Juno Recommends Drum & Bass: April 2022

Review: The highly rate Alix Perez knows how to cook up silky sounds when in the studio and he lays that out for all to see on this new EP for his own label, 1985 Music. That said, his lats outing was a more heavy and textured affair that moved away from his roots of liquid rollers. We're glad he is back there now with this one, which opens with the gorgeously soulful vocal and smooth synths of 'Desanke.' 'Evermore' is another one with an aching vocal and pensive pianos over fluid rhythms and 'Stayed The Same' (feat Verbz) channels a Calibre vibe with great gust vocals and classy rhythm work.

Review: As the celebrations of Metalheadz continue apace 25 years into their tenure at the top of the D&B food chain, attentions turn to the mighty Total Science who are looking back on the same length of time since they first committed their tunes to wax. On the A side of this 12", they're rolling low and nasty with the hardcore stylings of 'Universe 92'. It's a new production, but it sports the gnarly stylings of a vintage track in every possible way. Meanwhile they turn to a classic on the flip, offering up a remastered version of early 00s roller 'Jungle Jungle' which is in fact more of a sharp-shooting D&B masterclass that's been out of print for far too long.

Review: First unveiled on dubplate 25 years ago, 'The Dark Soldier' has long been one of Ray Keith's most celebrated tunes - a game-changing D&B classic that also lent its name to the DJ/producer's fine 2021 memoir. Here it gets a new set of celebratory remixes to tie in with Keith's recent career retrospective box set. Critical Impact handles the A-side, adding a little more rhythmic complexity and squally electronic melodies while retaining Keith's warped, brain-melting bassline and creepy chords. The flipside Alcamist remix steps things up further, with a more jazz-flecked post-jungle rhythm underpinning an even wilder mutation of the bassline, echoing vocal snippets and slivers of foreboding melody. Two fine updates of a must-have classic.

Review: As their superb name suggests, The Jazzassins make jazz tinged drum & bass. Never was that more apparent than on this silky new split 12" for Jazzsticks Recordings, which features Paul SG on the other side. His opener 'Kings Town' is a bubbly, reagge-laced rhythm with blasts of rapping bass and tumbling drums that demand you dance. He then offers 'Parts Of Me,' a harder edge stepper with big and icy hi hats. The Jazzassins for their part seduce with 'Evolution' and then get more edgy and artsy with the hopping 'Bawrley.'

Review: The story of Triii continues as Break and Total Science continue to ramp up their new co-lab imprint with two more powerful link-ups. 'Blame You' is all about those warm dubby vibes. Soul stirring vocals and a big old sausage of a bassline; like all of their collaborations, you can hear both acts' sounds so clearly in this. 'Aardvark' follows with even more oomph and ooh-la-la. Big on the ravey vocal sample and even bigger on the turbine bass drone; this one is going to enjoy a lot of heavy rotations over festival season. Wowzers.

Review: The 117 label hits a fifth release in style with this new one from Bungle. The Brazilian artist is a drum & bass mainstay who has already established himself on plenty of respected labels. This label debut is another step up with a rich array of sounds all heading into the future on a wave of very real emotions. 'Faces' immediately stirs deep feelings with its mournful chords and slick beats, 'Humanize' release some angst on more twisted and textured sounds. 'Outside' is a dark tune with a dystopian energy and 'Trigger' then soundtracks the peak time with its big breaks and tense synth work.

Review: As 313 Bass Mechanics and plenty more besides, Julian Shamou has a lot going on at any one time. His work as Detroit's Filthiest seems to be the main focus right now though, and since the essential Private Stock 12" in 2019 he's been working closely with Casa Voyager to carry some of his gnarliest work. The relationship continues apace with Accept No Substitute, which deals in seriously funked up electro gear which nods to Miami booty bass as much as anything Motor City related. 'Perception Of Reality' even tips towards breakbeats with a UK hardcore flex, while 'Hypnotized Music' piles on the nasty b-lines and 'Under My Spell' slips into a low down dirty machine funk mode. 'Song For Sultan' rounds the EP off with something a little sweeter for when you want to nice the crowd up without dropping the tempo.

Review: It's raining breaks! A hailstorm of jungle and drum n' bass has hit our shelves, and Junglefever & Dart's 'Cat In The Bag' is one of many of its new wax droplets to settle onto our turntables. This new release morphs out from jungle into techstep, set to a limited yellow marbled vinyl. Junglefever occupies the A with two psychotic forays through ragga jungle; bouncy bass riffs drive hoovers forward on 'Rocksteady', while drums seem to whip our minds into submission through the twin modes distortion and overdrive on 'Murderous Style'. Dart's 'Bling' and 'Raggamuffin Core' are naturally more iced out by reeses and crunch, sounding like the moving detritus of a raggamuffin-manned factory.

Review: Erstwhile Modestep member, now hair-raising solo artist Tony Terror Friend gets the remix treatment on Spearhead. Expect the full flex as an impressive range of artists get busy on the dials... Etherwood does his dreamy thing on 'Morning Sun' before Taxman gets busy on the breaks with an outstandingly bubblesome twist on 'Just A Friend'. Elsewhere Grafix gets his pump on with 'Gold' while the bossman closes the EP with a floaty, high breeze take on 'Come As You Are'. Terror-rific.

Review: Friske is back on his own Requisite Music label to take care of the sixth transmission. It is a fiery one which finds the producer taking aim for peak time dance floors on both sides of the 12". It carries on in his usual style of mixing up the light with the dark as he rewires contemporary drum & bass. 'Dark Assemble' is a jostling, raw, percussive, intense workout that never lets up and is in constant flux, then the flip side explores a more deep, downtempo vibe with cavernous bass, silky synths and cosmic rays smeared across the mix. Another sure fire winner from this on point artist

Review: French label Artikal Music revisits J Kenzo's work with a couple of fresh remixes from it by a couple of cutting edge drum & bass artists. Coco Bryce is a firm favourite here and he flips 'All In' into a rugged rhythm that is softened by the silky bass and synths. It is both physical yet emotional and that duality is sure to lead to plenty of high profile plays. On the flip side is Specialist X who works his magic on 'Broken Dreams.' This one is a more heads down and dark number for the dead of night, with menacing and stepping drums and sci-fi sound design. This is the first of what will be a series of remix EPs and we're already looking forward to the next one.

Review: Viva Brazil! DJ Andy updates V Recording's longstanding relationship with Brazilian drum & bass with this powerful VA of upfront D&B talent straight from the heart of the motherland. Vibes come courtesy of an exciting range of acts from long-established legends like BTK (who teams up with Gremlinz on the stinking bubbler 'Ganja') and the currently unstoppable L-Side (who delivers two weapons to the collection) to brand new talents like Acuna (who's on fire with the dancehall blaze-up 'Big Cheers') and LOPHIT (who darks us all out with the junglist tear-up 'Loose Ends') A much darker and heavier take on drum & bass than the original sound Bryan Gee imported via the likes of Marky, XRS and Patife over 20 years ago, but still just as exciting, energetic and impeccably produced, Brazil remains one of the most important countries in D&B outside of the UK.
Reconhecer!

Review: Old enough to know better, young enough to still skank out till sunrise, old heads Missing and Skeleton Army link-up for this special synth-funk-meets-jungle odyssey on Sub System. Big synth basses and arpeggios, this sits somewhere between Seba and John B but with the energy of No U-Turn's Nico. For more of the jungle iciness flip for Tim Reaper's remix where another vocal is added to the mix and bags of space can be found amid every happy slapping breakbeat. Raised in the 80s, hooked in the 90s, still battering it in the 2020s.