Chill Out, Cross Genre, Deep D&B, Requested Archive

That’s Not Drum & Bass – Jungletrain Session 91

1 Comment

I played this set a few years back as a radio broadcast and had a few people quiz me as to whether this was ‘really’ drum & bass or not. I was surprised at the time because I’d always considered this stuff drum & bass. I’d never really thought too much about where the boundaries blur between half beat, ambient works and abstract drum & bass.

So, just a heads up this isn’t your typical drum & bass set. However, that’s no bad thing when it comes to keeping the music challenging and interesting. If you like standard boom tick boom tick drum & bass then I definitely recommend you have a listen to this just for a refreshing change…

…who knows you might even like it. 😉

 
That’s Not Drum & Bass – 2hrs of ambience, half beat, twisted breaks and abstract D&B

T-Power – Trapezium, Octogon & Triangle
Kid Loops – Liquid Overtow
Spring Heel Jack – 1.60 Seconds Dub
Polar – Innocent
Graphic – 1000
Klute – Lost
Blue – Do You Voodoo?
T-Power – Mutant Jazz
Pressure Drop – Legacy (Paul Daley RMX)
Reel Time – Mine
T-Power – Silver
Rock & Roll – Higher Octave
Banaczech – Ipcress File
2 Player – Extreme Possibilities (Wagon Christ Mix)
Seba – Piemo for B
Lexis – Hypnotise (Autechre RMX)
Exile – Sliiime
Rob & Goldie – Shadow (Process Mix)
DJ Hype – Help Me
Exile – Big Bad Purple Bad Boy
Klute – Jam Tha Box
Hype – Dead A’s
Exile – Muggs Daddo Moth and an Open Mike
Exile – Sure You Did
Exile – Merlin
Amen Andrews – Blomen

2009, Cross Genre, Ear & Drum Session

Sup? – Ear & Drum Session 15

6 Comments

Back onto the new tunes for June 2009 in this mix. We kick off with some tracks from the highly under-rated Future Thinkin’ label, and then get into some Alaska & Paradox from their new LP ‘Isolationist’. Rufige Kru’s – Memoirs Of An Afterlife EP gets a nod, as does Paradox’s – The Age Of Outsiders Vol.2 and Helsinki Sunshine, the new LP on Peshay’s Pivotal Entertainment label. We even get into some heavier territory thanks to Break’s – Traits remix and Spor’s nasty rework of Two Finger’s – That Girl.

There is a whole heap more than just what is mentioned above, so if you want to hear something new and different I suggest you shove this into your ear hole.
 

Sup? – 1hr+ of new beats and bass lines

Escher – Slice
Am De Sa – Beyond the Saurian
Alaska & Paradox – Zion
Geln E Ston – Equinox
Am De Sa – Aaj Mera Jee Karda
Rufige Kru – Sometime Sad Day
Solar – Exploration
Instra:Mental – Photograph
Contour – Helsinki Sunshine
ASC – Stardust
Draft – Life Cycle
Break – Traits (Remix)
Two Fingers Feat. Sway – That Girl (Spor Remix)
Alaska & Paradox – Mauja
Lenzman – Bright Lights
Paul SG & Eros – Midnight Rain
Roni Size – It’s Jazzy (Nu:Tone Remix)
Calibre – The Blues
D-Fect – Contact
Break – Enigma (Calibre Remix)

Chill Out, Deep D&B, Half Beat, Old Skool

Half Beaten – Phuturefreq Session 13

3 Comments

HELP!

I did this mix a looong time ago back in Jan 2005 and have since lost the track listing. It is a boomer and I listen to it fairly regularly, but I need your help to fill in the blanks in my in-complete tracklist.

It is mainly half-beat and dub paced electronica and I suspect a lot of the missing track are from Ninja Tunes. Stupidly, I do own all the tracks in this mix, but they are lost in my shelves and some of them are so tasty I have to know what they are called so I can resurrect them for future mixes.

If anyone can help then just post up a comment here and I’ll fill in the blanks as track information comes to hand. Thanks in advance.

 

Half Beaten – 2hrs of Half Beat and Dub style Drum & Bass

T-Power – Indigo
???
The Fire This Time – At Least Native American Indians Know Exactly How they Have Been Ficked Around! (Mad Professor Original Mix)
Spring Heel Jack – 60 Seconds Dub
London Electricity – Round the Corner
T-Power & MK Ultra – Horny Mutant Jazz
???
DJ Hype – Dead A’s
???
Ming & FS – The Most Dangerous Drip (D&B Mix)
2 Player – Extreme Possibilities (Wagon Christ Mix)
DJ Hype – Help Me
???
Busta Rhymes – Dangerous (Soul Society Remix)
???
EZ Rollers – You’ll Never Know
???
???
???
Banaczec – Ipcress File
PFM – For All of Us
Blame – The Phoenix
Reprazent – New Forms

All Label Mix, Cross Genre, Ear & Drum Session, Old Skool

31 Seconds Part 1 – Ear & Drum Session 14

3 Comments

Doc Scott’s 31 Records is a seminal label in D&B. It has released so many classics down the years with tunes like Shadow Boxing, Liquid Fingers, Mechanics and Deadline all becoming synonymous with defining their various genres. 31 is also the label that launched Pendulum onto the world with the almighty Vault, a track that has had more rewinds than you’ve had hot dinners.

When 31 Records first hit the scene I bought everything they put out. With artists like Dom & Roland, MIST, Optical, Digital, Nasty Habits and Klute on board it was pretty much impossible to pass up on a release. I unfortunately missed out on a lot of the later output on the label until A Bunch Of Cuts opened up its MP3 store and laid down the entire back catalogue of 31. I couldn’t resist, I had to down the credit card and start filling in all the holes in my collection.

This mix is the first in a 3 part series covering the early days of 31 Records. Part 2 & 3 will cover the middle and later part of the labels history. What you get in this mix are the choons that made 31 Records a must have label for every self respecting D&B DJ. Tracks like Chilling Out, Prototyped, Technology, The End Part I and Part II, Liquid Fingers, Deadline and of course Shadow Boxing stamped 31 Records as one of THE premier labels in the mid to late 90’s.

Even though these tracks cross all sorts of genres they all have a distinctive 31 sound. A futuristic and technological edginess that always made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and the dance floor go mental. This one goes out to Doc Scott and his merry men for leaving a legacy 99% of labels can only dream of creating.

 

31 Seconds Part 1 – 1hr of 31 Records early masterpieces

Deep Blue – Immersion
Optical – The End Part I
Octave One – Chillin’ Out (Deleted Mix)
Dom & Roland – Mechanics
Octave One – Chillin’ Out ’94
Nasty Habits – Liquid Fingers (Goldie Remix)
Fortran – The End Part II
Dom & Roland – Prisms
MIST – Dreamworld
Klute – Song Seller
Klute – Dawn of Reason
Nasty Habits – Shadow Boxing
Nasty Habits – Prototyped
Digital – Deadline
Octave One – Technology
Total Science – Get It On

Cross Genre, Deep D&B, Ear & Drum Session

In Too Deep – Ear & Drum Session 13

5 Comments

I did a mix years ago now called ‘Deep Seated’. It had all my favourite deep steppers on it all in one mix. I went to listen to it again recently only to find that that by some tragic accident it had never been backed up to DVD. Luckily I still had a full set list, so instead of letting it get me down I decided to remix the set and make some new additions to it. 🙂 The end result is ‘In Too Deep’.

I find this deep steppy sound usually sorts out the part time D&B listeners from the true heads, as it doesn’t rely on any fancy production techniques and tricks, or on a relentless firing Amen to keep you interested. Instead it sets up an almost hypnotic beat and just rolls out into a deep panorama of sound that locks you in. It takes some true production talent to pull this off and not sound boring and repetitive, so you know some serious amounts of talent and work have gone into making these tunes work.

This mix is comes in three parts with two half beat interludes provided by the genius of Russia’s Coldicus between each section. First up are all my favourite old deep steppers from labels like 31 Records and Creative Source. Minimal, stripped bare melody tracks that take you on a proper journey. Next up is the modern day legacy of this deep D&B provided by Commix and D-Bridge. And the third section is the harder & darker edge of the deep step sound. Atom One’s pioneering Trance and Bass stepper Imminent is massive and Doc Scott’s – Shadow Boxing puts the class in D&B classic.

 

In Too Deep – A Brief History of Deep Step D&B

Nasty Habits – Liquid Fingers
Kazimir – Memories
More Rockers – Saying
Carlito & Addiction – Make it Real
Marcus Intalex & ST File – How You Make Me Feel
Roar Deal – Roar Deal
Howard Huges – The Real
TeeBee – Lifeless
Coldicus – Dreamaboutgirlfromkndr
D-Bridge – Creatures of Habit
Commix – Bear Music
D-Bridge – The Question
Coldicus – My Dreams Are My Dolls
Preasure Drop – Legacy (Paul Daley Remix)
Atom One – Imminent
Splash Collective – It’s For Us
Doc Scott – Shadow Boxing

2008, All Label Mix, Hard D&B, Old Skool, Requested Archive, Tech Step

Prototypical – Jungletrain Session 191

1 Comment

Prototype recordings is one of those labels that chose quality over quantity. With artist like Photek, Dillinja, John B, Boymerang, Ed Rush & Optical and Bad Company on your books you are bound to making some pretty hot music. Add to this Grooverider selecting the tracks, running the label and producing under his Codename John alias and you’ve got one of the best D&B labels ever!

With derivative production becoming the norm, we need labels like Prototype. D&B needs labels who don’t imitate sounds or styles, but rather blaze their own trail of unique music. Prototype haven’t had a release for almost 5 years now, but I still hold out hope that one day Grooverider with blow the dust of his old label and start releasing some more groundbreaking tracks.

This mix covers from 1994 through to 2000, but they did release up to 2004 with smash after smash. Tunes like One Nation, Subway, Still and Locust set the standards when first released, and other labels scrambled to get ‘that sound’. Grooverider toured relentlessly to bring the Prototype sound to the four corners of the globe, and for me it was his golden era.

 

Prototypical •• 1hr of Prototype Recordings 1994-2000

Codename John – Deep Inside
Codename John – Dreams of Heaven
Photek – One Nation
Cybertron feat. Dillinja – Threshold
Ed Rush – Subway
John B – Secrets
Boymerang – Still
Dillinj – Silver Blade
Ed Rush, Optical & Fierce – Alien Girl
Ed Rush, Optical & Fierce – Cutslo (Locust Remix)
Ed Rush & Fierce – Locust
Codename John – Inta The Anthem (Special Forces Remix)
Bad Company – The Pulse

2009, Cross Genre, Ear & Drum Session

Forward Thinking – Ear & Drum Session 12

Leave a comment

Another 2009 mix up this time. It’s been a good year so far for D&B with a lot of labels and artists getting more experimental with their beats and pushing their traditional sounds into uncharted territories. This mix reflects some of these more experimental bits and gets in some good old fashioned D&B grooves as well.

Implex & Enei are two Russian artsits who’s Sublife Lp impressed the hell out of me. I’ve put a lot of the good bits from this into the blend. There is a lot of Metalheadz tracks in here as well, but you might not pick them as they are definitely on the stripped back and spacious tip. Bop & Despot get a high five for their amazing Song About My Dog and Random Thoughts tracks out on Medschool, meanwhile Logistics and High Contrast on their sister label Hospital also feature.

This mix takes in all styles and sounds, and crosses a fair bit of ground. It’s main purpose is to highlight what is new and cutting edge out there in the underground.

 

Forward Thinking – 1.5hrs of the latest D&B for 2009

Bop – Song About My Dog
Data – Mutued
Alix Perez & Sabre – God Fearing
Implex & Enei – Snake Style
Sabaruko – Warped (Instra:mental Remix)
Implex & Enei – Iceberg
Implex & Enei – Spring Tune
Commander Strange – Time
Bachelors of Science – The Beautiful Life
Implex & Enei – Behind The Law
Invisible Landscape – First Is Forever
Atmospherix & Soultec – No Way Out
Pal SG & Eros – Ask Her
Human Factor – Diggin Deepa
Logistics – Toy Town
Total Science & Conrad – Soul Patrol (Lenzman Deep In Your Soul Remix)
2Key – New Beginnings
Naibu – Screens
High Contrast – Seven Notes in Black
Alix Perez & Sabre – Everglade
Subwave – Dreamcatcher
Bop & Despot – Random Thoughts

Chill Out, Ear & Drum Session, Jazz & Bass, Melodic, Old Skool

The Finest – Ear & Drum Session 11

5 Comments

1996-97 was the era when Drum & Bass was at it’s most popular in the broadest sense. From hardcore Hip-Hoppers to chart topping acts, everyone needed a D&B remix on their 12″ or album. Cafés, bars and restaurants were using it as muzac and every second advert on TV seemed to have a D&B backing track. It also happens to be the era when D&B as a music was at it’s most melodic and intricate, which is why I love the jazzy/intelligent D&B from around this time more than just about any other era.

This was a time when commercial success wasn’t such a dirty word (Sony and others were snapping up artists for their labels) and accessibility to the music didn’t seem like such a bad thing. Artists like Wax Doctor, LTJ Bukem, EZ Rollers, Omni Trio, Aquasky and many others all put delicate floating melodies over tough chopped up Amens and beats to produce a sound that you could play on a dance floor, but also play to your Mum and still have her stay in the room. The best thing about this era is that it still sounds as fresh today as when it first came out. It never seems to age or become disposable like some of the genres that came after it.

So in this mix I’ve tried to put together what was great about the 1996-97 Jazzy D&B genre. Some tracks you will have heard and, hopefully, there are a few obscure surprises in there that you haven’t. Best listened to with a good drink in your hand and your feet up on the couch, I suggest you kick back and enjoy what is not only great D&B, but great music too.

 

The Finest – 1.5hrs of 1996-97 Jazz & Bass

Nuyorcian Soul – I Am the Black Gold of the Sun (4 Hero Remix)
JMJ & Flytronix – In Too Deep
Flytronix – The Rhodes Tune
EZ Rollers – Dropping Science (EZ Remix)
Dr. S. Gachet – Remember the Rollers (The Meaningful Mix)
Omni Trio – Tripping on Broken Beats (Carlito Mix)
Statik Sound System – Revolutionary Pilot (Rob Smith Mix)
EZ Rollers – Sub Tropic
EZ Rollers – Believe
Photek – The Hidden Camera (Static Remix)
Aquasky – Opaque
Olive – You’re Not Alone (Roni Size Remix)
Alex Banks – Control
DJ Krush – Only the Strong Survive (Dillinja Remix)
LTJ Bukem – The James Bond Theme
Intense – Careless Minds
St. Germain – Alabama Blues (Wax Doctor Remix)
Ken Ishii – Stretch (Shogun Remix)
Wax Doctor – Finer Things
Adam F – Aromatherapy

2009, Cross Genre, Ear & Drum Session

Box Fresh – Ear & Drum Session 10

Leave a comment

A new mix full of fresh tracks for the second quarter of 2009.

Starts off mellow with some great tracks from Command Strange, Dirrrty B and Lenzman (the man of the moment). I start winding it up about mid-way through with Spirits mighty ‘Connected’ and some new stuff from Silent Witness and Submorphics. My man in Brisbane, Operon provides an amazing dub step & bass number ‘Lorien’ with some help from LM1 and Serum & Bladerunner do some old school style damage with their killer track ‘Snakefist’. I finish it off with some weirdness in the form of the purely atmospheric ‘Boundless Wonder’ by Entharsis (a new name on the block) and then hit the pure funk finish button with the help of Atlantic Connection and his sublime track ‘Retro’.

I had great fun mixing this one, so I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did piecing it together.

 

Box Fresh – 1hr of tracks fresh from the box 

Command Strange – Don’t Touch
Dirrty B – Time to Change
Er.ic – Aware
Trisector – Morning Rain
Lenzman – Vale of Tears
Command Strange – Don’t Move Down
Lenzman – Mesmerized
Spirit – Connected
Silent Witness – Poster Girl
Radiohead – Bodysnatchers (Submorphics Bootleg)
Operon & LM1 – Lorien
Ulterior Motive – Link Down
Serum & Bladerunner – Snakefist
Entharsis – Boundless Wonder
Atlantic Connection – Retro

All Label Mix, Cross Genre, Requested Archive

Commercially Suicidal – Phuturefreq Session 47

1 Comment

Another old mix from the vaults, this time from 2005. 

Commercial Suicide is Klute’s label (if you didn’t already know) and hence something special. Klute’s production is always of a ridiculously high quality, and he brings this ear for quality to his label’s output too. With artists such as AI, Break, Ill Skills, Silent Witness, Bullet Proof and the mighty Amit on his books you just know that almost every Commercial Suicide release is going to be worth buying on sight.

At the time when this mix came out there was some contention about whether doing an all label mix was ‘good for the label’, with some saying that people wouldn’t buy the tracks if they could just download them for free in a mix such as this. However Klute, being the old punk that he is, weighed into the debate to say that he basically didn’t give a fuck.

Seeing as he was so kind as to back me up on this can I just say that if you like what you hear in this mix then do go and buy the latest stuff and even the older albums that are still available. I don’t cover half the great music that has been released on the label in this mix and it is only by supporting them that they can stay afloat to keep providing us with more great music in the future.

 

Commercially Suicidal – 2hrs or Commercial Suicide Recordings

Klute – Now Always Forever (Calibre RMX)
AI – Soul Good
Klute – Galaxian
Klute – Ether
Klute – Now Always Forever
Klute – Oshima
Klute & Marcus Intalex – Make a Stand
Klute – Crosby
Klute – Saviour
AI – Switched On
Klute – Lost Connection
Ill Skills & Bullet Proof – Shadowplay
Klute – Hell Hath no Fury
Klute – Traffico
Klute – Tacky
Klute – Take a Breath
Klute – Time for a Change
Amit – Sound Warrior
Klute – Silently
Amit – Roots
Silent Witness & Break – Flipped Out
Klute – Learning Curve
Amit – Village Folk
Klute – Ferrox
Ill Skills & Bullet Proof – Hardwired
DJ Trace & Tactile – Body Move
Klute – Junk
Klute – Jam the Box
Amit – Re-Order
Silent Witness & Break – Trippy
Amit – MK Ultra