Category Archives: Liquid D&B

2014, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B, Melodic

The Chillin – Ear & Drum Session 97

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This is a big ol’ liquid D&B mix chock full of deep rollers and warm fuzzy b-lines. Some say the genre has gotten formulaic, but personally I think the sound has just been nailed down and perfected. Certain producers are now they are flexing their skills into more and more melodic territories that works a wonderful magic on the ears.

Calibre, Seba, BCee, Bachelors of Science to name just a few are killing it and have been for quite a while. Labels like Fokuz, Influenza Media and Celsius rarely put out dud releases now, and I get excited every time I see something new from any of these labels.

This is one of those sets that could fill the floor if played at full volume or a bean bag if your sitting at home with your phones on. Put it on, slip onto your comfiest chair, relax and enjoy.

The Chillin – 1.5hrs of Liquid Goodness

Flashback FM – Take a Ride
Andy Sim & Kalum – Revitalise
Macca & Changing Faces – Clouds Cross Skies
Bachelors of Science – Beats Still Own The Rhythm
Chase & Status – Blk & Blu (Calibre Remix)
Zoe Phillips – Road Signs (Hugh Hardie Remix)
Bipolar – State of Play
Facing Jinx – time
Pluton, Skyer & Physical Illusion – Sunrise
BCee – Think Twice
Total Science – Another Time (Feat. Grimm)
Sektor – Back in the Days
Seba – Can’t Describe
Klute – My Black White feat. Close
Nitri & Level 2 feat. Grimm – Lies (Calibre Remix)
Furney & Locksmith – Dub A Dub
Tim Cant – Sacred Moments
BCee – The Falls
Maduk – Avalon (VIP)
Kalum – Zen
Break – They’re Wrong (Calibre Remix)
Break – They’re Wrong (Calibre Alternative Remix)
Tokalosh – My Way
Rowpieces – Eternal Peace
Oddsoul feat. Anastasia – Summer Lovin’ (Colossus Remix)
Tokyo Prose – Songbird
High Contrast – Twilight’s Last Gleaming VIP
Flashback FM – City at Night

2014, Deep D&B, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B, Melodic

Set Adrift – Ear & Drum Session 92

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A second dose of deepness for the New Year, this time with a liquid twist to it. The is one of those smooth rolling sets you can listen to in the background or put the headphones on and get really involved with. Perfect for any sore heads still feeling the jared from New Year’s Eve celebrations. 😉

A lot of the usual suspects I’ve been playing for most of 2013 appear in here, with the notable exception of Klute who finally came good on dropping a new album, The Draft, in October. I’m glad to say it’s his strongest work in a long time and well worth grabbing if you haven’t already.

Other notables are Seba for killing it all year long, Technimatic for coming out of nowhere and making a BIG splash and Calibre for just being Calibre and always coming correct.

Once again thanks for all the support in 2013 and I hope 2014 turns our for you and your ears. I guess you could say ‘Happy New Ears’. 😛

Set Adrift – 1.5hrs of Deep & Rolling Liquid D&B

Sub Focus – Twilight
Paramount – Northstar
Villem & McLeod – The Reason feat. Piathaleia
Breach – Jack (Calibre Remix)
Nitri feat. Grimm – Lies
Medium – The Abyss
Silent Type – All I Want
Greyscale – Impossible Dream
Thesis – Homecoming
dRamatic – Straight Talking
Seba – Shades of Me & You
Seba – Never LEt You Go (Blu Mar Ten Remix)
Calyx & Teebee – Prehensile Dreamer Part 1
Electrosoul System – Traffic
Thesis – Event Horizon
Total Science – See Your Face feat. Riya
Technimatic – The Evening Loop
Greyscale – Horizon
Seba – Under the Sun
Klute – Turn Around
Paramount – Dreamworld
Seba – Can’t Describe
Airstrike feat. Allison Gray – Frozen
Technimatic – Frozen Leaves

2013, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B, Melodic

Horizontal – Ear & Drum Session 88

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It’s been a while since I’ve used the term ‘atmospheric’ to describe a set. But with Good Looking Records on the come-back trail and quite a few liquid producers exploring the atmospheric side of things for summer I thought the time was right. These are proper vibes, with that UK summer sound that always makes me smile.

Horizontal – 1hr+ of Atmospheric D&B

Technimatic – Sheltered Storm
Malaky – Express Your Self
Nuage – Fair Questions
Total Science Feat. Riya – Cold Blood
Hybrid Minds – Meant to Be
Command Strange & Malaky – Regrets
Stereotype – Elephant Shoes
ST Files & Response
Technimatic – Mirror Image
LTJ Bukem – Atlantis (Marky & S.P.Y Rework)
PFM – This Must Be Love
Tokyo Prose & Phil Tangent – Parity (Klute Remix)
Actraiser – Resurrection
MC Fats, HLZ & Chef – True Born Souljah
S.P.Y – What the Future Holds
SJ Marky & S.P.Y – Yellow Shoes (Calibre Remix)
soulTec – I Hear You Knocking
Nymfo – Suddenly
Command Strange & Intelligent Manners – Right Here, Right Now
Actraiser – Haunted Vessel

2013, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B, Melodic

Beautiful Music – Ear & Drum Session 85

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There is so much lush D&B about at the moment that I had to throw together a set of melodic and liquid tunes. Fokuz Recordings and Influenza Media have been smashing out high quality liquid for many a year, but seem to recently have stepped up to a new level of melody magic as has S.P.Y, DJ Clart and Intelligent Manners. Not to be out done Bungle, with his sublime track Aura, has come up with one of the tunes of the year for me so far.

Lots of people deride liquid for being too generic over the last few years, but I think this selection shows that as a genre it still has a lot kick left in the bass bins.

Beautiful Music – 1hr+ of D&B Lushness

Bungle – Aura
Frederic Robinson – Mood Swings
Pluton & Skyer – Cosmic Rain
Naibu – Fireflies (Light Mix)
Nu:Logic – Morning Light
S.P.Y – You
Seba Feat. Kirsty Hawkshaw – Nothing Can Relpace
Bachelors of Science Feat. Ben Soundscape & Kemo – Ainokea
Data – Vice
Intelligent Manners – Move Me
DJ Clart & Reza – The Chances (Vocal Version)
Intelligent Manners – Tonight feat. Command Strange
Phil Tangent – Restitution
Kelle – Eternia
S.P.Y – Future Tense feat. Jo-S
Rowpieces – Cosmic Junk
Shuwa – Inversion
Intelligent Manners & Command Strange – Do It All Night feat. Pouyah
Tokyo Prose – Raised by Wolves
Furney – Charlotte’s Song

2012, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B, Melodic

A Long Summer Sumthing – Ear & Drum Session 75

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It’s been a long time since I did a long mix and seeing as we in the Southern hemisphere are starting to heat up after a particularly cold winter, and those in the North are seeing the last of their warmer days I though it was about time to drop a mix of Summer tunes from this season. Now when I say Summer tunes I don’t mean Festival & Bass style stuff (not my style), I mean proper Summer rollers with a good vocal or two to sing a long to.

I have to mention some of the big albums of the (Northern) Summer. The very under-rated L.A.O.S released their debut which everyone must have been hanging on because they titled it Finally. Full of big sounding lush liquid tunes this is a belter and well worth the asking price. Next up is Atlantic Connection – Love Connection. I always love their albums as you can be guaranteed a diverse range of music brilliantly produced and with a Cali vibe to it. And last but not least Utah Jazz with his Groove Therapy LP which I have already banged on about on this blog. His Conrad Funk tune of this is my favourite track in this mix and has that amazing old Good Looking vibe with updated production quality meaning it hits even harder.

So set up your sun lounge, get the stereo in the garden and kick back with some rays and enjoy a rinse of a long Summer sumthing.

A Long Summer Sumthing – 1.5hrs of Summer Tunes from 2012

Random Movement – The Note From Next Door
LSB – All Of My Love (Technicolour & Komatic Remix)
BCee feat. Messy MC – Captured In Time VIP
Maduk feat. Veela – Ghost Assassin
Dynamic – Midnight Heat Thing
Atlantic Connection – Warm Regards
Phors – Shining Star
Dynamic – Modal Suite
Hybrid Minds – Leaving
Alix Perex – Contradictions
DRS featuring Lenzman & Jehst A – Holding On
LSB & Sian Sanderson – Overthinking
SpectraSoul feat. Tamara Blessa – Away With Me (Calibre Remix)
DJ Clart – The Grind
Culture Shock – Protection
Utah Jazz – Conrad Funk
Intelligent Manners – Acting, Thinking, Feeling
nClear – Only Way
Contract Killers – The Life Moments (Soundwall VIP)
Undersound & Missy May – Headfirst & Foolhardy
L.A.O.S – Hush Now
L.A.O.S – Break My Heart (LP Version)
Rudimental – Feel The Love (Fred V & Grafix Remix)
Silence Groove – Eat Me Softly
Dynamic – Blueberry Nights
The Burbs – Desire
Rowpieces – On My Mind
LSB – Some Disco

2012, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B

The Falls – Ear & Drum Session 73

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Lots of exciting things going down in the liquid genre at the moment. Logistics, Duoscience & Majestics all have solid albums out with Majestics – All Is The Music on Liquid Brilliants being the pick of the bunch for me. Not only do you get 23 tracks, you also get some of the best produced melodic D&B to come out this year. The Brazilians are also on fire with S.P.Y, Marky & Duoscience all pumping out great tracks in recent months.

The Falls – 45mins of fresh Liquid D&B for 2012

Total Science & S.P.Y – Piano Funk
Lenzman – How Did I Let You Go
Command Strange – Love Beam
Logistics – Neon
Torn – Ultimate Master
Marky & S.P.Y – Love Affair
Nymfo – Bi-Polar
Majestics – Stay At The Moment
Drudex – Calmness
Sub Zero – Protection
Technicolour, Komatic & LSB – Rotary Motion
Majestics – Gone Away
Majestics – I Feel You
Duoscience – Interlude 02

2012, Deep D&B, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B, Melodic

The Soulution – Ear & Drum Session 70

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So recently on a certain D&B forum a colleague of mine suggested that the problem with D&B was that it couldn’t be fun without being cheesy or chavvy. Obviously hearing is in the ear of the beholder and every body’s idea of ‘fun’ is different, but it did get me thinking about the more fun and accessible D&B I had been overlooking lately. For me the D&B with the widest audience accessibility (ie. stuff that not just the headz would listen to) is the vocal and soul fueled variety. It has the vocals to hook in the ladies and give that sense of fun, it has the soul to get the hips swaying and it still has the beats & b-lines to keep the floor moving. Best of all it doesn’t have to degenerate into the cheesy festival style D&B that is seen as commercially popular.

So in response to my good chum Ocelot Ed’s question I put together this mix to provide a solution to Ed’s problem with D&B. As I said, everyone’s idea of ‘fun’ is different, but for me these types of tunes offer up a good balance of fun without the fromage, and there is still enough D&B grunt to keep the headz happy too.

Props have to go to Komatic as he seems to be all over this sound that’s not quite liquid and not quite deep, but has loads of soul and a real pump to the bass and beats. Other notable exceptions are Young Ax who always brings it with a real live sound to his soulful productions and the usual suspects of Duo Science, Spectrasoul and Technicolour who seem to constantly pump out quality tracks on a monthly basis.

The Soulution – 1hr of Soul Fueled D&B

Komatic – The Open Choice
Mage & M25 – Savanna
Young Ax – High Rollers
Komatic – Earth Turns
Paperclip – Whom I Belong
Anile & Hybrid Minds – Old TImes
Madcap – Our Love
Duo Science Feat. Skyeyes – Let Me Know
Deeper Connection – Quiet Storm
Soulproof – Inna Dem Clothes
Villem & McLeod – Hush
Spectrasoul – In Profile
Technicolour – Winter Rose
High Contrast – The Stand
Technicolour & Komatic – We Were Always One
Soul Culture – Stronger

2012, Chill Out, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B, Melodic

In A Round About Way – Ear & Drum Session 68

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In a round about way this is a liquid mix. I say this because liquid seems to be morphing lately and is a hard genre to pin down these days. Originally melodic party music, liquid now encompasses a much wider range of directions then it used to. There’s the still the up for it dance tracks, but lately also a deeper and more mellow aspect that has drawn me back into a music I thought might have be in danger of becoming to formulaic for it’s own good. I’ve also noticed some tracks taking on a more live jazz based flavour, reminiscent of Reprazent’s classic Brown Paper Bag.

So in the spirit of diversity I’ve tried to cover a little bit of everything in this mix. It actually started out as a quick sound check on my new set up, which now includes an Allen & Heath mixer, until I got carried away and went into a full blown set. So let me know if you can tell a difference in sound quality. 😉

In A Round About Way – 1hr of Chilled & Melodic Vibes from 2012

Phat Playaz & LM1 – Colour Of Time
Centik & Grimm – Don’t Wanna Do This
Phat Playaz & PFM – Time of Our Life
Sapphire – Snowdrop
Roygreen & Protone – Danube
Phat Playaz & MJT – Want You
Oscallist – The Silver Lining
Queensway – Darlin
Override – Take Your Time
Sato – Barn (Break Remix)
Break – They’re Wrong
Command Strange – Everything
Static & Scott Allen – Eastern Horizon
Smooth – Shifting Sands feat. Shaz Sparks (Part 2)
Crimson, Nizzo & Promenade – Stay
Roygreen & Protone – Tartagura
Plug – A Quick Plug For A New Slot
Command Strange & Dynamic – The Beautiful Things
Brother – Riverbank

2011, Cross Genre, Deep D&B, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B, Melodic, Minimal

11: The Best of 2011 – Ear & Drum Sessions 63 & 64

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These are my picks for the best tracks of 2011. I split the mixes into two because there was definitely two sorts of flavours going on. Part 1 looks at the deeper side and Part 2 is more melodic and liquid based.

I hope 2012 is good to you and that we see more tracks as good as, or better, than these see a release in 2012. Happy New Year to you and yours.

11: Part 1 – The Best Deep D&B of 2011

N4m3 – Make Your Soul Open For The Road On Imagination
Nusense & NC-17 – Dirty
Dub Phyzics & Skeptikal – Marka (feat. Strategy)
Ill Skills & S.P.Y – This is Why
Calibre – Smooth Baby
Lynx feat. Sense MC – 9 Muses
London Elektricity – U Gottah B Crazy (Enei Remix)
Dub FX – Flow (Ill Skillz Remix)
Lenzman – Masquerade (Die, Interface & William Cartwright Remix)
Legion – Both Sides (feat. Adam White)
Icicle feat. SP MC – Dreadnaught
J Majik & Wickaman – Ritual
J Majik & Wickaman – Old HEadz
Rockwell – 4U

11: Part 1 – The Best Melodic & Liquid D&B of 2011

Marcus Intalex – Meltdown 2012 (feat. Calibre)
June Miller – Isis
Brookes Brothers – Tare You Down
Friction – Someone (Feat. Mclean) (The Prototypes Remix)
BCee & S.P.Y – Is Anybody Out There? (Friction & K-Tee Remix)
London Elektricity – The Plan That Cannot Fail
Panic Girl – Hide and Seek (Duo Infernale Remix)
Seba & Paradox – The Light (feat. Kirsty Hawshaw)
Anile – Change of Direction
Adele – Rolling in the Deep (Nu:Tone Remix)
DJ Marky & S.P.Y – Mystic Sunset
Marco Del Horno feat. Emi Green
Nu:Tone – The First Time (feat. Natalie Williams)
Calibre – Touch Me
BCee – So Right (feat. Darrison)
Bungle feat. Ayah Marar – The Siren

2011, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B, Melodic

Looking Up – Ear & Drum Session 60

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A mix of the new this time around. If you like your beats uplifting, but without the cheese this should fit the bill.

So many good tunes hitting in the later months of 2011 it feels like D&B is having a real resurgence ATM. Blue Motion are doing big things in the liquid and deeper realms, Calibre has come back with a vengeance not to mention a good crop of new producers such as Moleman, Getz and Need for Mirrors. The future is looking bright. A special mention to Dub FX – Flow (Ill Skills Remix) in this mix which would have to be one of the most infectious tunes of the years for me.

Looking Up – 1hr of upfront & uplifting D&B from 2011

Blue Motion – Everywhere I Go
Moleman – Silver (Anthony Ash Remix)
Tali vs Shimon – Into the Deep
Muffler – Can You Feel It
Cyantific & Wilkinson – Get Into It
Trei & L.A.O.S. – The Light
Mav – Grace Light
Dub FX – Flow (Ill Skills Remix)
Getz – Keep On Loving Me
Need For Mirrors – Lofar
Toal Science – No Justice (Jubei Remix)
Marco Del Horno feat. Emi Green – This Town Is Ours (S.P.Y Vocal Remix)
Blu Mar Ten – Sweet Little Supernova
Calibre – Touch Me
Bungle feat. Ayah Marar – The Siren