Hi there, Being stuck in Coventry for this holiday, I decided to visit the Hard to Find shop in B'ham to investigate this ``rediscovered'' Pheerce City 04. Funny this shop claims themselves as ``probably the best shop in the world specialised in deleted and current dance music''. I couldn't agree more if you exchange ``deleted and current'' for ``bootlegged and ripped off''... Let's go to the records.
Pheerce Citi 01 (red label): A1 Sinister [1st Mix] A2 Wiggin [Original] B1 Wiggin [Reese Mix] B2 Freestyle [Bongo Mix] Pheerce Citi 04 (purple label): A1 Sinister [Mellow Mix] A2 Wiggin [Re-mix] B1 Wiggin [Juan Atkins Mix] B2 Freestyle [Mayday Mix] Both are cheap and very low quality bootlegs. You could tell by just looking at the vinyl cut in the edge and internal hole, misplaced labels, with scanned/photocopied fonts... The sound is awful: Compressed with very poor dynamics, quite blurred and dull. Bass is very boomy, medium is nasal/congested and there is no high end... This is for all tracks in both records, but A1 in PC04 (Sinister [Mellow Mix]), which is considerably better (probably mastered from a different source) with better dynamics and decent tonal balance. But the treble is still brittle and grainy. The Sinister 1st Mix is the same available in the Nude Photo 88 (on Kool Kat) and quite similar to the usual version (available in the Innovator EP on Network, etc...) The Freestyle versions are almost exactally the same. One (maybe the Mayday Mix, I'm a bit confused now) is easy to find elsewhere (Innovator 5xLP). The same goes for the Wiggin versions (but the Reese Mix). The Wiggin Re-Mix is the one available in the Buzz Relics 12"/Mixes (BZZXL 106060). AFAIK, the two PC 01 original pressings were 1) double A-sided with Wiggin [Reese Mix] and Freestyle [Bongo Mix] and 2) A- with Wiggin [Original], Sinister [Mellow Mix] and B- with Wiggin [Reese Mix], Freestyle [Bongo Mix]. In conclusion, I would forget about this PC 01 bootleg. The low quality is not worth a penny. So the only source of the Wiggin [Reese Mix] is still the originals PC 01 (Am I correct on this?). The PC 04 bootleg can be useful if you want this Sinister [Mellow Mix]. They also have: - Intergalactic Beats 2xLP (blue vinyl). I agree with David Beattie that one of the records is crap and unplayable (the compilation one) but the other (with the two Shop tracks) has almost decent quality. Still a bit grainy and brittle in the treble... - Open House - Aquatic Buzz repress. In the usual Buzz repress quality (quite superior than the PC). - A couple of Blake Baxter bootlegs (Red Zone, Incognito) in very low quality, too. - All those bootleg compilations/best of: Carl Craig Remixes Vol.2 (catalog CCR02), Best of Mr. Fingers (BMR01), Grace Jones Mixes (GJR01)... - The other Buzz ``represses'' were all there in large quantities: Panic In Detroit, Relics Comp. & 12"s, Equinox Comp. As well as DFC Relics, and Wild Times (Mayday Mix)... I should stop now. It was quite funny, though. You know, I had the impression that everything in that shop was fake and got quite concerned about buying any record (specially because they do not price tag any!)... Hope this shine some light about these PC bootlegs. Take care, Guilherme
