Home to the shock champions of the English Premier League (5000/1 odds, anyone?), you might be forgiven for thinking that football’s where the hype around Leicester begins and ends.

But you’d be wrong: the music’s going off, too. And we’re obviously not talking about Kasabian. Local crew Grade10 are very much in the partying spirit themselves right now, having just turned one, and are at the forefront of the East Midlands’ robust and evolving underground electronic scene, one that stretches right the way back to the early days of UK rave.

Their eight-man-strong operation, a tight-knit, day-jobbing ensemble of born-and-bred bass lovers, is part of a lineage that includes house legend Mr. G (who contributes a remix to the label’s next 12”), OG junglist DJ SS, and the legendary old school imprint Formation Records.

Over the course of four vinyl EPs and an accompanying cassette, the G10 boys have come correct with a distinctly British flex, as indebted to ‘88 house and ‘93 jungle as the more recent re-jiggings of Burial, Randomer, Martyn and Fracture. Take Prayer’s ‘Hope’, which sounds like South London Boroughs dragged back in time and dropped, way too fast, by Tango mid-squat bash. Or the label’s second offering, Nobody, by slo-mo house two-piece Loosewomen, equal parts Julio Bashmore, Aphex Twin and 808 State, and given added footwork spice by the spicy-sounding Classic Coke. It’s a heady, genre-smudging approach, sealed in tight by the no-messing stylings of in-house graphic designer Greg, and has earned the label a regular slot on London’s Radar Radio.

Hyped about their hometown’s past exploits and current rude health, we asked Grade 10 to pluck a sweaty wodge of ravey goodness out of the bag for us. Hardkore bombs like Mastersafe’s ‘Everybody’ and SS Amen killers ‘Hearing is Believing (Remix)’ and ‘Black’ paint a compelling picture of Leicester’s pilled-up past, while Witch’s AnD-esque bunker techno and the emotive, vocal-driven R&B house of Kollaps signal continued commitment to the dance. Local and proud, Grade10’s message is clear: when it comes to bass, breaks and lighters-out diva calls, Leic really is more [Dreadful – Ed.].

Mastersafe
‘Everybody’
(Formation Records, 1992)

“Looking at tracks that have been signifiant to the history of Leicester, we could have easily selected 10 Formation Records releases. Formation was an iconic label that produced so many classics over the hardcore/jungle era – you’re certainly going to get a few, but we’ve set the maximum to four.

“The first is from producer Mastersafe who worked in the 5HQ record shop and had a regular slot on Fresh FM. His show was a staple for everyone within the radius of its antenna – we’d sit next to a cassette player ready to hit record as soon as it started, and the tapes would fly around school the next day. Although this record might not have been played at raves up and down the country, it was still a bedroom favourite. These early Formation records used to be in everyone’s house, whether you had pair of decks or not.”

Jumpin Jack Frost
Side A [‘Pornography’]
(F Project, 1993)

“This London-meets-Leicester classic was huge in ‘93. The F Project was a sublabel of Formation Records, and they had a string of incredible tunes. Jumping Jack Frost was a regular in the city, and in ‘95 his set at Amazon became one of those tapes that was always on repeat in the car. I unfortunately lost my original copy in the “magnet in the glovebox disaster” of ‘98 (so many tapes were lost that day, some we’ve never managed to get back).

“Amazon was a night at a cellar club called The Underground in the city centre, and it had only one entrance and exit, which was through a hole in the floor. It also had a caged bunker for the DJ and a large electric fan to try and keep the heat under control. Unsurprisingly, it was shut down due to health and safety regulations in the late ‘90s – I don’t know if we will ever see licensed premises like that again, it was fantastic.”

Aba Shanti-I
‘Tear Down Babylon + Verse II’
(Aba Shanti-I, 1993)

“Although not from Leicester, Aba Shanti has special citizen status. He made his debut at the Leicester Carnival in 1990 and has put on dances all over the city ever since. His carnival afterparties and dances at the community centre in the Highfields would be packed from side to side, and people from all the different communities would come together. There are people who’ve known each other for over 15 years who’ve only ever meet at an Aba Shanti dance.

“This tune represents all those parties and the influence they had on thousands over people over the years. Dub music continues to be a huge part of the city’s sound, with the Kontakt crew continuously bringing great artists to Leicester.”

MA2
‘Hearing Is Believing’ (Remix)
(Formation Records, 1995)

“Back to Formation Records. This tune would shake the windows out of the Golf GTi – a cut from the Jumping Jack Frost at Amazon tape mentioned before, and enough to make even the driest of journeys lively. We once drove the Golf all the way to Amsterdam listening to this tape on loop, but on the first night we lost the car and we didn’t see it again for five days. When we did eventually find it all our passports and bags had been stolen, but the tape was still in the stereo, thankfully. The doors of the car were locked and there weren’t any windows smashed – how they broke in is a mystery to this day.

“It also led to the worst day ever at passport control, but we are living proof that with a good enough story you can get back in to the country with no identification at all – great news for people partying too hard in Croatia this summer.”

DJ SS
‘Black’
(Formation Colours Series, 1995)

“There had to be at least one tune from DJ SS to represent for the Leicester sound, and ‘Black’, from the DJ SS was the founder of the legendary 5HQ record shop, the place that grew and nurtured the city’s underground. If one person can be singled out as the biggest influence on the city, it would be him and his team, and in 1995 there wasn’t a tape out there that this track didn’t appear on.

From the shop giving a place for the underage youth to listen to the latest records, to the legendary Total Kaos raves and pirate radio station Fresh FM, DJ SS provided a soundtrack to the local area for the best part of a decade.

Digs & Woosh
‘The Message’ (Mayo Mix)
(DiY Discs, 1998)

“This tune is in here to represent the Babble and DiY parties. Digs and Woosh from the Nottingham-based DiY Soundsystem would play regularly with all the Babble DJs, and their parties were relaxed, positive affairs – a small room, cargo netting, a big old system and great house music. Pretty much perfect.

“There have been plenty of collectives over the years passing through the city and putting on these kind of events – the Zen Masters and Dave El Harvo deserve a massive mention – but Digs & Woosh were the kings of the back room, playing boogie and rare cuts all night. We learnt so much about good music from listening to their sets and we still don’t have a clue what they were playing – it was just incredible music.”

Mr. G
‘Daily Prayer’
(Phoenix G, 2011)

“Now we move into a more recent era. Mr. G tunes have been on regular rotation on the shop speakers at Wellgosh, Grade 10’s associated store, for years. The man can knock out some serious tunes – if you have ever seen him live you will understand the enjoyment he gets out of the music.

“So many Mr. G tunes could have been chosen, but we reckon this one says it all. Recently the Grade 10 connection to Mr. G has grown stronger and he kindly provided us with a remix which will be out on the label this summer, and he’ll be playing at our first birthday party and Radar Radio takeover.”

Creative Swing Alliance
‘In Love’ (James Johnston Lost Love Mix)
(City Fly Records, 2011)

“City Fly Records have been putting on regular parties in the city for the last five years, and their basement dances are a vital part of the scene. Throughout that whole time they have been releasing solid records too. We cannot count the amount of times we’ve danced to Jonna’s incredible sets.”

WITCH
‘Vent’
(PT/5 Records, 2014)

“Witch are another of the talents emerging from Leicester at the moment – they make dense, dark techno using incredible equipment. The Witch boys are like brothers to Grade 10 and can often be found playing at the cellar parties underneath the studio.

“The tune speaks for itself and their control over all their hardware is mesmerising. A perfect backdrop to the post-manufacturing towns of the Midlands.”

KOLLAPS
‘Could This Be’
(Grade10, 2015)

“We have to finish off with a Grade 10 tune, so we’ve chosen Kollaps. I have a playlist of Kollaps tunes that’s very personal and special to everyone involved with Grade 10. Seriously, between Prayer and Coops, the two of them have put together some truly incredible music.

“Kollaps has been a constant background soundtrack to our daily lives for the last few years, since we have started creating together, which is why they did the first ever Grade 10 release a year back. Beautiful.”

Forever’s ‘Coarse’ 12″ and Mr. G remix is out on July 15 on Grade 10