Ripped 2 FCUK - Battle Of The Bootlegs - UK Hardcore Vinyl Only Mix (2023)

Martin van Zeelandt / TCD
Mar 29, 2023
3 min read

I've been a very busy man for the last few days, hence why you've not seen a review fly by on Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms. You might have thought 'he's bored of doing them', but if you were thinking that, you are absolutely WRONG. There's still a lot of music out there, undiscovered, and it's waiting for someone to pick it up, and give their thoughts about it. Well, at least that's what I'm thinking, I might be wrong. But for me personally, this is a hobby, doesn't pay me a penny, but it gives me a lot of new music to listen to, and discover things I would never have found, like today's mix.

So what is it that I'm going to share with you all? Well, you see, I thought I knew nearly everything there is to know about UK Hardcore and the scene, and then DJ Colin Bell comes along, and shows me that I know nothing. I had never heard of the label Ripped 2 FCUK before, and didn't know it was a subsidiary of Quosh records. But once I pressed the play button and heard the first few tunes, you instantly get that Quosh vibe. You just do.

But what is Ripped 2 FCUK? Well, according to Discogs, it's ''a series of bootleg hardcore remixes of classic or well-known tracks''. And yes, you will immediately know the songs, if you press the play button. It still baffles me that I did not know of its existence. How did I miss this?

The releases span 7 years, starting back in 2004, and ending in 2011. And there's a few of these releases in Colin's mix. You will enjoy it. And also a bit of scratching too, to stay true to the Quosh way of mixing records together. You cannot portrait a Quosh set and not scratch like the scratch master himself, DJ Sy.

R2F 10 - Ayla
R2F 6 - Lizard
R2F 5 - I Need Your Loving
R2F 6 - Carte Blanche
R2F 7 - True Love Never Dies
R2F 10 - Binary Finary
R2F 7 - Passion
R2F 9 - Belissima
R2F 1 - 4 O'clock In The Morning
R2F 12 - Out Of The Blue
R2F 14 - Love Me Right
R2F 8 - If I Were You
R2F 12 - I Need A Miracle
R2F 1 - Clocks
R2F 8 - Everybody In The Place
R2F 9 - We Come 1
Ballistic Bootlegs - Show You The Way
Bo & Luke - Take Me Away

It starts off with a brilliant Trance classic, and the rest is history. Once you start listening to this mix, you are hooked. And trust me when I say that you will.

I've been listening to this mix over and over, and are impressed with the songs. It might have been a known label, but not to me. But the first impression that I got, after hearing this mix for the first time, was that it resembled the Quosh sound a lot. And after a quick search, my gut feeling was underlined.

Now I don't know who's behind each track. Is it Sy, Unknown, them together, or other artists? It's a bit vague, the information out there. Anyone got an idea?

I really love the vibe, and even though they are remixes, they still blow my speakers up. It takes me back to the golden years of UK Hardcore. I think it was actually around 2004 that I discovered UK Hardcore, so it's nice to go back in time, be it briefly, and enjoy the sound that was resonating in the scene.

The songs are all solid, some a tad cheesy, but who doesn't appreciate the cheese? It's nicely mixed together, so it should only get one score. And my recommendation. Listen to this, and do it now!