4hero have already been mentioned on this blog for their excellent remix of “Black Gold Of The Sun”. But before that, they were the jungle group Tom & Jerry.
Tom & Jerry releases have distinctive labels on the vinyls, with a picture of the cartoon, and cartoon-y writing. But their music is anything but slapstick.
1994 is often viewed as the pinnacle of Jungle music’s golden era, from about ’92-’95. Naturally, a song like this fits perfectly into that groove.
The song was released first, and in it’s original mix (there were numerous other iterations and remixes), on the Dancer E.P. in ’94. Often you’ll see it spelt as “Maximum Style”.
The main sample is from the 1977 Soul hit, “Lover To Lover”, by Maxi Anderson. That is where the “Maxi” comes from in “Maxi(Mun)”. I’ve got no idea what the “Mun” is!
That kicks in at the start, a lovely flute riff and guitar, followed by lush strings, and lusher singing. But of course, this isn’t about that song, great though it is.
The Jungle song by Tom & Jerry is typical of that era. The drums are intricate and manic breakbeats, the pads are futuristic and spacious, the bass is weighty, and the ragga samples make the standard cameo. It’s a great use of the old soul sample, turning it from a sweet slow jam into a dancefloor ready classic.
It’s easy to find the song on Jungle compilation CDs but unfortunately the original vinyl is very expensive and even the 2003 repress is pricey and hard to find. At least it’s on YouTube…
Light years ahead of it’s time!