Easy Mike – I Salute

It's Real is a hardcore record, real rough sounding with, I dare say it, a bit of a precursor to the approach that the Bomb Squad would take with the PE stuff. There's so much going on and the main hook being a very raw and atonal version of Trouble Funk's Supergrit, it borders on a sonic assault at times with samples, scratches, rap, cut in breakbeats courtesy of Honky Tonk Woman, Son of Scorpio, Sing Sing, Catch A Groove and one of which the name is escaping me, but will bug the crap out of me now.. all crowding for attention, sounding like it's mixed on a four track recorder. But somehow it all comes together.

1986 was the transition year from 808/909/Linn/DMX drums into the golden era, helped quite a bit by the wide release of the Ultimate Breaks & Beats LPs and the technology of the then not long released SP12, but I liked that the breaks accompanied the big drum machine kicks and snares which still gave it that electro(nic) edge. Great stuff.