Juno Recommends Drum & Bass: September 2022

Review: London-based artist Forest Drive West lands on superb Munich label Ilian Tape here with a new hand-stamped 12". He is someone who has mastered hi-fidelity minima bass music over the last few years, mostly on Livity Sound. This time out he offers four more of his intricate and masterfully designs cuts across two sides of vinyl as part of the ITX Series. As always there is a perfect balance between light and dark, physical groove and emotive synth work that pulls you in deep to his unique musical world. Do not sleep on this one.

Review: DJ Fresh is a legend at this point. Whenever he drops new heat it is worth tuning in, especially when it's a 12" picture disc like this from Breakbeat Koas. The A-side is a collab with Buunshin. 'Dancing In the Dark' is a hardcore gem with pitched-up vocals and monstrous breaks over spin backs, raw bass and thrilling synth lacerations. Then comes an AMC Remix of DJ Fresh's 'Heavyweight' that is just that. It rides on silky breakbeats with a rising sense of tension that keeps you locked until the explosive bass and jump-up drum head to the level.

Review: One by-product of the ongoing enthusiasm for vintage breakbeat hardcore and jungle sounds is the boost it has given to those artists who started their careers during the early-to-mid '90s. Dev Pandya AKA Paradox, who began his career in 1992 as part of Mixrace on Moving Shadow, is a great example. He continues to deliver on-point productions that ripple with the ethos and intensity of rave-era workouts - as this killer two-tracker proves. Title track 'Desolator' is a wonderfully sub-heavy, effects-laden, rave MC-sampling slab of revivalist jungle powered forward by tough kicks and supremely crunchy snares, while flip side 'Kampala' is a pulsating, bowel-bothering trip into darkcore/proto-jungle territory.

Review: Way back in 1994, DJ Dextrous and Rude Boy Keith popped up on Suburban Base with a two-tracker entitled 'The Kings of The Jungle'. Arguably the headline attraction on that EP was 'Charged', which has now been reissued with a swathe of new and previously unreleased mixes. The original '94 mix (track four) is a classic chunk of reggae-sampling jungle pressure - all warm soundsystem bass, crispy and crunchy breaks, woozy chords and rasta-man vocal samples. Dextrous' own period 'Personal VIP dubplate' take - a more high octane, up-tempo take which pushes rocksteady horn samples to the fore - finally gets a release, alongside two 2022 versions: a punchy, hot-stepping Serial Killaz take laden with warped bass and rolling breaks, and a darker, more intense AKAS remix with clearer, re-recorded vocals.

Review: An alias of Andy C and Ant Miles, Origin Unknown were fierce stalwarts of early jungle, and here better than anyone demonstrate the rare practice of 'stuttering' their breaks. Fun fact: this remix of 'Alive N Kickin' samples Val Kilmer. Splash features on an experimental jungle remix of 'Rugged And Raw' on the A2. The B-sides signal a complete tonal shift; cute breakbeat hardcore - the kind of stuff Angel D'Lite does now - crops up on 'Losing U', which previously only existed on DAT. 'Live Together' achieves similar results.

Review: After his debut EP Rats made such an impression, the Samurai Music label has now called up various artists to add their own spin to Presha's originals. This first of two volumes comes on great marbled wax and opens with sound design don ASC. His take on 'Vendetta' is a tough one with unrelenting drums and snares. There is just as much tightness and tension to the metallic sounds of Double O's remix then Homemade Weapons bring more edginess, industrial mood and soot-black styles to 'Mainliner.' Torn & Roho remix RATS to close out and do so with a real sense of purpose.

Review: Marcus Visionary knocks it out of the park with this new one on his own co-founded label. It finds the Toronto jungle, d&b and bass music ambassador serving up some of his cuts that take in a real range of styles from the all-out E-ed up and rave jungle sounds of 'Touch Down' to the banging breakbeats and edgy synth vamps of 'Vibe Inna 85' as remixed by Dodz. Last but not least is the hard-hitting and unrelenting 'New Life,' which still brings the soul with some lush chords and warming bass notes.

Review: Seminal collection! Undercover Agent AKA Splash AKA Darren Ellis goes under the Suburban Base spotlight as the foundation label curate the best, most influential and most sought-after dispatches on sister labels Splash and Juice Records. With the gamechanging, forever-reloadable 'Babylon' from Splash (original AND the crucial Trace remix) taking the lead and setting the scene, we're then treated to a whole range of blueprint jungle schematics under various aliases and guises of Ellis including his MTS partnership with Darren Hickey and rare material with The Kriminal. Highlights across this extensive remastered sets include the rowdy Bristol-esque pummelling of 'Rebels' and the absolutely slamming remix of 'Hard Disk' by a very young DJ Zinc. Splashback!

Review: Presha's debut EP RATS gets pulled apart and restructured by a crack squad of drum & bass talents on this fresh new red 12" from Samurai Music. Up first, 'The Spell' (Artilect remix) is a mix of heavy drum breaks and paranoid synth lines snaking about the background. Sam KDC's remix is another dark one with double time drums and drilling bass. The Untouchables remix keep it funky with their lolling loops and icy hi hats and the Last Life remix of 'Vedetta' goes for a textured, industrial vibe to make its mark in a blackened warehouse.

Review: The Upbeats are one of the proudest exponents of New Zealand's drum & bass scene, and their new album Not Forever represents something of a breakthrough into the premier league of crossover acts juggling crushing production with pop sensibilities. Capitalising on the regroup and refocus phenomenon of lockdown life, they doubled down on their process and took it into bold new places. From reflective atmospheric moments like 'Theodore' to the mellow, Joe Dukie-featuring neo-soul joint 'Beams', there's plenty more than face-melters to be enjoyed here, but when they want to turn up the heat as on half step monster 'All We've Got', they absolutely can. You won't have heard an album like this from anyone else in that corner of the D&B scene.

Review: Litness the fitness! Witness this business... Yung Thugz returns with the full album he teased us with recently and it's a full-on rave odyssey from the off as the title track sledgehammers us with a big detuned rave riff. It's a full steam celebration of the foundations right through to the future throughout as cuts like the piano-primed 'Dissociative Funk', the ice cold prangy slapper 'United Kingdom', the acidic jazzy freak-out 'Overall Failure' and the far-out drum sorcery and cosmic flow of 'The Watchtower' all map out the album's most exciting parameters. Timeless, rooted in the foundations, but not dragging its feet in history for nostalgia's sake, Thugwidow isn't just lit... he's damn well on the money. Thug life is beautiful.

Review: Repertoire co-bossman Law goes in deep with a full EP on his own spacious and beguiling designs. 'Holographic' sets the scene with an almost Omni Trio style vibe about it as the rhythmic elements sing to each other. Deeper into the EP 'Half Life' flexes big swaggering breaks around a delicate synth line to great effect while 'Stay True' is a big floaty charmer backed up by some great breakbeat craft. Finally 'Polarity' brings us back to reality with a slightly more contemporary soulful twist as dreamy vocals weave over the arpeggio and rolling breaks. Stunning.

Review: Two years after dgoHn delivered his second studio album, Undesignated Proximate - a gloriously far-sighted fusion of drum & bass, IDM and experimental electronica - that set has been given the remix treatment. As you'd expect, it's a more versatile and eclectic affair, albeit one that keeps the hazy, outer-space ethos of the original set. It naturally boasts a wealth of fine alternative versions and re-imaginings, from the reverb-heavy, dubbed-out brilliance of Meat Beat Manifesto's take on 'Daisy Takes Two' and Wisp's sparkling, piano-laden D&B re-wire of 'Electryon', to Scrasse's insanely weighty tech-step revision of 'Conty', Djrum's jazz-wise jungle spin of 'Ninnyhammer' and Skee Mask's grandiose, IDM-goes-jungle version of 'Robin's Windmill'.

Review: The legend that is Spikey Tee steps up to Concrete Castle with a hefty new slice of old school drum & bass madness. He has been deep in this game since the 90s so really knows his onions. 'Badder Than Me' rides on tightly coiled drums that duck and dive with crisp hits as the plunging bass and searching synths keep up the pressure. 'Bumbo Ras' is then a more silky and fluid affair but one that hits no less hard. This frosted clear 10" vinyl arrives in a hand-stamped sleeve but also includes a large Concrete Castle Dubs sticker. Lovely stuff.

Review: Something new, something old... An unequivocal pioneer of the scene and original member of De Underground records, one of the first jungle specialist record stores in the early 90s, Cool Hand Flex lays down two brand new productions and revisits two seminal 93 classics on this immaculate Suburban Base picture disc. 'The Bass' and 'Let The Music' both hit hard with no nonsense widescreen, gritty grooves that shudder with contemporary production weight while 'Ralph' and 'Jungle' take us back 30 years to the exciting transitional chapter between hardcore and jungle with brisk skippy breakbeat craft, hectic rave intensity and stacks of booming subs.

Review: Supa sharp shooter Supa Ape lays down some authentic naughtiness right here on his own label. 'Values' defies the cost of living crisis with a gold standard set of harmonics and snares that rattle harder than a hedge fund manager on the razzle. 'Sometimes I Wonder' follows suit with a spacier, Good Looking style tone - big time stretches on the fills, sudden flashes of chaos and a wonderfully lucid sub bass. Timeless futurism.

Review: Switch! Best known for his purring, dark D&B grooves, War gets a very rare - but very welcome - 140 vibe on. Smouldering with soundsystem soul, he flexes across the spectrum. 'Steamer' brings the dusty jazz elements and that hazy summer afternoon feel, 'Beefy' lives up to its name in every possible way with its brute funk and physicality bumping and chugging like Bomb The Bass for 2022 while finale 'Bogar' ups the tempo to around 150 with a heavier, paranoid twist and just a touch of ghetto in those pushed kick/sub combos. A superlative outing from Mako's Utopia stable, War needs to venture into slower territories more often.

Review: Ripping up the breaks without a care in the world, Polish Amenizer Riffz goes loco on this very special vinyl-only dispatch. One tune, two versions, millions of vibes - 'Unreal' is a very real and legit scenario as Riffz shows us two different sides to his musical make-up. The clues are in the subtitles; while both cuts use the same samples, the mellow side is all about that dreamy Krome & Time or maybe Justice style spring and great sense of spaciousness while the hard mix lives up to its name, going in with an uncompromising vibe like Crystl with savage chops and edits. Real talk.

Review: Destination Portland: Nick TVG's imprint recruits the drumfunk massive for a special rhythm focused VA set. As always the vibes are set to coordinates far far away from the usual jungle galaxies and the theme is one of intergalactic jazz. Each track pushes the boundaries in its own way with key highlights coming from the powerful horn blasts and Latin guitars on Metro's 'Jazz Band 6', the dreamy filtered dawning and rampant drums on Opius's 'Subterranean Funk' and Jegbee's super eerie and tense 'Flight Path'. Full moon business.

Review: Seriously treats from the Vinyl Fanatiks vaults as Tone Def unleash a bunch of unreleased beats from around 1992. Headed up a man named Roger Mogale (who set and runs Void Acoustics these days) Tone Def delivered an excited spread of formative rave anthems during the crossover period between hardcore and jungle and these capture the spirit and flavour perfectly. 'Touch The Sky' brings the euphoric rushes, 'Is Love' is a drifty one for the dreamers complete with a big accordion riff while 'So Lonely' takes us deep into the 3am zone. Finally 'Psychic' ups the tempo for more of an early Goodlooking type of proto jungle flavour. Play it loud for those of us who raved before earplugs were cool.

Review: Wardown, the emotive and experimental project from Technimatic's Pete Rogers, releases its second LP on Blu Mar Ten Music. Where the debut Wardown album was a diary of smeared memory, musically recounting the author's childhood home and his subsequent feelings of dislocation from it, Wardown II expands on the themes of nostalgia and focuses on our collective reactions to a promised future that remains undelivered. Using aural scraps from that most optimistically futurist period, the 1950s & 1960s, Wardown weaves them into an uneasily dreamy, bittersweet commentary on postmodern nostalgia.