Rennie Pilgrem's label finally reaches 100 releases, which in this industry is amazing. He includes a mix CD as CD 1 with exclusives and full tracks of rare and deleted tracks for CD 2. Check this out.

TCR 100 (TCR)

Who would have thought that the crazy bald headed breaks deejay known as Rennie Pilgrem would actually start a record label let alone survive to 100 releases, yes I said 100 releases. He achieved it, he started Thursday Club Recordings (TCR) in the mid 90’s and the first releases were electro. Since then he has constantly pushed his tracks and also his own remxies but also the stuff of other artists like Koma and Bons, JDS and others that he found to be talented and worth giving them a place to launch their careers. Who knew that TCR could achieve 100 but we at I:Vibes.nu salute the nutters who love to have fun but they also love to make quality music.

The first CD is mostly recent TCR releases coupled with some exclusive stuff from the label mixed by Pilgrem himself into a 16 track odyssey that times in at over 70 minutes plus and then TCR decided to really shock you. It seems that they took the lead from Hope, who released 2 CDs of full versions and unmixed tracks for their 100th release, some of which were rare and hard to find. So on CD 2, Pilgrem grabbed his back catalogue and released the full versions of some deleted tracks and he also included some real exclusives here as well.

CD 1 – Upfront TCR mixed by Rennie Pilgrem

1.Your Captain
2.JDS – P Funk
3.Rennie Pilgrem featuring Chickaboo – Celebrity (Rennie’s Paisley Park Mix)
4.Koma and Bones – Speed Freak
5.Acen – Dirty Raver
6.Rennie Pilgrem – U Know
7.Rennie Pilgrem and Roxiller – Bug
8.Koma and Bones – Time Waster
9.Rennie Pilgrem feat. Sara Whitaker-Gilbey – Coming Up For Air (Koma and Bones Remix)
10.Dopamine – Hold You
11.Diverted – Tholid (Vlad Sokolov Remix)
12.JhZ – Jack Jack
13.B.L.I.M and Rennie Pilgrem – Yaffle
14.JDS featuring Valerie M – Don’t be Alone (Pilgrem Mix)
15.Mr.Potatohead – Shit Was Funky

CD 2 – Classic TCR

1.Silicon Valley Def Stars – Believer (TCR Remix)
2.Drifter – Waveform
3.Koma and Bones – Morpheus (Original Mix)
4.Rennie Pilgrem and Uberzone – Black Widow (Original Mix)
5.Rennie Pilgrem and B.L.I.M – Eskimo (Yellow Snow Mix)
6.Chris Carter – ESP
7.Rennie Pilgrem and B.L.I.M – 2 Freaks (Unreleased Dub Mix)
8.Uberzone and Rennie Pilgrem – Cous Cous (Royale Mix)
9.Meat Katie and Elite Force – Ju Ju (Original Mix)

Disc One is an excellent representation of TCR, if you are not familiar with their output past, present and future then this is an excellent introduction. TCR’s output has always varied from dirty breakbeat house, to everything breakbeat and even electro.. Pilgrem seamlessly mixes solid track after solid track and the energy builds more and more as he goes from track to track. All the usual suspects are there, JDS, Koma and Bones, BLIM and many others including Rennie Pilgrem himself.

I like how the disc evolves from this is your captain intro and then it picks up steam through JDS’s P.Funk and then hits you with Rennie’s own mix of Celebrity, a diatribe at a dime a dozen celebrities. The disc then kicks up a notch with Koma and Bones’ techy breaks “Speed Freak”, which adds more and more energy and has a slight element of dirtiness to it. Pilgrem’s own U Know picks up the pace and it is followed by Bug, which pushes up the pace even more.

Koma and Bones’ Timewaster is new to me and I love the melody, its just so stompingly (new word?) addictive. Its not as techy breaks as I’m used to from the trio but it is just really good. Koma and Bones return with the mix in track number nine, one of the best of 2005 with Mara’s Sara Whittaker-Gilbey and Pilgrem’s “Coming up for air”. This leads us into more techy territory and Pilgrem is really pushing the envelope of breaks.

Dopamine’s often overlooked “Hold You” brings in track number ten and its makes me relive some of my favorite moments in 2005. The bass is still infectious and the bassline, oh my gosh, dancefloors bewares. I’m still waiting to hear it on the dancefloor and its going to be a beast. Tholid’s Diverted with the Solokov remix is track 11 and it adds more and more energy to this mix that just keeps getting better with every passing track.

JHz’s lovely Jack Jack comes in at track 12 and I love the robotic souding vocal that just pounds you with the nasty breakbeat bassline. BLIM and Pilgrem show up with Yaffle, which I’m sure was created out of too many beers, you know deejays!. It has an almost vocodered voice that floats through the background and then the usual dirty breaks appear and slap you a few times. JDS appear again and they deserve all the props they get because their album was one of the top three of 2005 for sure (with a month to go!). Pilgrem’s mix really does some damage here..

The CD ends, which you don’t want it to with a rarer TCR track if I’m not mistaken with “Shit was Funky” by Mr.Potatohead. It has been a lovely journey through TCR’s catalogue, its really good.

CD 2

It seems that since everything is leading more digital, with deejays playing more CDRs, IPODS becoming the latest must have accessory and mp3s becoming the norm that labels are starting to embrace the change in the music industry. So TCR decided to give us a full CD of nine tracks, some of which have been deleted and are extremely hard to find.

The first track is probably the hardest to find of TCR’s releases and it shows not only how music has progressed but how TCR’s sound has evolved as well. Waveform’s Drifter is another track that not many people have heard and its deleted I believe as well. Koma and Bones appear with Morpheus, which is another gem.

Pilgrem steps it up with his famous collaboration with Uberzone called “Black Widow” and then its followed by the Yellow Snow mix of Eskimo with BLIM, which was a favorite of Timo Maas a few years ago. Chris Carter’s ESP shows up and then more goodies for the listener with the Unreleased Dub of 2 freaks, which is a treat. The Royale mix of Cous Cous is the second last track and very nice. The Original mix of Ju Ju with Meat Katie and Elite Force ends it, which was a favorite of James Lavelle.

Conclusion:
TCR delivers a solid mix CD that shows what is great about TCR and then Classic TCR with nine full length tracks really adds the icing on the cake. TCR has only survived this long because of Pilgrem’s real ear for music and finding out what works and then tossing aside the other crap. Certainly a well received 100th release, here to 100 more!.

Check TCR for the release date in your neck of the woods