Abstract Drums & Optimystic - "Energy To The Universe" (6:33)
Justice & Metro - "Shadowkid" (5:40)
Pixl & Peeb - "Koi Fable" (5:49)
Sicknote & Escher - "Trouble Part 2" (5:48)
Review: Proper pristine, technical drum & bass here from the Transmute crew, expending far more effort than most junglists in fleshing out the body, weight and polish of each constituent sound. Mostly forgoing sampled breakbeats, the 'DUOS' EP hears refreshingly unusual sound design choices dance over a more straight-up rollage in the rhythm section(s). From the opening washer pads of Abstract Drumz & Optimystic's 'Energy To The Universe', to the closing techstep clanks of Sicknote & Escher's 'Trouble Part 2', this EP brings a variety of emotions to a gestalt whole, unified by its consistently clean production.
Review: The legendary Fokuz label outta the Netherlands hits a 110th release and opts for a selection of remixes from various artists. AirK & Cephei open up with 'Desire,' a slick roller with booming bass and epic synths. Break then comes through with tight remix of A2 Soligen & Type 2 's 'Can't Go' complete with expertly design hits. Break then goes it alone on the original 'Coming 4U' with its low end oscillations and closes out the EP back in remix mode. His take on 'What Are You' is a roaming, textural affair with twisted leads and flurries of toms.
Chris Coco - "Yawa Ze Asfos" (instrumental) (4:02)
Jake Slazenger - "168B" (3:47)
Global Goon - "Untitled" (4:39)
Ruckus (4:47)
Jodey Kendrik - "Thanx" (5:56)
Gavin Masih - "Unknown Track 1" (6:55)
Monika Subrtova - "Alata" (7:08)
Review: Furthur Electronix's first two Furthur Journeys Into compilations tune plenty of heads and shift plenty of copies. The third one keeps the quality levels high with more explorations around the periphery of underground electronics. Chris Coco opens with a soothing synth sound before Jake Slazenger brings crystalline synths and abstract modulations to the mid-tempo '168B.' There is more pace and twisted acid energy to Global Goon's untitled contribution and then old school jungle comes to the fore on the super stylish and atmospheric Gavin Masih cut. Monika Subrtova's 'Alata' is a serene and widescreen ambient synthscape that brings things to a suitably poignant close.
Review: Destination Finland: Straight Up Breakbeat roll their sleeves up for this almighty VA from some of the most respected jungle crafters you could possibly shake a dubplate at. Local legend Sofa links with Rupture Queen Mantra for the opening cut 'The Tunnel'. Dark and tense, it sets the scene for some utterly fantastic moments. Long time pals Basic Rhythm & Tim Reaper get silly with 'Target Lock', Blood Trust gets militant with 'RLLR 24' while Jesta finishes with a little blue-faced bust-up 'Liquor Snurf'. Sup sup!!
Review: Releases like this demonstrate the utter vanguard of British drum & bass. It's as if this were a G20 summit for some of the genre's most eminent lords, as we hear Goldie, Jubei, Submotive and Lenzman all team up for a four-way rampage. Both tunes on this lethal weapon, through well-placed Reeses and complex metallic snare rebounds, convey the mood of utter dark fantasy. The mood is that of being graced by the presence of monstrously regal higher sonic powers.
Review: Five years has passed since J Majik made an impressive return with Full Circle, an album that dug right back to his Reinforced/Metalheadz roots with uncompromised futurism. Lo and behold these cuts still smack just as hard now as they did in 2019 (and would have absolutely melted us back in 94) 'The Crow Knows' is total sonic brutalism with it thundering drums and powerful sense of tension. 'Codebreaker' is a much colder slice of the jungle pie. Big elongated pads and a general feeling that aliens are about to land at any minute. Majik doing magic things.
Review: More magic from Majik as he looks back to his evergreen 2019 opus which saw him take things right back to his Reinforced foundations. The title track is an ice cold slab of futurism that essential provides the blueprint for jungle's most dynamic aesthetics. 'Eclipse' meanwhile goes for the heart strings, rips them out and turns them into an orchestral string section as a huge score-level sample is laid gently over surging, urgent break. Abracadabra.
Review: Ja-Ge George is a rather little-known dancehall artist who has turned out only a few releases over the last 20 years. He hails from Japan and is part of the Rub-A-Dub Market crew and now he is back with a new single that comes on Far Eastern label Lawson Entertainment. 'Down Beat Rule' blends new school and contemporary raga and dancehall into a classic-sounding cut with some rhythmic vocal stabs, natty, polished chords and broken tumbling beats to amp up any crowd. On the flip, it becomes a high-energy jungle workout powered by blistering breakbeats.
Review: From breaking out to breaking beats to Breaking Bass: Jailed Jamie reissues his 2020 'Jungle Tool' session and the world is once again a ravier place to be. All the fun of the fair guaranteed. Twisted acid and trippy squeaks? Check 'Drop It'. Need a little old school weirdness? Get into 'Crafstman'. Swaggering subby breaks? It's all about 'Asphyxia'. After a little introspection? 'Route To Nowhere' is your friend. But mainly it's all about the psy-laced cosmic techiness of the title track 'Junglist Tool'. Ironically if you sleep on this then some might consider you one, too
Review: There's just no stopping Vibez '93 at the moment - the Dutch jungle label is swimming in legit gear and sharing it with the world. We're still reeling from the anonymous Punkrocker and Self Aware EPs. This time around there are names on the plates, as four artists throw down in maximum style. Janaway is up first with the ragga jungle badness of 'Reaching Out', while InnaSelf brings some more introspective pads and synth touches to their amen trickery. Evasion weaves a plush tapestry of ragged breaks, dreamy vocal licks and atmospheric flourishes for a curly advanced slice of jungle perfection and then Cheetah rounds the record off with the truly snare-rushing 'Bunnin' Up'.
Review: Java steps up as the Redskin label surges on through double figures with a new EP, Nightfall, that covers a stylish range of jungle sounds. 'Brockout' has ld school signifiers like the ragga vocal and clipped vocal yelps, but some super smooth and silky pads and a serene sense of cosmic energy. '16 Stripes' is another collision of those different worlds - deep space ambience and more warehouse-ready jungle styles complete with some nice sci-fi bleeps. Closer 'Fi Di Girls Dem' shuts down with some nice crisp breakbeats and soulful vocal touches to ignite any party.
Review: JLM opens the EP for Spatial with 'Consensus Reality', an uplifting track driven by lush keys and filtered breaks. The melodies are woven from a range of harmonious elements, while crisp apache breaks are expertly introduced, showcasing JLM's signature style. 'Salva Veritate' shifts to a darker, more intense atmosphere. Whooshing synths and dense soundscapes are layered over hefty 'Hot Pants' breaks, with tuneful 808 basslines and blippy sub-melodies adding texture to this suspenseful track. On the flip side, 'Hotspot' starts with mellow, jazzy keys before bursting into life with juddering snares and smooth 808 basslines. Dreamy strings and pads sweep through the mix, creating a paradox of energy and calm. The EP closes with 'Nova', a soothing track featuring soft, flowing synths and delicate beats. Subtle effects and cosmic breaks aplenty - an exceptional release.
Review: ASC's Spatial imprint looks west for inspiration this month as they welcome a certified Reinforced OG who made a return last September after a 25 year break from this particular project (and many years from the game): New Jersey's JLM Productions. Also operating under aliases such as Sky City and P.E.P during the 90s, the JLM name was synonymous with the deeper, atmospheric sounds of jungle. And that's exactly what we have here. Four blissful, subtle and restrained atmospheric jungle cuts. Highlights include the swashbuckling breaks on 'The Navigator' and the dream-like haze of opener 'The Cartographer'. Welcome back JLM.
Review: Reinforced graduate, technoid polymath and very early US jungle representer Jamie Myerson returns to Spatial, ASC's platform that willed him back into the game just under a year ago. His third EP since his return, once again Jamie treats us to four sublime sonic scenarios ranging from the bright and hopeful salvo of ravey open 'Tensor' to the poignant pads and hazy farewell of the finale cut 'Wavefunction'. Each one as beguiling and emotionally sprung as the next, these are a testament to both Myerson and Spatial's enduring sense of timelessness.
Review: This new 12" jungle splatter record marks a return for JLM Productions, best known in d&b circles for appearing on 4Hero's Reinforced label in the early to mid-90s, although closer research reveals JLM aka Jamie Myerson to be behind a myriad of releases of different hues for everyone from Josh Wink's Ovum to his own, prolific but unnamed 'own brand' label. Flaunting the artist's longtime talent for atmosphere incantation and breaks wizardry, all the tracks from 'Theia' to 'Translight Velocity' end up achieving the transcendental superluminality its title boasts of.
Review: Spatial is the connoisseur d&b label run by Simon Huxtable aka Aural Imbalance and as well as dropping a new EP from the boss himself this month, JLM Productions also steps up with a fine limited edition purple slab of brilliance. These sounds are more textural and dense than the boss's, with 'Permeate' plunging on heavy drum breaks, while 'Orogeny' is a busy one with crashing hits and more sub-bass drilling down low. 'Subsidence' douses you in widescreen cinematic pads while the drums flutter about the field and 'Lamminar Flow' brings things to a close with a more bright melodic touch and cruising grooves.
To Jest To (Hemp Gru Jungle Scratch rework, Scratch DJ Cent & DJ Vazee) (4:10)
To Jest To (Hemp Gru Jungle Scratch rework - PZG remix) (3:39)
Scratch Tool (bonus track) (3:30)
Tylko Ty To Jest To (feat Cheeba & Scratch DJ Mad - Hemp Gru Jungle Scratch rework) (4:10)
Mocny Bass To Jest To (feat Sabot & Scratch DJ Chmielix - Hemp Gru Jungle Scratch rework) (4:09)
Sabot (acappella) (4:08)
Review: Jungle Scratch's latest release JS002 is a vinyl-only 12" that hits all the right notes for beat lovers and turntablists. This time, they've taken Hemp Gru's 'This is it' and reworked it with contributions from Cheeba and Sabot, adding their own flavours to the beat. DJ Cent, DJ Vazee, DJ Chmielix, and MAD are on hand with cuts and scratches, giving the tracks that raw, live feel. As a bonus, Mad & Tuse have included a special track made just for turntablists, adding even more value to the release. Each copy also comes with limited edition stickers, and Tuse's artwork rounds off the package, making JS002 a must-have for collectors and scratch enthusiasts alike.
Review: Vibez '93 top up their relatively rare named artist series with a new one from Minos and Just Mack, two furtive and undersung artists whose collaborative efforts here move through an insane heat. Minos takes on the two establishing A-siders with 'Phantasm' and 'Roadblock', scoping out most of the midrange in favour of two hellish extravaganzas of plumb bass and mitre-saw breaks decapitations. The Just Mack collabs bring up the B-side, and move relatively dreamier and wildernessy, though they're not without their militant breaks focus; 'Run That Choon' is especially pitch-happy on the sample cutup, twisting and wringing the break out to high asphyxial heaven.
Review: Dead Dreams Don't Die Vol 1 is the first release from the new label Half Grand Records, which we're told will be focused on no-frills, raw talent electronic music. And so it proves on this split EP which brings together a diverse bunch of names. Nimam kick off with the jungliest breaks and fizzing future energy of 'Cilinger Slobs' before Jon Doppler mangels synth modulations and more airy breakbeats on his 'Feel Like.' On the flip, A Stantz brings the darkness with raw, frazzled electro stylings on 'Vags Ande' and Cracktros closes out with 'Deosil' which is a deeper techno cut with star-gazing synth leads.
Review: Ilian Tape have tapped up Jichael Mackson here for a double album of expressive and forward thinking electronic sounds. The atmosphere generally futuristic and intriguing, with tracks like 'Shangri La' riding on gentle breakbeats amongst air pads, 'Banana Jazz (Quartett)' is a high speed and live sounding jazz-breakbeat workout, 'A Jichalicious Something' is dubby and IDM inflected lushness and 'Good Morning Sunshine' is an interplanetary trip with distant cosmic pads and organic piano chords soothing mind, body and soul.
Review: New Jersey's standout drum & bass star JLM Productions is a releasing powerhouse, having gone strong since at least the mid-90s with his Reinforced alias - and now with a return to his JLM name, here releasing under ASC's Spatial Recordings. Implied to be a pioneer of a certain subset of atmospheric drum & bass, this new album, Variations On Being, harnesses this credo to brilliant effect, rightly representing Jamie Myseron's craft as one that brings with it a deep spiritual fecundity. With Buddhist, Vedic and Hindu titles like 'Dharma', 'Artha' and 'Kama', backed up by a Hellenic haul of tunes on the B-side with titles like 'Physis' and 'Hexis', each track here riffles with a pulsive energy and exquisiteness, as if to suggest the movement of a pure font of spirit, not bound by the formalisms of much drum & bass (the sound is unashamedly expansive, unafraid of giving way to pad and synth wash at the relative expense of heavy-hitting drums).
Review: Musique Pour La Danse proudly presents 8 Coffins, an essential collection of original tracks by the British duo Dougie Wardrop (of Conscious Sounds fame), and Nigel Lake as Jungle Neck, unearthed from the original masters laid down in the mid 90s. Eight raw tracks span four sides, two tracks each, authentically laying out a quick octave of bodybagging heaters. '8 Coffins' prophesies this (high) octane sequence of hits, ticking the first target off its list with a jungle cut bordering on a muted dub version, with offbeat bubbles and lowpassed vocals sounding as if the melody was being sung behind an ebony, mist-shrouded room divider. 'Kingdom Rise' moves further in this dub/jungle techno direction, working in lasery descensions into a take on Lennie De Ice, while the singular rollage of 'Bodyguard' ups the clarity while matching a sample-spread vox jab to the bass sequence. The inverse record equally dazzles, with its far-Eastern koto against mecha-jungle on 'No Wicked', and rapid snare delays against frank flutes on 'Latin Flute'.
Review: Old school RuneScape players will love these nostalgic remixes by London producer Pizza Hotline who has a fine rep' for crafting video game-inspired drum & bass and jungle riddims. Here, beloved RuneScape tracks get reimagined to blend classic vibes with modern twists and the first up 'Garden' embraces a traditional style, while the iconic 'Sea Shanty 2' transforms into a minimal d&b banger. 'Autumn Voyage' slows things down with a breakbeat remix, and 'Shine' takes on an atmospheric edge while seemingly drawing inspiration from Aphex Twin. Made using hardware like a Roland JV-1080 and reverb effects inspired by the PS1, Pizza Hotline stays true to the golden age here.
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