Doc Scott - Far Away (Fourteen Flavours Of Funk) (Metalheadz, 1994)
A fortnight in to the DnB Advent Calendar and we have fourteen flavours of funk from the fourth release on Goldie's iconic label. It's a stone cold classic from Scott McIlroy and his second appearance on Metalheadz, having already had 'VIP Drumz' on their very first 12". These two tunes show the versatility of Doc Scott as a producer as they sit at opposite ends of the Drum & Bass spectrum.
While 'VIP Drumz' is paranoid and frantic, 'Far Away' is as chilled as they come. There are few producers who are so adept at both the light and the dark. The fact that he has always considered himself "a DJ who makes music, always a DJ first" is vital as he knows how tracks will work when played out. Two club nights in particular played a crucial role for Doc Scott in the mid-nineties, Bukem and Fabio's Speed and Goldie's Bluenote Sessions:
"It was through these 2 club nights that I wrote the tracks I did, 'Drumz 95' for the Blue Note, 'Far Away' for Speed, that's how it was, it was a lucky position to be in for sure"
'Far Away' was without doubt a Speed anthem and as Om Unit put it when speaking to Fabric's blog in 2014, "the epitome of the cool-out vibe... just a classic mellow roller". Wah wah guitar and repeated "Far away..." vocals open the track before you're are enveloped by some soft pillowy synth. The Think break gets things going before warm hits of bass and the Sesame Street break enter and a chord change sends shivers down your spine. Absolute bliss.
You can check Doc Scott's studio setup back in the mid-nineties over at FACT, while 'Far Away' appears in Eazyflow's 1994 Mellow DnB Mix which is available to download from A Bass Chronicle.