Job Jobse's favourite rave tracks of all time

Ahead of his set at Printworks this weekend for The Hydra, Dutch hero Job Jobse talks us through his favourite rave tracks of all time...

This list could be endless, so I decided to limit myself by choosing five records coming from The Netherlands and five records coming from the UK. All tracks are from 1991 to 1993, which to me is the golden era of rave music and a period I’ve gotten quite obsessed with, even though I was never there when it actually happened. I so often daydream about how it would be to actually dance to these tracks when they came out. Oh I would give anything to be at one of those raves.

Simply the best dance track to ever come out of Holland, in my humble opinion. All hail Orlando Voorn.

This is made by two Dutch brothers, Ruud & Ramon Braumuller, who released three EP’s on ESP between 1991 and 1992 before vanishing into obscurity again. “Higher” was recorded in the same period, but was actually unheard until last year, when it was released on the great Electronic Emergencies. Somehow it sounds like a true classic that’s already been around for 25 years.

This is the first single from the hugely successful Dutch house group by Gert van Veen and Erik van Putten. It's actually the 1991 remix which also appeared on the album. The original is amazing and has a great drive, but I like this one even more because of the beautiful breaks in between, which gives the track a more spaced-out feeling.

Perfect piano house madness. I discovered this through JD Twitch from Optimo, who played it at Trouw many years ago and it completely blew my mind. Afterwards he told me all about Maarten van der Vleuten. Little did I know, he turned out to be a Dutch dance pioneer who released countless records, under more than two dozen aliases, on legendary labels like R&S Records, Djax-Up-Beats, ESP and Apollo. Make sure to also check out Flux’s “True Feelings”, another one of his brilliant works.

This classic by Hans Weekhout is one of the most powerful tracks I know. If you hear it on a big system it literally sounds like an army of ravers is marching towards you. However, the big drums are accompanied by one of the greatest acid lines I know, which don’t just make it a banger, but also a super trippy rave track.

Bleep techno masterpiece from one of the many monikers of Brian Dougans and Garry Cobain, who are of course best known as The Future Sound of London. I’ll just leave you with this YouTube comment I stumbled upon, says it all:

“It was 5AM Ibiza, 92.. Stopped by a beautiful bay to chill... A pirate ship came over the horizon, getting louder and louder… This tune was blasting out.... And lots of jetski’s and dolphins were circling it... AKA bliss”

The first record ever released by Richard D. James and to me it’s still his best. The melody is so beautiful and those little falling sounds are the epitome of rave to me.

I actually discovered this in Mixmag’s 100 Greatest Dance Singles Of All Time list from 1996, haha. I love everything about it. It’s some sort of weird (but great) mix between acid, hip house and UK rave. With a big trance break that feels kind of out of place but then again also totally makes sense. The lyrics by MC Buzz B, about the night coming to its end, are very emotive and almost delivered like it was a poem. “The bottles are all empty, the potion’s gone. Powers promised like the dawn, it just won't carry on.” A feeling every raver must recognise...

This might be my most played track of all time. I have so many happy memories connected to this. And even after all those years, the piano that comes in halfway through still gives me goosebumps. Every. Single. Time.

A good one to end with. To some this might sound cheesy, on Discogs it’s even labelled as Euro Dance, but to me it’s just pure rave euphoria. The bassline, the strings, the uplifting vocal. It does exactly what the title promises you, it hits you HARD.

Job Jobse is a king of the rave, we love him, check him out on Facebook

Catch Job at Printworks this weekend for The Hydra, tickets here