Review: Warsaw underground favourite Kampinos emerges onto the wider stage here with two standout jungle and drum & bass infused reworks. The A-side features 'Golden Eggs,' a reimagining of Tenor Saw's classic that comes infected with 90s jungle vibes, heavy amen drums and massive bass drops that will rattle yer bass bins. On the B-side, 'Menino De Outro Mundo' blends the Brazilian sounds of Caetano Veloso with samba rhythms and rolling drum & bass beats for a nice fresh fusion. This is an inventive, cross-genre 7" that honours the roots while pushing forward.
Review: We're always glad to hear from the wonderful Sneaker Social Club label. It's devotion to exploring and updating the UK continuum deserves plenty of credit and so does this latest missive from Hoovering Blur. It's a raw breakbeat workout with smart filter use and plugging basslines to keep things moving. 'Wacky Robot' is another blend of amens, trippy tones and lithe rhythms and 'Project One' has shuffling breaks that land with a bounce. 'Double Depths' is a fourth and final melange of breakbeat madness and old-school bleep madness. Brilliant.
Review: UK drum n' bass producer Madcap's production credits extend all the way back to the early 90s, when LTJ Bukem was heralding him as a fledgling, yet time "fantastic" DNB visionary. Now a fledgling no more, 'Saxon Street' is his latest jungle offering for Rotterdam's Vibez' 93, and is a nonstop EP of fluffless breaks cruisers ('Fall Down') and impeccable, Brandy-sampling bouncers ('Combination', 'See Her').
Review: More dark arts from the man and his machine; Dom & Roland tears 2025 a new one with four powerful drum & bass compositions. Provocative and unapologetic, 'Under The Spell' snaps the firmest of wands and does so for the best part of 10 minutes. A real hypnotic showdown. 'Re-Resistance' meanwhile takes us into much more industrial, abstract territories in a way that you might imagine Krust or Amit might. 'I'm Here To Stay' is a much more placid, spacious affair laced with lush pads and a smouldering vocal that induces euphoria at 50 paces. Complete with a tearing remix of 'The Storm', it's another essential 12" from one of d&b's most consistent artists.
Review: Chase & Status and Stormzy coming together was always going to be huge. One rules the charts, the other the clubs, and between them they cooked up a massive single that got heard everywhere all summer long, including a special live performance of it in Ushuaia Ibiza. Now you can own it on a slab of vinyl that has been cut nice and loud, which is perfect for the tune - the bass is devastating, the bars from Stormzy are hard, the energy is dark and unrelenting and it's the perfect sort of jungle cross over sound that will continue to be heard everywhere well into 2025.
Review: New York-based minimal electronica artist Brendon Moeller takes cues from drum & bass and lowercase on his latest record for ESP Institute. Like a sonic Hockney painting, just six generous tracks span a curtly two sides on 12", as classy deluges marry with designer percs, conspiring to make a large but radially controlled splash. Every experiential stylistic base Moeller has passed so far, such as IDM or ambient dub, is revisited and checked off, and combined to form a wet emulsion here. 'Vibrations', the highlight of ours, pays special attention to fricative, stimulant audio-exploits in the sound design, with its synthetic mid-claves and potent rubber basses sounding like the reflex responses it predicts and expects from us. No wonder ESP liken the entire record to one big tingling sensation.
Review: The Clamps might sound like he's a punk band from the late 70s, but sonically this French artist sounds zillions of miles in the future. A man of stark dynamics and a powerful sense of extremities, he's taken neuro to some incredibly dramatic and emotional places on this album. Featuring collabs with the likes of Tryst Temps and Eluun, From Dust To Dawn tells a powerful story over 16 tracks. From the sheet metal slabs of cosmic brutalism ('Moirai') to the outright euphoric ('The Bill') to the wildly futuristic ('Veilwhisper') this is an immense body of work that really deserves an elevation to vinyl. Don't sleep on this.
Review: Constant Sound is one of the many labels Burnski aka Instinct is heading up right now and they are all as good as each other. This one focuses on house and tech sounds and welcomes Adam Pitts to the fam with three standouts. 'Gadget Crew' opens up and has a big, high-energy groove with plenty of oversized drum sounds and a retro melody paired with an intriguing soulful vocal. It has a dark garage tinge and is perfect for late-night action. 'Just This Once' is tough and physical, with warped and naughty bass and thwacking great hits irresistible to all. Last all comes a Skins Junglist Crew remix which is exactly that - a fine one for the jungle heads.
Review: After a stupendously prolific 2013 and 2014 (wherein he delivered no less than four albums), Calibre appears to have taken his foot off the gas and slipped into a more comfortable release-rate. Following his "Strumpet" EP on Exit comes this ace four-tracker that represents all his drum & bass styles: "Boogeyman Bullshit" is Dominick Martin at his darkest and most mischievous, all wobbly bass and slippery. "Smother" (featuring long term compadre Marcus Intalex) slaps with big washy chords that chime with an almost Detroitian hypnotic affect, "Multi Tasking" is a swam of sonic bees that have set up a nest in Metalheadz HQ circa 1997 and show no sign of budging. Finally, with its twinkling arpeggios and major chords "Dream Of You" is Calibre at his dreamiest and most emotional... Then drop comes and, once again, his sub bass melts your cones. Immaculate.
Review: French drum & bass come hip-hop producer Julien Salvi aka. Redeyes crosses into smooth MPC beats on his latest record for Five Alley. Making use of the golden formula of "one vocal feature per track" - a success-cementer if we know one - this smooth, autumnal album commands a fastidious use of soul vocal harmony from a range of singers and rappers, the likes of Karis Jade, Natacha Kanga, Saint Harmony and Ellis Esco. While the movements into d&b, such as the DRS and Fox collab 'Head Up', are somewhat abrupt, they still offer a smooth transition, unifying a comprehensive sound that transcends genre boundaries alone. A thoroughly compelling album about differences, resilience and forgiveness.
Review: It's the anthem that just keeps on giving. Tim Reaper & Kloke's shattered break sensation 'Foundation' dropped five years ago, it still slays dances to this day and is one of the best drum tracks you can hurl into a mix for instant riotous results. Countless collabs later, the pair return to VIP the track up in their own way. Reaper keeps those drums intact and goes extra on the atmos and pressure whole Kloke eases up on the pressure entirely with a fresh set of pads and a re-chop of the breaks. Both totally revitalise the timeless track that didn't even need update in the first place. Cop this!
Review: Skee Mask, who only recently was found out to be called Bryan Muller, comes through with his second LP to date, making a wonderful follow-up to 2016's Shred. Compro is, ironically, comprised of a much more explorative palette of sounds, with many corners of the album veering off into otherworldly ambient, often through a striking new-age sensibility. The most impressive element of this album is its flow and evolution across its 12 tracks, sounding a lot more like one single-minded thought rather than a collection of disparate dance-not-dance tunes. The quality of the recording is noticeable, too, with tracks like "Rev8617" or "Via Sub Mids" sounding professional, both in vision and style. Through an intricate collage of breaks, samples, polyphonies, and subtle electronic manipulations, Skee Mask has truly mastered his own art, and is giving a new direction to the wider 'UK rave' sound. BIG.
Review: When it came to following up their surprise 1994 hit album "Amplified Heart", Everything But The Girl's Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn decided to rip up the rulebook and do things differently. Previously, their music has been considered, downtempo and - whisper it quietly - Balearic. 1996's "Walking Wounded" retained their inherent beauty and sense of melancholia, but updated their musical blueprint to include far more influences from (then) contemporary dance music. As this half-speed re-mastered reissue proves, they largely hit the spot, with warm deep house cut "Wrong", the sparkling drum and bass pop of the title track and the similarly minded "Big Deal" standing out.
Livin' In Darkness (Swankout Legacy vocal mix) (5:09)
Review: The veteran Reading jungle label Basement Records oversees two new mixes of Top Buzz's 1993 bass-fuelled darkside thumper, all the more poignant after TB aka Jason Kaye's passing in 1993. The Swankout Legacy is the more junglist of the pair, first twisting the original's four to the floor stomp into a churning Amen inferno, adding timestretched vocals and apocalyptic horns, before finally incorporating the bullying 4/4 punch just when you'd forgotten it ever existed. The Swankout Legacy vocal mix, on the other hand, adds a serious portion of reggae to the devastating dancefloor hardcorisms, with results that are so pure warfare you suspect the United Nations might have to get involved. A fitting, firing tribute.
Review: UK garage goes increasingly wonky on DJ Jackum's latest EP for Time Is Now. Working in Skrillexy sound design - nasal growls, puffy metal snares, thin but heavy mixes - the enigmatic Jackum makes a real racket of a debut here, delivering four genre-poking bangers of a difficult-to-peg style. 'Vibe' is especially anthemic, being a rare example of a garage tune centred largely on the second and fourth beat handclap and not the kick; 'Push Dat' veers more into hooligan rave territory, pushing the to bass bus to redline; and the final 'Pimpin'' offers a crazed shuffle and vocal sample; this is a bold and creative expansion of an existing sound.
Review: Deep Jungle bossman Harmony gets busy once again and it's a tale of two bangers. 'Hold It' goes in with the swagger and a hardcore energy. There's a big drive to the breakdown where everything melts into bliss. Need something deep for the weekend? Get your listening gear around 'Star Chaser'. Twinkling flutes, shimming synths, gentle vocal textures. Think Seba and you're in the right cosmos.
Review: RTR returns to WeMe with more arresting weaponry and this time the producer puts a jungle slant on things, much like he did with the Xor album. It's an uncompromising approach that soon takes effect with 'Exelec' which marries brutal breaks with bright synth twitches and unrelenting percussion. 'Rtyp' ups the pace and goes into overdrive with manic snares and drum loops all run through with prickly acid madness. 'Line II' strips things back to a more skeletal but no less kinetic set of drums which explode and implode with scratchy textures and warp synth abstraction. 'Norm Code' offers a more soulful sound that journeys into deepest space.
Review: Mako's third album on Metalheadz, 'Oeuvre - Part 2', arrives as a natural extension of his previous work, marking four years since the release of the critically-acclaimed 'Oeuvre'. Known for his precision and commitment to the craft, Mako's latest offering explores a range of moods and styles while maintaining his signature depth and detail. The album features contributions from familiar names in the Metalheadz family, including Fields, Hydro, Villem and Mikal, adding their distinct touches to an already cohesive project. It also includes a poignant collaboration with the late Marcus Intalex, a tribute to a friendship and musical partnership that lives on through these tracks. Each piece of the 12-track collection tells its own story, from the deep, introspective 'True Expression' to the outright dancefloor juggernaut 'Direct Source', long supported by label head Goldie. Elsewhere, 'Suspension' throws a nod to the classic techstep sound, while 'Feed You' incorporates haunting vocals that linger long after the track fades. Mako's ability to fuse emotion with intricate production has always set him apart, and 'Oeuvre - Part 2' is no different. It's a masterful mix of influences and personal reflection, cementing Mako's place at the forefront of the drum & bass scene.
Straight To Your Heart (feat Philippa Hanna & Neon Tigers) (4:10)
Say It Ain't So (feat TRAC) (3:48)
Make Time (feat Catching Cairo) (3:47)
We Will Fly (feat Thomas Oliver) (3:36)
Forward (feat SYNGA) (3:20)
Gamble (feat Javeon & Abi Flynn) (4:08)
Never Too High (feat Solah) (3:25)
Stepping Stones (feat Tempza) (4:10)
Colours (feat Javeon & Abi Flynn) (3:26)
Review: BCee returns to Spearhead Records with These Are The Days, a fresh collection that showcases his continued knack for bringing vocal talent to the forefront. This time, he collaborates with thirteen different vocalists, drawing on some of the finest voices in the scene. Over the years, BCee has built a solid reputation not only as a producer but as a tastemaker, steering his Spearhead label to discover and nurture artists who have since skyrocketed - Hybrid Minds and Netsky being prime examples. The tracklist offers a wide range of moods, starting with the title track 'These Are The Days', featuring Zara Kershaw's uplifting vocals. BCee's knack for pairing the right voices with his productions shines through again on 'Imposter' with Degs and 'Lies' with Lauren Archer, blending emotion with groove. Elsewhere, 'Hurt Each Other' sees the soulful Liam Bailey stepping up, while Philippa Hanna and Neon Tigers bring a delicate balance to 'Straight To Your Heart'. Across two LPs, there's a sense of progression and cohesion - from the thoughtful 'Make Time' featuring Catching Cairo to the energised 'Gamble' with Javeon and Abi Flynn. BCee's beats are punchy, yet there's always space for the vocalists to shine. Tracks like 'Stepping Stones' with Tempza and 'Never Too High' featuring Solah maintain the energy, while still offering moments of reflection. This record feels like a celebration of the range of talent in modern drum & bass, with BCee curating the experience from start to finish, ensuring there's something for everyone.
Review: Uppers & Downers tap the raw, yet-to-be fully processed talents of Yerevan's Dave N.A., for a stunningly angelic nu-breaks come jungle come acid outing. Having co-founded his local Armenian ABC Community DJ collective, Dave N.A. attests his non-applicability to the normal, formal rules of dance music, declaring himself diplomatically immune to boring tempi, drab beats or morose melodies. Instead, the likes of 'Radiance', 'XL', and 'AIR' subject us to some of the most riveting soundscapes and shellages imaginable, drawing on a frenetic confluence of rave and hard bass traditional sonics.
Review: Sir Hiss and 4AM Kru set up a dialogue between London and Bristol, a stellar dialectic giving rise to a supreme form of lo-fi jungle. 'Earshots' samples a bhangra vocal cry, mixing it up with the scratchy factory movements of cut-throat jungular breaks. It marks a break from Sir Hiss' usual grime parlance, and adds to a refreshingly-named new series handled by their parent label Embrace The Real, called 'No More Mailouts', an explicit callout of PR in the electronic music industry which aims to lead by example. Power to em.
Review: The legendary Zed Bias is stepping out with a new label I Feel Good Records and intends for it to spread good vibes only through a diverse roster of talent and sounds that span house, bass and beyond. He has more than a quarter of a century of experience in the game and of eyeing new talents and helping them to shine and has always had a collaborative approach to music that will continue to define this label's MO. Zed is minting the label with a new single alongside award-winning d&b MC Inja. 'You Should Dance' pairs his warming tones with infectious garage drums and smeared, soothing chords that radiant heat. It will, indeed, make you feel good. D&b mainstay Bladerunner serves up a remix that has been doing the rounds for a while now and never fails to make an impact.
Review: Blissfully layered jazzstep from DJ Fokus and Voyager, two titans of the style whose deft abilities have rightfully nailed them a spot on the brand new label Eternal Soul for their second release. Working in filtered yet booming bass on the A-siders 'Online Recorded' and 'Inteliquo', the tracks work in minimal and downtrodden moods, allowing for more rapid-fire drill n' bass elements to occasionally peek through. The B tracks pick up the pace, 'Aurora' suspending our ears on flos of sonic slush - the 'remastered' version, meanwhile, is much more than a remaster.
Review: Man like Skeppy doing the gosh-darned thing! Swinging high from the Rubi rafters, his new label hits the 002 release with heavyweight charm and dark soulful panache. 'Rhubarb' is the dreamy cut of the bunch, easing us in gently with its gentle swirling strings, before 'Capsize' pushes us deep under the water with its robust murky militancy. Finally we have 'Foiled'. A classic minimal Skeppy set-up with a little nod towards the traditional jump-up sound, it's yet another open-and-shut case at the Rubi supreme court today.
Luude & Bru C - "TMO (Turn Me On)" (feat Kevin Lyttle - extended mix) (3:43)
Luude & Bru C - "TMO (Turn Me On)" (feat Kevin Lyttle - Borai & Denham Audio remix) (3:13)
Luude & Mattafix - "Big City Life" (3:57)
Luude & Issey Cross - "Oh My" (feat Moby) (3:50)
Review: It's time to sweat it out once more with the latest from the label of that name absolutely going for the big time with some classic vocal stabs defining the rip-snorting opener. And that is the extended mix of Luude & Bru C's 'TMO (Turn Me On)' (feat Kevin Lyttle) which is a big drum & bass anthem with ragga vocals, unrelenting and steel plated drum funk and naughty bass. A slightly more sweet and soulful Borai & Denham Audio remix also features as do Luude & Mattafix's anthem and festival friendly jungle anthem 'Big City Life' and similarly epic and accessible 'Oh My' with Issey Cross and some blissed out keys from one of Moby's classics.
The Ballistic Brothers - "Come On" (Simon Templar remix) (6:09)
Omni Trio - "Nu Birth Of Cool" (6:28)
PFM - "One & Only" (6:53)
Skanna - "Find Me" (6:31)
Count Basic - "Speechless Drum & Bass" (6:49)
Hunch - "Visible From Space" (Aquasky remix) (5:53)
Space Link - "Time Zone" (7:09)
Earl Grey - "The Lick" (4:52)
Review: Kruder & Dorfmeister's Conversions mix album takes you right back to 1996, when the Austrian duo were taking inspiration from the UK d&b pioneers and giving the sound their own lounge-y twist. For the first time since the mix was released, it's being presented as a partially mixed double vinyl edition, giving you access to some of the seminal cuts which make the mix such an enduring classic. From the easy lead in of DJ Unknown Face's 'Dat's Cool' to the soulful vocal licks and skittering breaks of Omni Trio's 'Nu Birth Of Cool' on to the cosmic jungle of Space Link's 'Time Zone', it's a masterclass through and through.
Scared Of Love (feat Ray Blk & Stefflon Don) (3:21)
Summer Love (with Rita Ora) (4:19)
They Don't Care About Us (feat Maverick Sabre & YEBBA) (4:36)
Do You Remember (feat Kevin Garrett) (3:41)
Leave It For Tomorrow (feat Elli Ingram) (4:25)
Adrenaline (feat OLIVIA) (3:58)
Review: Rudimental's third full-length, "Toast To Our Differences", was originally slated for release back in September, but ended up being delayed. So was it worth the wait? It's certainly a colourful, vibrant and expansive affair, with the quartet drawing on a far wider palette of influences than were evident on their previous albums. Check, for example, the title track's glistening, South African style tropical pop, the piano-powered cheeriness of "These Days", the soaring power pop of previous single "Sun Comes Up" and the auto-tune heavy EDM-house stomp of "Scared of Love". Given their superstar status, it's unsurprising to see an impressive cast list of guests and collaborators - Major Lazer, Rita Ora and Ladysmith Black Mambazo included - while this "Deluxe Edition" includes a trio of extra tracks.
Review: The pairing of LSB and DRS is up there with wine and cheese. Having smashed 2015 with "The View", the pair return with another beautiful, emotion-soaked gem "Missing You". With its soft pianos and space for DRS to ruminate, it's another soulful smash that will stand the test of time. "Tumult" shows the complete flip of LSB's ever-perennial skills as he rolls out a darkside roller with a serious hurricane bassline that's powerful enough to take you back to the 2001. With his debut album around the corner, both tracks do well to remind you just how on-point LSB is.
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: Drum & bass giants Hospital Records get involved with this year's Record Store Day by serving up a limited white vinyl that also serves as further 25th anniversary celebrations. This is on top of the huge 25 rack album that came back in March and features a load more essential remixes, reworks, VIPs and covers of NHS drum & bass classics. Together they serve as a fine snapshot of the label's past, present and future with Camo & Krooked, S.P.Y, Kings Of The Rollers, Lynx, Think Tonk, Kessler, Villem and The Caracal Project all coming correct.
Makoto X Mitekiss - "Trial Mountain" (feat Karina Ramage) (5:31)
Bop X Subwave - "Zaichik" (3:48)
Kings Of The Rollers - "Burn Out" (4:04)
Grafix X Dynamite MC - "Black Magic" (4:00)
Keeno - "Communications" (4:08)
Hugh Hardie - "Deckard's Chords" (4:29)
Wislow - "Midwest Shuffle" (4:40)
Whiney - "Turn Up" (3:31)
Nu:Tone - "Second Time Around" (4:10)
Makoto - "Another Star" (5:14)
Etherwood - "Naperone" (3:25)
Review: If there's one genre that captures the rush of motor racing, it's surely D&B. So it's a match made in heaven as the lauded Forza Horizon 5 game teams up with some of the brightest talents in big room D&B for a blockbuster soundtrack which will get your virtual foot slamming the virtual pedals with appreciation through every chicane and hair-raising hairpin bend. Hospital Records are carrying the soundtrack, and who better to platform this absolutely top-drawer crew of sharp shooters. From Flava D and Grafix to SPY, Logistics and Nu:Tone, there's no shortage of talent rolling out the beats across three mighty slabs of wax, meaning you can enjoy the tunes even when you're not frantically racing your mates in the flashiest sports cars in the game.
Review: There is no more iconic figure in the world of drum & bass than Goldie. In fact, he has pretty much transitioned to natural treasure in the years since he operated at the genre's bleeding edge as a DJ, label boss of Metalheadz and producer. His Timeless album, now a hard to believe quarter of a century old, was his big breakthrough and took d&b into new realms. The epic title track will always be the benchmark by which all others are judged by the whole flow the record, precision beat work and lush synth sounds have rarely been bettered.
Review: Hospital Records is one of the most mighty in all of drum & bass and here it joins up with Soulvent who now join the family. It's a label founded by Joe Goss, Jack (Pola) Higgins and Liam Holyoak-Rackal that has been on top of its game since 2014 and at the forefront of the new generation. This fiery 14 track collection is packed full of brand new remixes of classics from both imprint's back catalogues. There is dream-like stuff from Nu:Tone, Hugh Hardie is in fine form on his take on Japan-based Mountains' 'I'm Free' (feat. Kojo)' and one-to-watch DJ and producer Vektah drops some real jungle heat.
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