Back catalogue: Drum & Bass / Jungle

Review: Does drum and bass get any better than this? Two of the finest names in the genre club together for "Run Away", met in the middle by the man like Fox who puts his vocal stylings into the mix. Rolling out smooth, it's that lulling bassline and softly-spoken chorus that takes the edge off punchy drums and signature Intalex-style strings from the pad section. Fans have been waiting for a release on this for some time now - finally, it's ownable. Showing that they can still deliver tastier goods for the dancefloor, "Something Heavy" is a funk-fuelled hips-mover with Fox sending out his raggamuffin sounds over down and dirty bass. You've heard it in the dance, now get it on repeat.

Review: Fresh drop on the Soul R imprint from label boss Marcus Intalex which fully demonstrates his recent endeavours under the Trevino alias haven't dampened his spirit for hard stepping drum and bass productions. It seems like the studio time concentrating on different rhythmic endeavours has benefitted Kaye, as "Sell Your Soul" is quite superb. Delicate strains of jazz-indebted instrumentation make for the perfect introduction, down trodden analogue touches signalling the onset of the drop. The moment those fragile vocals arrive and the rough hewn drums slip into line with the shuddering bass is inspired. To add some contrast, Kaye goes darkside on "Guillotine" with a bass line delivery that few people will be prepared for. Witness the sickness!

Review: Pixel and Mystic Pulse join the Rasta Vibez crew for some skunk-skanked jungle fun. First up is a storming rifle-flex twist on Pato Banton's fun-but-firm statement on herbal legalities. Complementing his rapid fire chats with equally thundering amens, it's got reload written into every red groove. Flip for more smoky sonic sermons as they take on another spark-up standard "Herbalist" with such authenticity you could easily be convinced it's 1992 again... Especially if you've practiced the lyrical content so much you think time travel is a thing. Pure Vibez.

Review: Jim Coles' decision back in 2010 to implement a swerve in his sonic trajectory away from his hip-hop past as 2tall in favour of a more all-encompassing approach that touches on various strands of bass culture as Om Unit has paid off and then some. Subsequent releases on Exit, Autonomic, Civil Music, Metalheadz and his own Cosmic Bridge imprint have all shown Om Unit eminently capable of tempo shifting productions that appeal to fans of Bass music, Drum & Bass and footwork alike. The latter has been explored further while the Dream Continuum collaboration with Machinedrum on Planet Mu and his Philip D. Kick alias where the link between Chicago's juke heritage and UK Jungle was explored. All this and more is included on Threads, a debut Om Unit LP for Civil Music that deftly collates various strands (or threads) of his production career over the past fifteen years for a cohesive 15 track set that veers through of hip hop, dubstep, jungle and even house.