Optical - 20YearsOfOptical Vol. 2 FLAC download

I taped the first forty-five minutes of a radio show called One In The Jungle, broadcast by BBC Radio 1 in the UK on 14th February 1997, whereby the featured guest DJ that night was Dom & Roland. Needless to say, for anyone familiar with Dom's music, this set was at the very cutting edge of the Drum & Bass sound. Little was I to know this would be the only time 'Sci Fi Step Tech' was ever broadcast. Several years later in the early 2000's I digitised the tape to MP3 eventually upload it as part of an internet forum thread in 2006 where the old 'One In The Jungle' shows were being collated. This mix was to become one of the most revered of all the sets.Although much talked about in the years that followed it's uploading, Sci Fi Step Tech never saw the light of day and was never heard again until Optical posted a clip from this radio show on his Soundcloud page in late 2013 as one of his unreleased tracks. The information attached to the clip made for disheartening reading 'truly lost in a move of studios in 1998'. Optical went on to say that it had been an 'early experiment in atmosphere and texture'.Years of dwindling hope, compounded by the somewhat lack lustre track list of 2005's Virus Vaults LP; lent a degree of scepticism to Optical's December 2015 announcement of his intention to compile an album featuring of all his solo unreleased work from the late nineties. Via his Facebook page, fans were asked to suggest tracks to feature on the album. There followed a deluge of suggestions for tracks, with many requesting 'Sci Fi Tep Tech', 'Rollers Rock', 'Void' (previously only released as part of a mix) and What's the Difference' amongst others. Optical duly listened to his fans and the proproposed album eventually burgeoned to encompass over twenty tracks. Optical scoured the Virus Vaults and dusted off old dubplates', many of which were the only surviving copies of these tunes. With the help of his brother Matrix, he set about rescuing and restoring them. Finally, after several delays, due to Optical's insistence on making the tracks sound their best, the album was released in October 2016 and did not disappoint. It perfectly encapsulates the very essence of the raw uninhibited late nineties Optical sound, where in years to come, the very notion of such a tracklist would achieve 'holy grail' status among drum and bass aficionados long before the album's conception.Further reading. relevant to this album, is my review of Dom & Roland - Invasion https://www.discogs.com/Dom-Roland-Invasion-Mothership-Remix-Revenge/master/

To me Optical means techstep and techstep means Optical. Although he is not the one who invented the style but definitely one of a few main figures behind it. "Grey Odissey", "Moving 808's", remix of Jonny L's "Movin' Thru Air" are my personal techstep anthems. Big up to the man for re-releasing his gems some of which hadn't seen the official release before, I was waiting for that for almost twenty years!

I recorded a few of the One in the Jungle sessions from '95-97 on tape too - some corkers. Wondering if I still have any. Thanks for the reminder of some superb sounds.

After hearing Rollers Rock on Grooveriders Kiss show back in '97 and not knowing what it was for years. Then finding out it was a lost DJ Optical Dub that will never see the light of day i cant quite believe that for a price of 12" I finally have it along with a bunch of other unreleased gems. Today was a good day. Massive respect for doing this.

This sums up how I felt yesterday, some absolute Gems present here, including the highly sought after "Sever!", a monster of a track that appeared on Grooverider's Essential Mix way back.