On Sunday 11th April, Join The Future returned to the airwaves for the launch of our bi-monthly residency on Noods Radio. Like the extended takeover of the station we did in March 2021, our bi-monthly shows feature a mixture of audio documentary style narrative storytelling with DJ mixes, interviews old and new, and comment and analysis. As the series progresses, we hope to widen its scope, discussing different types of music old and new and telling different stories.

April’s episode was a “Leeds Special”. It tells the story of Bleep & Bass in Leeds and some of those who laid the foundations of the style within the inner-city neighbourhoods of Hyde Park, Harehills and, most significantly, Chapeltown. Hosted by yours truly (Matt Anniss), it is effectively a two-hour documentary featuring clips of interviews with Mark Millington (Ital Rockers/Iration Steppas), Homer Harriott (AKA DJ Homes) and Martin Williams (AKA DJ Martin – LFO, BASSIC Records), plus an extended excerpt of a rare recording of original Nightmares on Wax member Kevin ‘Boy Wonder’ Harper playing at Sonny’s Blues, Chapeltown, in September 1990.

There’s also a chance to hear one of Ital Rockers’ early, unreleased dubplates – a 1987 cover version of Hercules’ ‘Seven Ways to Jack’. Titled ‘Seven Ways to Kill Unique 3’, it was created by Homer Harriott and Mark Millington especially for the now legendary Ital Rockers v Unique 3 sound-clash that took place in Bradford in the autumn of ’87.

The show also features a well of original Bleep & Bass cuts made in Leeds, including tracks by LFO, Nightmares on Wax, Juno, Ability II and more.

You can now listen to the Join The Future Leeds Special via the embedded Mixcloud player below. Please note that the audio quality of some of the interviews is not ideal, because they were recorded during the research for the Join The Future book and were not originally intended for broadcast. A full track listing is available further down the page.

Join The Future: Leeds Special (Noods Radio, April 2021)

1. Tuff Little Unit – Join The Future [Instrumental Mix]
2. Unique 3 – The Theme [Original Chill Mix]
3. Nightmares on Wax – Dextrous [Poverty Records White Label Version
4. Nightmares on Wax – Dextrous [Warp Records Version]
5. Yorkshire Television – Taskforce Chapeltown documentary (excerpt)
6. Yorkshire Television – Chapeltown: One Year On documentary (excerpt)
7. Yorkshire Television – Taskforce Chapeltown documentary (excerpt)
8. Matt Anniss/Mark Iration – Mark Iration in conversation (excerpts)

** Boy Wonder (Nightmares on Wax) at Sonny’s Blues, 1990 **
9. Art of Noise – Moments in Love
10. Nightmares on Wax – Aftermath [LFO Remix]
11. Rebel MC – Comin’ On Strong [Ruffneck Mix]
12. Shut Up & Dance – Derek Went Mad
13. Ragga Twins – Spliffhead
14. Unique 3 – Rhythm Takes Control [Instrumental/Beats & Bass Mix]
15. The Mad Musician – Jazzout
16. Unknown Artist – Unknown Track
17. 4 Hero – Mr Kirk’s Nightmare
18. Greed – Give Me [Original Style]
19. Quazar – Day Glo
20. Bizarre, Inc. – X-Static
21. Quazar – The Seven Stars
22. How & Little – Why Can’t We Start Again [Dreams On Wax Mix]
23. Joey Beltram – Energy Flash
24. Solo – Cobalt
25. Nightmares on Wax – I’m For Real
26. Phuture Assassins – I Like Techno

27. Man Machine – Animal [DJ Martin & DJ Homes’ Primordial Jungle Mix]
28. Matt Anniss/Homer Harriott – DJ Homes in Conversation (excerpt)
29. LFO – Track 4
30. LFO – Probe it]
31. Matt Anniss/Martin Williams – DJ Martin in Conversation (excerpt)
32. LFO – LFO [Leeds Warehouse Mix]
33. Matt Anniss/Martin Williams – DJ Martin in Conversation (excerpt)
34. Ital Rockers – Ital’s Anthem
35. Juno – Soul Thunder [Drillers Mix]
36. Ability II – Pressure Dub
37. Nightmares on Wax – Aftermath [Special Request Remix]