Category Archives: Ear & Drum Session

2022, All Artist Mix, Ear & Drum Session

Ear & Drum: Session 232 – Doctor Who?: 4th Regeneration

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The fourth and final rinse in the Wax Doctor series, this one is different. Towards the end of the 90s D&B was morphing from a heavily sample based music to more synthetic instrument base. Trackers were on the way out and DAWs with soft-synths, drum samplers and other built in instruments changed the sound forever.

Wax Doctor by this stage had teamed up with Alex Reece to become the Fallen Angels, and were sometimes joined by Utah Jazz. Amen breaks changed to heavily processed step-style beats with a real crunchy snap to the snares. Experimentation was king, and a lot of the tunes in this mix feel like all three producers were trying to find their ‘new sound’.

While some of these tracks are a little rough, there are still some absolute diamonds in the rough like the Alex Reece & Wax Doctor collaboration – Exposed, Q Certain Thoughts and the bass heavy Track 7 which is one of my all time favourite Wax Doctor tunes.

After this era Wax Doctor pretty much disappeared off the D&B map. Although a few older tunes were re-release via the Creative Wax label. And very recently a new tune cropped up in a Sun & Bass set by DJ Djinn give me hope that maybe, just maybe Wax Doctor will revive his career and bless us with some more of his sublime style of D&B again.

Doctor Who?: 4th Regeneration – 1hr of 98-01 era Wax Doctor

Fallen Angels – The Theme
Alex Reece & Wax Doctor – Exposed
Fallen Angels – Track 7
Fallen Angels – Like the Sun
Alex Reece & Utah Jazz – All Night Long
Wax Doctor – Q Certain Thoughts
Fallen Angels – Rapier
Fallen Angels – Event Horizon
Alex Reece & Utah Jazz – G.R.V.
Bounty Killaz – Silent Voices (Tango Mix)
Sounds of Life – Release the Bells (Wax Doctor Remix)
Frank De Wulf – Drums in a Grip (Wax Doctor Remix)
Jazz Juice – Detroit (DJ Lee ’97 Remix)
Alex Reece & Utah Jazz – Retrospect
Fallen Angels – Biophonic

2022, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B, Uncategorized

Ear & Drum: Session 231 – Taking Flight

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2022 has picked up where 2021 left off in terms of solid Liquid D&B tunes coming out left, right and center. With regulars such as Furney, Tokyo Prose and Alix Perez joined by a new school of melodic producers such as Khramer, Styke and Echomatics in bringing the goods.

There is a little bit of something for everyone in this mix with Dynamite MC feat. Bop x Subwave’s – Into and Fox’s – Paper Weights providing some vocal depth. Furney’s – El Aqua and Styke’s – Apollo lets the music do the talking, while Dan Guidance’s – Freedom of Expression and HEFT’s – Promise bringing some deft drum work and bass heft.

Taking Flight – 1hr of Liquid Beats

Khramer – Far Away
Furney – El Aqua
Random Movement – How Many Ways
Styke – Apollo
HEFT – Promise
Echomatics – By Your Side
Etherwood – Spaces
Tokyo Prose – Still Life
Flaco – Star Search
Dynamite MC feat. Bop x Subwave – Into
Duoscience – Facing…
Dan Guidance – Freedom of Expression
Fishy – Solar Transit
Chimpo & Salo – I Don’t Care
Fox feat. Swing Ting – Day Ones (Lenzman Remix)
Far – If You Want
Pola & Bryson – Inder (Feat. Lauren Archer)
HumanNature – Stories
Alix Perez – Desanka
Brainwork – Adrift
Fox – Paper Weights (Feat. DRS & Calibre)

2022, All Artist Mix, Amen, Atmospheric, Ear & Drum Session, Intelligent

Ear & Drum: Session 230 – Doctor Who?: 3rd Regeneration

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Take three of the Wax Doctor series moving into peak energy. Some of these are considered classics like Offshore Drift, Heat, Spectrum and Kid Caprice (Funk Mix), but there are still a few surprises in here with aliases like Clone Inc., Bounty Killaz and Fallen Angels making an appearance.

The sound everyone goes to when they think of Wax Doctor is atmospheric or intelligent D&B. But as the second part of this mix proves, the man could flex a dark Amen belter when he had to, and they don’t come much harder than Logical Progression and his remix of Sounds of Life – Release the Bells.

Doctor Who? 3rd Generation – 1hr of 95-97 Wax Doctor

Wax Doctor – Offshore Drift
Wax Doctor – Finer Things
Wax Doctor – Kid Caprice (Funk Mix)
Wax Doctor – Atmospheric Funk
Clone Inc. – Mood Swing
Wax Doctor – Heat
Wax Doctor – Spectrum
St Germain – Alabama Blues (Wax Doctor Mix)
Dave Angel – This is Disco (Wax Doctor Mix)
Bounty Killaz – Silent Voices (Tango Mix)
Fallen Angels – Frequency (Tango Remix)
Wax Doctor – Logical Progression
Sounds of Life – Release the Bells (Wax Doctor Remix)

160bpm, 2022, Atmospheric, Ear & Drum Session

Ear & Drum: Session 229 – Killah Deep

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Back to 160bpm, but with a D&B instead of a Jungle focus this time around. As previously mentioned, this speed is ideal for letting Amen breaks breath. But there are also a lot of artists now winding back the BPM clock for other breaks to give their D&B productions that extra bit of depth.

Acid_Lab & Coco Bryce are the first artists that spring to mind, but with more than half of the tracks in this mix being from Omni Music, who’s atmospheric sound lends itself perfectly to the slower tempos, Eshaton’s killah label is worth a special mention here too. They have an amazing pool of talented producers bringing a greater depth to tunes by pushing D&B’s original tempo.

You can find all of the Omni Music tunes in this mix (plus 100s more) over at https://omnimusic.bandcamp.com/

Killah Deep – 1hr of 160bpm D&B

The Vanguard Project & Jemima Reed – Stitches (Coco Bryce Remix)
Grey Code – Primrose
Coco Bryce – Dial M for Mayor
Clothcutter – You’ll Know Me
Cryogenics – Haunted
Acid_Lab – Conquest of Space
IMANU & The Caracal Project feat. Josh Pan – La Fournaise
Added – Before Your Eyes
Dan Guidance – Creating Waves
Conman, Evasion & Mod:Co – Lifestyle
Woken Balance – Atlas 6
Mineral – Separated Attitude
Antony G – Lockdown
Moakz – Distant Waters
Mineral – Old School 2022
Dust-e-1 – One on One
The Vanguard Project – Want U Back (Coco Bryce Remix)

2022, All Artist Mix, Ear & Drum Session, Intelligent, Melodic, Uncategorized

Ear & Drum: Session 228 – Doctor Who?: 2nd Regeneration

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Heading into the golden era of the mid-90s for the 2nd installment of my Wax Doctor series. Since declaring this a three part series I’ve discovered a few more Wax Doctor tracks squirreled away in my vinyl collection under different names. So I’ll be adding a 4th mix to the series just for good measure.

A lot of these tracks are Wax Doctor collaborating with Alex Reece under the Jazz Juice and Unit 1 pseudonyms (later to become Fallen Angels), or as Bounty Killaz with Ashley Browne AKA DJ Pulse. There are definitely different moods to the sound depending on who the good Doctor teamed up with, Unit 1 being a lot tougher than the jazz inspired Jazz Juice for example. But in the end all of these tracks are pure quality and more than worthy of getting another spin.

Doctor Who?: 2nd Regeneration – 1hr of Wax Doctor (and friends) from 1995-97

Wax Doctor – All I Need
Jazz Juice – Detroit
Jazz Juice – Jazz Juice
Unit 1 – Untitled
Unit 1 – Love Me
DJ Pulse – Stay Calm (Bounty Killaz Remix)
Jazz Juice – Move Your Body
Wax Doctor – Step
Bounty Killaz – Silent Voices
Bounty Killaz – Do it Now!
Bounty Killaz – Killa Instinct (Alex Reece Remix)
Model 500 – I Wanna Be There (Wax Doctor Remix)
Wax Doctor – Cool Breeze

2022, Ear & Drum Session, Hard D&B

EAR & DRUM: SESSION 227 – Bruised

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Been a hot minute since I’ve dropped a heavier set, but this one is coming out swinging. The ruff D&B sound has been having a BIG resurgence lately with quality tracks hitting hard and fast.

First up Breakage dropped his At the Controls Vol.2 EP which featured the killer Lickshots for Headtops and Untitled Dubplate. When Breakage is on form not many can touch him. Blocks and Escher’s – Shot In The Dark EP finally dropped after what seems like years of the title track being played by everyone, although This One is my pick of the bunch from the release. And one of my favorite artists, Klute has remastered some of his classic remixes in the form of Digital & Spirit’s – Remote Control (Klute Remix) and Concord Dawn’s – Morning Light (Klute Remix) so I couldn’t pass up dropping these in even though they are a little long in the tooth.

Extra special shouts to Offish for his moody AF – Pareidolia [Intro] track and Mister Shifter for his massive Murder One drop on Straight Up Breakbeat. Seeing all my online Dogs coming correct gives me huge amounts of joy, so big up ya chest to all involved.

Bruised – 1hr of Tuff D&B Beats

Offish – Pareidolia [Intro]
Disrupta & J Select – Tequila
Breakage – Untitled Dubplate
Mister Shifter – Murder One
Digital & Spirit – Remote Control (Klute Remix)
Concord Dawn – Morning Light (Klute Remix)
S.P.Y – Nebula
Blocks & Escher – Shot In The Dark
Noisia – Incessant (IMANU Remix)
Conrad Subs – Dark Sets In
DLR – Make My Mind Go
Sub Focus – Deep Space (Data 3 Remix)
Roho – Deviuz Law
Breakage – Lickshots for Headtops
Blocks & Escher – This One
Silence Groove – Offset
Silence Groove – Feel
Inja – Soul Silhouette (feat. Singing Fats)

2022, All Artist Mix, Ear & Drum Session, Intelligent, Melodic

Ear & Drum: Session 226 – Doctor Who?: 1st Regeneration

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Wax Doctor is a producer who has always been close to my heart. He was a breakbeat pioneer who blazed a melodic trail in the early 90s, along with the likes of Omni Trio and Alex Reece, that defined a generation of music. He had two records in the first ten Metalheadz releases, more pseudonyms than you can poke a stick at, and was in high demand as a remix artist in D&B most formative years.

This is the first part of three mixes I’m putting together to celebrate the life and works and of Wax Doctor. Starting out in 1993 with some of his earliest Breakbeat Hardcore tracks and moving into the mid-90s, where he found his musical feet and started making serious waves in the D&B scene.

Doctor Who?: 1st Regeneration – 1.5hrs of early Wax Doctor

Kev Bird & The Wax Doctor – T.B.N (Tough But Nice)
Kev Bird & The Wax Doctor – Dark Matter ’93
Wax Doctor – Fallen Angels
Fallen Angels – Hello Lover (DJ Hype Remix)
DJ Pulse – Let You In (Wax Doctor Remix)
Wax Doctor – The Step
Model 500 – I Wanna Be There (Wax Doctor Remix)
Wax Doctor – Cool Breeze
Wax Doctor – The Spectrum
Unit 1 – Atlantic Drama
Alex Reece – Basic Principals (Wax Doctor Rollout)
Fallen Angels – Taken Over
Bounty Killaz – Do It Now! (DJ Pulse Remix)
Sounds of Life – Release the Bells (Wax Doctor Remix)
Alex Reece – Acid Lab (Wax Doctor Remix)
Wax Doctor – Kid Caprice
Lunar Funk – Spacewalk
Wax Doctor – Never As Good

2022, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B, Melodic, Uncategorized

Ear & Drum: Session 225 – Memorandum

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This is the first mix of the new year to feature actual 2022 tracks in it. It’s a pumping little Liquid number featuring some of the genre’s best including KSR, DRS & Need for Mirrors, Seba, Mystific and S.P.Y. Extra big push for Furney and his new LP ‘Under Below’ which is an absolute belter and for the return of NZ favourite live D&B sons (and daughters) Shapeshifter and their new album ‘Rituals’.

Memorandum – 1hr of Liquid D&B

HLZ – Orbit
MNML & Brainwork – Miracle
Shapeshifter – Lightspeed
Mystific – Pieces of My Life
Collette Warren, DJ Marky & Tyler Daley – One Exception (Pola & Bryson Remix)
KSR – Life, Money
Degs – Unwritten
Seba – Public Beauty
Furney – Lunar Tunes
Furney & Lady Emz – Travel in a Day
DRS feat. Need for Mirrors – Running Back
Bungle – Forms
FLM – One Time (Euphorics Remix)
Hiraeth – A Time When
HLZ – How I Feel
S.P.Y – Dream Fragments
Flowrain, Pulsaar & Devon – Blue (Decon Remix)
Furney – Bengo
Mystific – Space Cadet
Subrix – Direction
Particle – Fall 2 Fast

2022, Atmospheric, Ear & Drum Session, Jungle

Ear & Drum: Session 224 – Ruff with the Smooth

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To many the Amen break is the defining beat of D&B and Jungle. And even though it is one of the original breaks to define the genre, it still persists today as a whole new generation bring Jungle back from it’s 90s slumber.

Those old enough to remember will recall the days when D&B sped up from 160bpm to its 172-76bpm limit it has today. One thing that got lost in this translation was the ability to let the Amen flex and breath, as those all important spaces between the breaks almost disappeared in the race to faster paced music.

For me, one of the best thing about the recent Jungle revival, has been the return of the 160bpm tunes that don’t rely on pace, but rather feel to provide the energy in the music. This is a collection of some the best new (and some old classic) 160bpm tunes that are driving a return of the Amen with serious flex and feel to to beat.

Ruff with the Smooth – 1hr+ of 160bpm Jungle and Atmospheric D&B

J Majik – Red Moon
Acid_Lab – Combination Dub (Tommy Badman Mix)
Dead Man’s Chest – Open Your Eyes
Digital – Down Under
Acid_Lab – Trip 2 Mars
Acid_Lab – Interstellar (Kodama Remix)
MJT – Panacea
Stunna – Last September
Carter – Twenty One Thoughts
Rainforest – Villalongin
Dilinja – The Angels Fell
Bug Kann & The Plastic Jam – Made in 2 Minutes (Origin Unknown Remix)
DJ Swift & DJ Zinc feat Steve B – It’s Time
Fracture – Chessington
David Holmes – Gone (PFM Remix)
Future Bound – Sorrow
Bjorn – Inside My Soul
Dust-e-1 – One on One
Source Direct – Black Rose

2021, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B, Soulful

Ear & Drum: Session 223 – 2021 Souled Out

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2021 was the year of the vocal as far as Liquid and Soulful D&B was concerned. MCs like DRS, Fox and Cleveland Watkiss took full control, while the ever popular female vocalists like Emily Harkness, Lauren Archer and Jenna G kept the vibe sweet and soulful.

That being said some older heads like John B & Digital, Pola & Bryson and Calibre proved that you don’t need a vocal to nail that smooth, rolling vibe that only Liquid D&B can provide. All up 2021 was the year that the blues tinged soulful sound proved to be just as solid as some the harder genres out there.

Souled Out – 2hrs of the best Liquid & Soulful D&B from 2021

Mitekiss, Milo Merah & RWST – City Angels
DRS feat. Mindstate – Never Made It
John B & Digital – Time Goes By
Invadhertz, Felix Raymon & Jamal Dilmen
Alix Perez & Liam Bailey – Moving On (Break Remix)
KSR – Life, Money
Alix Perez feat. Even Everett & Spectrasoul – Forsaken (Calibre Remix)
Command Strange & MC Fava – Never Let Go
GLXY – Sweet Lows (feat. Rhi)
Seba – Sweet Magnolia (feat Jenna G)
London Elektricity – The Plan That Cannot Fail (10YR Rework)
Chimpo – Keep U Round (feat. Salo)
Seba & Emily Harkness – True
LSB & DRS – Umbrellas (GLXY Remix)
Mitekiss – Rain (Falling Down)
Inja – Smile More
Unknown Artist – Sweetest Taboo
Satl – Beautiful Struggle (feat. DRS)
Duoscience – Praise
Lally & Aailyah Esprit – Hustling’
LSB & DRS – Stop the World (Lenzman Remix)
DRS & Need for Mirrors – Running Back
Macca, Loz Contreras & Critical Event – Snow
LSB & DRS – Rise & Fall (Tokyo Prose Remix)
Technimatic & Riya – When the Dawn Breaks
Pola & Bryson & Solch – Neverend
Pola & Bryson – Under (feat. Lauren Archer)
Fox – Paper Weights (feat DRS & Calibre)
Mineral – Silent Promises
Lady Blackbird – Collage (Calibre Remix)
Operator Unknown & Leo Wood – Who
Inja – Pressure (feat. Cleveland Watkiss)