spirits - Come Easy (Suburban Base, 1995)

20. Red One - Alive 'n' Kickin' (Liftin' Spirits Records, 1994)

21. Future Primitive - Swift Half (DJ Vibes & Wishdokta Remix) (Kniteforce Records, 1994)

22. Remarc - Ice Cream & Syrup (Hard Mix) (Suburban Base, 1995)

23. Love Spirals Downwards - Nova (Projekt, 1998)

24. Global Communication - 4:14 (Dedicated, 1994)