Juno Recommends Drum & Bass: May 2023

Review: While many artist bios say an act has 'taken the scene by storm', Rudimental truly did. The Hackney band of well-educated and skillful musicians quickly turned themselves into an internationally renowned live act who transferred the energy and drive of drum & bass into festival and gig environments. Home was their debut album a while decade ago now and two of its first four singles took the number one slot in the UK charts. It was highly anticipated and didn't disappoint with a wide range of sounds from dusty soul to steamy r&b, Balearic bliss and plenty of big beats.

Review: Krust has been more than generous in opening up the archives and letting die-hard junglists get access to some of his most prized plates from the glory days of Full Cycle and V Recordings. Okbron have been a great conduit for such wares over recent years, and so it continues with these deep-cover diamonds from one of the genre's greatest. 'I Believe' is a tightly clipped bit of drum flair with razor sharp programming, film noir chops and swooning pads - a truly soulful excursion for those who like their beats steeped in jazz. 'Accepted Meaning' is a rougher breakbeat workout which is just as next level, with bright and bold synth pads that join the dots between Detroit and Bristol in powerful fashion.

Review: DJ Sofa returns to the Myor Massiv label with more of her dancefloor heaters. The A-side is all about bring big time party energy to the club with raga samples, gun finger bait, hooky melodies and of course some firing jungle breakbeats underpinned by drilling basslines. The flipside jam 'Over & Over' has plenty more fire in store with its old school signifiers, hardcore pitched up vocals and rave melodies over plunging bass stabs and well designed breaks. This is another essential 12" destined for big things.

Review: After first appearing on 45 Seven back in 2016, Mexican drum & bass wizard Rainforest returns to the dub-jungle hybrid label with more futuristic riddim science pressed up onto a juicy 7". The premise of 45 Seven label is strong enough to draw out inventive results from all kinds of producers, and Rainforest delivers some mind-melting sonic acrobatics on this record, leading in with the ruffneck break chops and head-nodding skank of 'Bullet Riddim' before heading into even wilder terrain with the artful drumfunk of 'Runaway Riddim', a percussive explosion which sounds like it could tumble into chaos at any given moment. That's obviously a good thing, making for a truly standout plate on a label that never misses.

Review: Cardiff soldier Elliot Quartz returns to the Headz HQ once again with four more outlier expeditions that stretch across the entire d&b landscape. From the brutalist funk and raw strength of the title track 'Blacklist' to a rare soulful, vocal exploration in the form of 'Moving With Time' (with Vanity Jay), Quartz goes in on all direction with uncompromising energy and aesthetic. Elsewhere we're iced out by the tense and eerie 'Notice The Reverse' while 'Beat Down Babylon' just straight up tears your head off. Trust us, this is a blacklist you're going to want a plus one on.

Review: Based in The Netherlands, Fokuz Recordings has been a key drum & bass label since before the start of this current millennium. It does a wide range of styles from sold out in a flash r&b edits to rollers for the club. They have helped make the label head Focus a mainstay of the scene and now he's back with another top nugget on nice blue vinyl. 'Take Me As I Am' launches with hyper-speed breaks and ice-cold hi-hats before the lush and romantic 'Do 4 Love' soothes mind, body and soul. 'Long Way Up' is another one with a perfectly pitched r&b vocal sample and sleek beats before the pensive and late night, piano-laced cover of Depeche Mode that is 'Enjoy The Silence.'

Review: Here comes an exemplary slice of dub/drum & bass hybridization from Congo Natty, who has been helming up slick fusions of these genres since the early 1990s. His first album in eight years, 'Ancestorz' as a title should be indicative enough. The LP explores the indigenous roots and influences of jungle music, from its historic use of African rhythms to samples of Native American flutes. Collaborations with artists as far-flung as Eva Lazarus, Blackout JA, Akala, Maverick Sabre, Courtney Melody and Shabaka Hutchings are all in tow, showing off Natty's love for contemporary bass music and maturer sounds in equal measure.

Review: Swedish d&b pioneer Seba continues to roll out more reissues from his Secret Operations label vaults, taking back over 15 years to some of his most career-defining work. The swaggering opener 'Your Deepest Love', the ice cold finale piece 'Legion' and the breath-taking 'Forever' all take us back to the mid-2000s (2006/7 to be precise) when Seba and his label really started to make their own independent mark in drum & bass. For good measure and balance he's also including 'Inkasso'. A little more recent in his discography at only eight years old, but just as hard hitting and timeless - Seba always hits the spot whatever era you find him at.

Review: Across a blistering catalogue of heavyweight drops for the likes of Black Box, Artikal Music, Cosmic Bridge and Innamind, TMSV has proven himself to be one of the most vital soundsystem-minded producers in current circulation. Following the excellent double dose of Jungle Selections for the self-steered Broken Records label in 2021, the Dutch artist fires the project up once again for a four-pronged attack on the sense, chopping up the amens and engaging in all manner of tightly-clipped edit acrobatics - pure shockout material from someone with uncut jungle pumping through his veins.

Review: DJ Solo's stone-cold classic tune 'Darkage' was remixed masterfully by DMS and now the original EP gets a direct, limited edition repress on 10". The tunes have both been remastered for the job and both sound as good now as ever. A-side gem 'Darkage' (DMS remix) is awash with trippy and psychedelic melodic patterns with a pitched-up and soulful vocal that brings the standout element to really make it bang. 'Axis' (DMS remix) then has a similar mix of hardcore and soulful vocals over crispy drum breaks and rave pianos for all out dance floor euphoria.

Review: Seba's Secret Operations label is continuing its productive run into the archives with this fourth volume of reissue gold. Seba's sound is the kind which transcends the ages, sporting a luxurious, high-end production finish which means tracks like 'Special Ops' hasn't aged a jot in 15 years. 'Day By Night' on the B2 deserves a special mention - this is the Swedish mastermind at his fiercest, toying with stop-start dynamics, folding in industrial strength tones and textures and building the junglism so vivid it nearly bursts out of the speakers and manifests as a 3D object right before your eyes.

Review: Wild experimental drum & bass here from longtime scene legend Dom & Roland. Out via his own imprint, this one comes to an exquisite yellow-orange vinyl slab. Its A-sider hears an insanely cool lead bassline filter and sizzle into oblivion, against shockingly compressed yet still-dynamic drum-punches. B-sider 'Drive Me Crazy' is equally a jaw-dropping techstep number, unafraid of indulging wild breakwork and melodic synthery at the same time. Both tracks are as raucous, punchy, unashamed and loud as their titles suggest.

Review: Serious fighting talk from Etch right now as he threatens to 'Take You All Down' on the burgeoning Something System imprint. Hopefully he means it in more of a hearty pub brawl style of takedown and not a grubby, sleazy politician style of taking people down. Musically it definitely fits the former category; all bruising and swaggering with its ice cold chops and wallops, it's Etch in premium jungle mode. 'How Dare He' continues the aggressive edge but on more of a heavily swung 140 style jazzy vibe. Broken beats for broken Britain, give Etch a friendly punch if you see him in a pub, he totally deserves it.

Review: Rupture takes us to Uranus with this new various artist and special blue marled 12" featuring the don Tim Reaper as well as Double O, Dwarde and Mani Festo. It's an Escher remix of 'Straight 98' that kicks off and traps you in unresolved, tense and atmospheric drum loops with a subtle sense of funk. Reaper and Dwarde then combine for the dark and all-out breakbeat assault that is 'Mendoza'. Last of all is Mani Festo's 'Caving In', another heavy one with fizzing electronics, crunchy percussive textures and prying bass that is not in a hurry to go anywhere and instead keeps you trapped in the moment.