Overcast – N©!

Dermatitis is so tight, damn. I couldn't discover a single fault. :)

I heard these tracks for the first time on a quiet Saturday night in 1997 listening to Triple J's Mix Up when Nasenbluten played a lovely one hour live set, which probably set a national record for simultaneous chin stroking across Australia. Several of these tracks I had never heard before and was keen to get them on vinyl but my local record store didn't stock Bloody Fist records and so I was out of luck. Fast forward a few years, a friend of mine gave me a copy of Fist 16, and much to my pleasure it featured several of the tracks they had played on Mix Up, indeed this Overcast chap had slapped together an EP that was as brilliant as it was diverse. Dermatitis is a masterpiece of cut up/scratch Hip Hop sampling. As a big fan of Hip Hop, I could identify most of the samples and appreciate the skill involved in putting it together. I could not believe someone in the Hardcore scene was this good, and from Newcastle no less! I was a fan of The Power by Snap in 1990 (sampling Chill Rob G) so to have an Industrial Hardcore version of it was quite nice, with dope hip hop beats included. I am not a big Drum N Bass fan, but Problem Solver is probably my favourite of the genre, breakbeats surrounding samples of Natural Born Killers by Ice Cube and Dr Dre, a track I like myself. Funny interludes, excellent Industrial Hardcore tracks and a track dissing Sydney (at the height of the Sydney vs Newcastle love-hate relationship), what more could you want? Probably the best Bloody Fist release ever. Probably.

The track Dermatitis is an excellent showcase of Mark N's skills as a dj. I always find it funny when you see these hip hop kids that absolutely worship guys like Q-bert and the other big names, but are completely oblivious to a guy a like Mark N. Don't get me wrong, all those big name turntablists are incredibly talented, but your ears will not lie, this is where the real shit's at. Mark N is straight up fucking raw in a way that you just don't see in the strictly hip hop artists. Hip hop, DnB, hardcore... he blends it all seemlessly and can hang with the best of them when it comes to tricks. And if further proof is necessary, check out his Under Sufference CD and just try to find a flaw.

I think it's summed up best with the Scarface sample he drops in at the end:
"I told you mang, DON'T FUCK WITH ME!"

Ha!

The title Raining Stones refers to a Ken Loach movie of the same name (UK, 1993) and samples the greater part of a key scene towards the end of the film.