Q: What links UK hardcore, Leeds FC, David Hasselhoff and Mortal Kombat?

A: Shaun Imrei.

When I sat down to write about Shaun Imrei, I figured I would mainly focus on just two records, the one that I put in my mix for The Ghost (which is why I’m doing this newsletter) and ‘Alive (Love Version)’ by Terrorize, Elevation & The Love Generation, which is the other 12” I own by him. I also knew I’d be mentioning the tragic fact that Shaun took his own life towards the end of the 90s. What I wasn’t prepared for was the amount of information I’d turn up through my casual googling, the comments scattered across Discogs, Youtube and oldskool rave message boards expressing love for Shaun’s music and sadness at his death, as well as the sheer diversity of his musical output. “Diversity” is actually an understatement for the things Shaun got up to. Going through his credits on Discogs you can see that he really did a lot. It’s a very UK story — indeed a very Northern story — and I encourage any international readers to follow some of these leads up and immerse yourself in early 90s British culture. Dig in!