Back catalogue: Drum And Bass

Review: Dead Man's Chest is about to unleash all kinds of breakbeat mayhem with the third volume of Western Lore's Blunted Breaks series and here's a little taster of the full flavour experience to expect. Artificial Red kicks off with a hazy-but-heavy remix of DMC's 'Living Real' before L Own & Response's 'Rumination Cycles' enshrouds us with rasping tendrils of acid and loose live drum breaks. Flip for two more breath-taking moments in (blunted) breakcraft as Eusebeia captures that early Good Looking magic on 'Affinity' and ESC closes the EP with the powerful, cobweb blast celebration of hardcore's influence on 'Hot Hands'. Get blunted!

Review: On a mission to "make d&b great again", Finland's Straight Up Breakbeat pass through once more with the second of three EPs formed to showcase modern junglism. Kicking off, 'Mystery Machines' sees Glastonbury's Dead Mans Chest slam down some deadly amen choppage reinforced by haunting vocal FX and paranoid drones. Aeon Four & FFF's 'Look Inside' is a jungle-tekno roller, served with chunky hardcore style amens and a side of warm old-skool pads. Keeping the mid-90s vibe alive, the tripped out 'Green Fields Forever ' from Fanu - which drops hot on the heels of his greatly received remaster of Source Direct's 'Stars' - delivers airtight amen trickery, weaving synth washes and blissful dubby basslines. Esc & Mineral round things off with 'Photosynthesis', a pensive stepper highlighting cut-up breaks waltzing with cheeky synth nudges and a wide, rugged bassline. If the pioneers had buried some beefed-up tracks in a time-capsule to inspire future generations, they would probably sound a lot like 'States of Art II'.

Review: Rising London talent Echo One jumps aboard the good ship Silent Force with four star-gazing slammers that all take root in the golden age of hardcore, jungle and that early Headzian wave of stark futurism. Highlights include the ice cold pad blasts of 'You Don't Know' and the cosmic brutalism of the title track but all four cuts will crush any rig in a 50 mile radius. Limited to 200 copies, ready for take-off?

Review: It never rains but it pours for fans of Etch at the moment, with not only an extensive long player set to drop on Sneaker Social Club in November 2024, but also this four tracker on that other much loved and consistently wonderful label Ilian Tape. His work is stepped in the textures of jungle, drum & bass, grime, dubstep and bass but rarely enslaved by their limitations. Admittedly, the final of the four tracks here, 'Clockwork Romance', vaguely resembles a late 90s techstep workout, with a hint of junglist roughneck-ness, but the other offerings are very much their own beasts, from the clattering turntablist-constructed beat of 'Jack's Design' to the gnarly, scratchy groove of 'Asami' - imagine Basic Channel and Burial jamming - and the breezy, sunny-sounding opener 'Liz's Track'. Eclectic, individual and bursting with rich flavours.

Review: Waveforms is as a brand-new label from ASC and Presha who are already well known and respected for their work with Spatial/Auxiliary and Samurai Music. It's a new outlet that will specially tap into the sounds of 90s jungle and serve up new tunes on 10". Tim Reaper has been behind one, and Eusebeia is now on this one on blue-marbled vinyl. A-side cut 'Waveform 05' is a cavernous cut with pulsing bass and spine chillingly ethereal vocals up top while 'Waveform 06' keeps the pressure on with more throwback jungle realness and unrelenting breakbeat pressure.

Review: Incoming! Clipz is subtly dropping his debut album but in true Hugh Pescod style, he's not settling for usual convention. His debut album as Clipz is a remix LP as he deconstructs Richard Russell's collaborative concept album Friday Forever and rebuilds it into a diesel powered, borderline cantankerous jungle album. These are three of the many highlights; the Dope Dragon style brukage of 'Walk Alone', the deeper piano-licked roll-out 'A Dream I Never Had' and the dubby, Bass Bin style bubbler 'The Night'. And this is just the tip of the version iceberg. Serious Saturday Specials fever.

Review: Silent Force Records unleash a brand new series SFR Titans and its down to the mighty giant Sicknote to launch it. Naturally he tears the series a new one before it's even started. 'Craw' takes the lead as Sicky links with old mate and long-time collaborator Escher for some tense, emotional volatility. For 'Lates' on the B-side old Notey chops goes solo and takes us proper darkside. Think 'Angel Fell'-era Dilli with a slice of old Digital and you're in the right armshouse. Titanic.

Review: Etherwood re-confirms all the promise he has shown in recent years with this super new album on the legendary Hospital. It is his fourth long-player in all and shows off his knack for rolling drums and majestic melody while serving up some sweet vocal collabs. Next to the timeless drum &bas sounds come a wealth of influences from rock, indie-pop, techno and downtempo, with lots of lush ambient designs and plenty of hummable top lines. His own vocals also feature on tunes like the heartbroken Fall Awake, while legendary mic man DRS is in fine flow on 'The Current' where he muses on self-medication and more. Neon Dust is another complete album from one of the scene's finest.