Juno Recommends Drum & Bass July 2021

Review: The 25th-anniversary celebrations our Metalheadz continues apace with a fourth fine installment. This one marks, somehow, a first-ever solo release on the label from Mark System. He is an Ibiza-based artist who has only remixed on the label once before, but here shows off his finely honed, tough and rugged sound across a duo of killers. 'Wanna Dance' is a teeth-grinding, while knuckle tech-edged stepper with a stark industrial atmosphere. On the flip is 'On Top,' a much more fluid and dynamic track, with frazzled synth lines and icy hi-hats underpinned by a devastating baseline.

Review: Some rare DAT masters here from Suburban Base's favourite duo Krome & Time, who provided the very first label release and became an integral part of the development of rave and hardcore into jungle and drum and bass. There are two exclusive tracks that make up this 12". 'Original Juggling' is much asked after and was an album exclusive on the 1995 Telepathy Dub Plate Special while 'Non-Stop Rocking' over on the flip was a 1995 dubplate recorded specifically as an album exclusive for the legendary Drum & Bass selection album.

Review: Suburban Base is back in action and 30 years on, showing no signs of growing old or jaded. This monster four tracker is packed with brand new original material from Marvellous Cain, a producer who is best known for his big tunes 'The Hitman' and 'Dub Plate Style.' This EP draws together four of his rarest and most requested dubplates such as the never before released VIP remix of 'Dubplate Style'. 'Snapper' then ups the ante with more devastating drum fuelled power and 'Killer' comes on strong with its bold raga references. Oi oi!

Review: Part of the Triple Vision family of labels based in The Netherlands, Fokuz Recordings has been a cornerstone for soulful drum & bass music since 1999. Their latest offering is 'Bright Horses' from a mysterious artist and it's an uplifting roller with mass appeal in the vein of Sigma or Pendulum, while the soulful tones of 'Didn't I' over on the flip benefit from emotive r&b vocals over its seriously rolling riddims.

Review: Following up some great releases recently by Levela and QZB, Serum returns to London based label Critical. He is a triple award winning drum and bass DJ and producer, one third of Kings of the Rollers and owner of Souped Up Records. Here with his first ever solo single for the label, there's raw beats and bass, and sounds that are firmly tongue in cheek. Featuring the mellow yet moody stepper 'Gator' on the A side which is followed up on the flip by the DJ Krust influenced 'Tokyo Rose'.

Review: DJ Trace's 'Spy Technologies' series has come a long way since its 2002 inception. The original comp was a neurofunk milestone, and deftly justified Trace's status as a drum n' bass pioneer, run through with spy imagery and themes. Now on its eighth instalment, the DSCI4 sub-imprint has become increasingly star-studded, with Trace now curating the first 4-track selection from the upcoming LP. Straddling dutty jungle ('War Torn') to rap-sampling neuro rollers ('Thunderin'), one can only describe this EP as audio-nunjitsu, scoping out the desert compound for insider info on the full-length. Out on limited blueberry-coloured vinyl, it's an apt soundtrack for your next reconnaissance mission.

Review: James Grant Stephens was Kemet, a key player in the mid-90s drum & bass scene and someone who knew how to lay down a slaying riddim. His Agony/Nice Time release from 1994 sure is fun with its old school stoner samples, frequent changes of pace and general party vibes. The A-side, 'Agony', features dialogue from the TV show Unexplained Mysteries as well as scintillating breaks and dubwise breakdowns. On the flip, 'Nice Time' is more sweet and heady, with vocals from Scientist's 'Your Teeth in My Neck' stitched into some badman bass and icy percussive lines.

Review: Unglued is the latest artist to step up to the mighty Hospital Records. He does so with a bold debut album that takes in a whole gamut of UK styles from hardcore to jungle, jazz to soul. It is now three years since he burst on to the scene with remixes of High Contrast and Andy C and here he shows how he has developed in the years since. Interplanetary Radio is packed with goodness, including previous singles including 'Total XTC' and 'Crusty Rolls (feat. Benny L & Javeon)' and new gems like the minimal stepper 'Sunbathing In Space' and face melting, brilliantly entitled H To The A To The R To The D To The C To The O To The R To The E.'

Review: Since first catching our attention in 2017, Manchester's Thugwidow has been responsible for a swathe of impressive releases that join the dots between breakbeat psychedelia, ambient techno, jungle and drum & bass. He's in full-throttle jungle mode on 'Post Modern Assault Ethics', the skittish, sub-heavy opener for his first Sneaker Social Club outing. He then wraps Selected Ambient Works style gaseous clouds around crunchy, snare-heavy jungle beats on 'Invisible Shell of Energy', before delivering speaker-bothering dancefloor filthiness via the fizzing 'The Sacrifice'. Rounding things off is 'The Voices Between The Earth', another fusion of ambient sonics and punchy jungle rhythms that benefits greatly from a squelchy, undulating acid bassline.

Review: The always hard to pin down Lobster Theremin dips its toe into silky drum & bass territory here courtesy of a lush EP from Berlin-based producer Amy Dabbs. There is a pure but reserved sense of euphoria to the vocal cries and liquid rhythm 'Allure', which also has some aching r&b coos and nimble drum work getting you all hot under the collar. Her sweet harmonies continue on 'Second Thoughts,' again with well placed vocal sounds stitched into the tight drum programming. 'Take It' heads down a slightly darker path with menacing bass and eerie keys, but it still makes for an alluring vibe. The Yazzus Seductive remix is an all out assault on your senses that leaves you desperate for more.

Review: Wow this 12" weighs heavily with history and pioneers. Firstly, this is Robert Haigh, the man of Omni Trio fame. Game changer. Secondly, these are two fantastic cuts from his time as Splice, an alias from the halcyon rave days where everything began to accelerate. Thirdly, all remixes deliver and let's look at the calibre of the artists behind them. Three of the biggest contemporary champions of modern authentic jungle, Tim Reaper and Law & Wheeler. And two of the highest grade donnie originators - Ron Jack Smooth Wells and Tony Justice. This is an exceptional celebration of jungle past, present and future.

Review: From old to new, Simon McCutchen returns to Blueskin Badger with a well-balanced journey through time. Side-A zips us back to some of the earliest incarnations of Syko with two turbo-charged choppage jams from his 'Be Alright' EP while side-B brings us up to speed as we struts his 2021 stuff. Still raw to the core and loaded with soul-rattling breaks but clearly inspired by hip-hop with its sirens and hype feels 'Ruffage 2 The System' while 'Take A Break' is a straight up funk odyssey loaded with a smorgasbord of classic and cult samples. DJ's delight

Review: From Singapore to New Zealand via Bristol; old friends Kiat and Kiljoy go to town on Digital's Function... And the results are every bit as uncompromising as you'd hope them to be. 'Taiko' lands the first punch with its cataclysmic breaks and ravey stabs before 'Horza' sideswipes us with a much more rugged, pressurised roll-out and creepy timeless pads. More chaos abounds on the B as 'Sputnik' tips a wry hat at the legacy of Duncan Spirit with its raw, shower-scene stabs and pummelling groove before 'Anunnaki' finishes the EP on a much more grizzly, foreboding note. What a combo.

Review: Back to 95: Mirage comprised one half of Source Direct (Jim Baker) and the founder of Odyssey Records, Tilla Kemal and released a series of deep futuristic dnb cuts during the mid 90s. 26 years later they return direct to the source and revisit 'Feel My Dreams', one of their signature cuts which was supported by the likes of Bukem and Kemistry & Storm at the time. The remaster does the original justice, retaining its analogue weight and dusky charm while Andy Odyssey and Tilla get elbow deep with their own modernisation which is faster and much more tense but still swathed in that prangy, outer space atmosphere of the original. Last but not least Homemade Weapons turns the track completely inside out and rebuilds with his own signature rattling breaks, sudden switches and heavy pressure. Feeling this.

Review: Time for a little Mined fullness as label bossman T-Cuts collides with Disdained once again for this shared EP. T-Cuts takes the A with two demolition derbies; 'Jungle Drums' is total ruffage with its theatrical timestretches and lightning switches while 'Too Long' revels in its own outer planetary pressure and Bovril-thick subs. Flip to the B for two slightly more cosmic takes on the jungle dnb blueprints as 'Velvet Landscape' whips up a Justice-style narrative while 'Eco System' goes full-on warped and wonderful. Craftsmanship.