Remastered Repress pre order is now live at MPS, be quick! https://www.mpsvinyl.co.uk/collections/pre-orders-all/products/tic-tac-toe-456-ephemerol-pre-order-12-ep

One of the first tunes I remember hearing back in 92 from early mix tapes. Got smashed by a lot of the big djs. Groove used to hammer it - Ephemerol, what a monster, hard to believe this was made 25 years ago. Even harder to believe it was made by one of the guys from basement jaxx!! Some very, very early D&B!

There's something weird about this tune, and I can't put my finger on quite what it is. Get the same kind of feeling from it that I did when I first heard Squash by Total Science. I should love Ephemorol but there's one or 2 elements that just don't sit right for me and it becomes quite unnerving to listen to lol. I would still play it, can see it going down a storm in the right sets but it's a bit on the pricey side to say the least. I actually found out the name from listening to Uncle Dugs interviewing Slimzee, who gives a list of his top 10 hardcore tunes. This one was instantly recognisable but I didn't realise it was this Tune, strange how it escaped me for so long. Prefer it to the remix as well

I really do not understand how the reviewer below can compare or recommend "Forbidden Zone" with this one. I'm not saying that one is better than the other, not by any means. It's just that they're as different as light and day and have no similarities whatsoever. Completely different style of tune, arrangement, sounds and samples used, rhythms, everything. It's like saying, if you're a vegan you'll also eat meat. Can't see the logic. How does anyone arrive to the conclusion that if one likes this track that they'd automatically like Forbidden Zone by default? Life can be a right old curiosity at times haha :-)

This is a BADASS song and if you like this one you will like Forbidden Zone by Forbidden Zone

YAWN........awwwwwww so boring .Tic Tac Toe my ass.....worst Eh don't even know whether to call this a song but TITS ....the most boring thing I've ever heard...it would put me asleep in the nite club & there B a lot of people waiting 2 get a hold of the DJ outside afterwards :)...such a slapppppp 4 playing This Rubbish....

Fuck off you cunt. One of the best 12s to come out of the era, brooding dubby heavy breaks light years ahead of its time. Boring? Fuck off you cunt.

Yep it's so boring you decided to type a long winded comment on it,admit it you're just a negative cunt with too much time on your hands.

its quiet boring i agree...however its know as one of the best oldskool rabe tunes from 1992!! was always being played by BIG deejays such as Carl Cox and Grooverider and Fabio! ;)goes for big money too! i prefer the micky finn remix anyway!

What a tune - played repeatedly at outdoor Eclipse, Ely in Cambridgeshire, back in the day - what a night !

Trivia: "Ephemerol" is the name of the drug in the Cronenberg classic movie "Scanners".

Gotta love both sides of this wax :-D

Summer 92 lsd trip head tune :-)

Ephemerol has to be the dodgiest piece of music I've ever heard! I love the dirty distorted synth sound... Also the breakdown part at the end with the chimes and the string sounds make this tune really stand out. Real underground hardcore that's as dodgy as you like.

456 This is an amazing slice of Hardcore/Breakbeat proto Jungle/dnb! ...For me all influences are present in this beast! I strongly recommend the remix as well which are on here as cheap as a POUND!! LTJ Bukem was also my first contact with this tune and Kaom is spot on! Bukem was known to play high quality sets full of classy tunes with the odd obscurity thrown in, even with that said... THIS felt like it was totally on another level. Essential 12 !

The break on '456' is "Chuck Beats" from this record:http://www.discogs.com/Sample-Kings-Vol-1/release/1252931

EPHEMEROL - All time classic- so many memories of old Fantazia/ Perception/ Obsession/ World Dance/ Dreamscape nights- criminally underplayed at the old skool raves thesedays- a must for any old skool DJs record box in my opinion- 18 years old and still sounds as good as it did back in the day.. The other side is also an amazing track, was underplayed back in 92 but is def not to be overlooked!

First heard this on a Top Buzz set of the Fantazia event at Matchams Park Bournemouth - May Bank Holiday 1993. Stands out from everything else with its killer dropped Bass Synth Riff after gradual atmospheric build up. Singled out for me as THE tune that got me into the Rave/D&B thing. A milestone piece of vinyl & hard to come by, the remix is good but doesn't come close to the original.

1992

Quite simply my favourite tune from this era. Arguably (and there are many arguments over this!) the tune that started d&b. I remember hearing Bukem playing it and it stood out a mile, head and shoulders above all the other tunes, even though he was playing classy tunes. Both sides are great. Ephemerol is the most popular one but my preferance is for 456 which is the tune I'm referencing in the above. Ephemorol is quality *QUALITY* hardcore of the finest type. But 456 is genre creating. Snappy Amen beat with that lovely little flick using the off beat crack of the snare and a simple but fantastic bassline all underpinned with dubby fx galore (although subtle). I think that's why this tune is so magic; it's quite understated in many ways. I want this tune's babies and no mistake. If you see it buy it...the remix (which you see for sale a lot, which I also own) is nowhere near the greatness of this. Bit of crappy trivia: Written by Simon Ratcliffe who went on to be half of Basement Jaxx. Another bit of (useless) info: you usually see this tune filed under the artist name Tic Tac Toe as that's all that printed on the white label, but subsequent releases show that this was actually the name of the record label so it's not clear what's what