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

Underfire Storm – Jungletrain Session 133

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Recently reformed as a label and still sounding good Underfire have had a massive influence on the scene ever since the Infantry EP hit hard and heavy. Stakka, Skynet and K-Tee are still big in the game and whilst everybody knows about the Clockwork LP my favourite release from this label is still the Blazing album.

When Blazin’ arrived no one had heard THAT sound before, but the Z-plane filter soon became a D&B favourite. Akai samplers fell out of favour and everybody was breaking their necks to get themselves an E-MU.

Find out what all the fuss was, and still is, about with this review of Underfire classics.

Underfire Storm – 1hr of Underfire badnesssss

Kraken – Illusions
Spy – Z-Plane
Kraken – Side Effects
Kraken – Meatball
Stakka & K-Tee – Synthesis
Profound Noise – Luminous
Hard Evidence – Mindfield
Kraken – Analogue Spikes
Spy – Vapour
Profound Noise – Synthesis RMX
Skynet & Stakka – Nu Level RMX
Stakka & Skynet – Clockwork
Stakka & Skynet – Timelines
Stakka & Skynet feat Friction – Altitude
Stakka & Skynet – Clockwork RMX
Stakka & Skynet feat K-Tee – So Confused

All Label Mix, Chill Out, Deep D&B, Melodic, Requested Archive

Earthlings – Jungletrain Session 199

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Earth Records was Bukem’s off shoot label for rare-groove based music. Although a lot of the compilations that came out under the Earth banner didn’t have a lot of D&B on them, the D&B tracks they did have were amazing and sublime.

Bukem’s own Constellations with DRS on vocals sets the tone for the mix, but big back-in-the-day artists like Blame, Crystal, Addiction, Phunky Technicians & Doc Scott all make this a listening pleasure.

Don’t just stand there, chill out. 

Earthlings – 1hr of Earth Recordings

LTJ Bukem – Constellations
Pablo – Do What You Gotta Do
Appaloosa – Traveling
Blame – Revival
Intense – Flashback
Vincent – Scythe (Studio Mix)
DJ Crystal – Mind Games
DJ Addiction – Senses
PHD & The Funky Technicians – Above & Beyond
Words 2B Heard Meets Ad-Ill (Planet Invasion) – Con-Quest
Doc Scott – Tokyo Dawn

Hard D&B, Old Skool, Requested Archive, Tech Step

Step Off – Jungletrain Session 203

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So back in the day all my mates were going mad for Jonny L, Photek and Grooverider – the really stripped back Step sound. I was moping about lamenting the death of the Amen break and funk sounds and wondering whether D&B was turning into just pure machine music.

The labels who kept me faithful during this period were S.O.U.R., No U-turn and Emotiv. They had the Tech-Step sound but brought with it such a heavy funk, loads of hip-hop samples and some smashing Amen steppers that still get me excited today.

I recently put up another Tech-Step set and some of the dogs pointed out that that wasn’t their idea of Tech-Step, so I am hoping this one might cover the other side of the sound that they had in mind.

If you like this sound I suggest you step up or step off.

 

Step Off – 1hr of True Tech-Step Tuffness

Code of Practice – Can We Change The Future (Sounds Of Life Remix)
Ed Rush – Check Me Out
Doc Scott – Machines
Technical Itch – The Dreamer
Rollers Instinct – Haze
T-Power & MK Ultra – The Mutant Remix (Rollers Instinct Remix)
Goldie – Manslaughter (Rider Proto 96 Mix)
Hydro – Tha’ Bomb Shit
Shapeshifter – Communicate With the World
Skyscraper – The Difference
Shapeshifter – Talkin’ Mad Shit
Micro-Burst – Punkmutha
Skyscraper – Liberty One
TC Islam & Alien 3 – Let the Bass Boom

News

Review – Metalheadz Podcast

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So we all now Metalheadz are one of, if not, THE biggest label(s) in Drum & Bass, and we all know Goldie’s fearsome reputation for being a hard man and all round grumpy c**t. Well get ready to have that reputation torn in tatters as you listen to Metalheadz Podcast #2.

There is the usual top notch upfront music that you would expect, but what took me by complete surprise is the good time being had by Goldie, Heist, Nick and Chris post Swerve and obviously post a few lemon sherbets. I’ve heard a lot of radio shows and podcasts in my time, but none that have actually made me squirt redbull through my nose on the fit bird sitting next to me on the train.

This whole thing is hilarious from start to finish and took me back to doing graveyard shifts on RTRfm mashed up with me mates in the 90’s. If you really want to hear what D&B is truly about, I suggest you subscribe to the Headz podcasts now while #2 is still available because it is THE best time you will hear on radio.

Big up the Metalheadz for not running a serious and dull podcasting session and for letting us in on one of their big nights out. I wasn’t at the final night of Swerve at the End, but when I listen to this I feel like I almost was. Respect.

Click here to download Metalheadz Podcasts

2008, Ear & Drum Session, Hard D&B

Boomish – Ear & Drum Session 5

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This is the last mix for the 2008 overviews.

Although I am not known for playing rinse out sets these day, I do still like a good bitch-slapper when I hear one. So this mix is mainly comprised of harder and heavier stuff I grabbed during 2008.

Metalheadz came back with a vengeance this year with some BIG albums. Samurai Music, Covert Operations and, as always, Renegade Hardware kept the pedal to the metal. The return to form for Seba and Dom & Roland, plus the continuing development of Martsman and Telemetric meant that 2008 had plenty of huge tracks with which to mash dem down.

The mix itself is a bit all over the place – starting out with some dub step inspired numbers and then dipping into the realms of drumfunk and amen. Then I take it back down in the deep again and when we resurface I pretty much do it to you in the ear hole.

 

Boomish – 2hrs of 2008’s heavy hitters

Panda – Epilogue
Logistics – Shanghai Skyline
Hive & Tech Itch – Detox
Martsman – Sir Gordon Jumpmeister III
ASC – Offworld Tides Pt II
B. Fuse – Big Space
Seba – Blaze & Fade Out
Seba – Forever
Theory – Aurora Flash
Seba & Krazy – Finola
Bachelors of Science – Immortal (Alaska Remix)
Apex – The Yearning VIP
Mandelayev – Utikiyy
Ian Brown – Illegal Attacks (Rufige Kru Remix)
D-Bridge – Desire Line
Goldie – Letting Go
Martsman – Halow
Dom & Roland – Electric Smile
Theory – Question Mark
Trei & Dose – The Other Part of Me
Klute – Divinity
Shy FX – Bambaata (Break Remix)
Loxy & Munk – Genocide
Break – Headz Up
Keaton & Hive – The Plague (Hive Remix)
D.Kay & Lee – Extazzy
D.Kay & Lee – Wax’d (D.Kay Remix)
Telemetric – The Bane
Panda – Leaving Amsterdam

Deep D&B, Hard D&B, Requested Archive

Rolling Deep – Jungletrain Session 175

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ChaNinja has been in touch and asked for a couple of sets to get him through the work day. The first one up is this set I put together in March 2008 for the mighty jungletrain.net

This one for the lovers of the deep rollers.

The dubbed out deep sounds of artists like Amit and Breakage has given D&B a breath of fresh air in the last couple of years. Characterised by stripped back beats and cavernous b-lines, the slow groove that these choons roll out gives them a momentum that is unlike any other genre in D&B.

 

Rolling Deep – 1hr of the Deep, Dark & Moody

Fanu – Dream Of Something Gone
Breakage – Clarendon
Camo & Krooked – Play It!
Amit – Immortal
Fanu – Two Drummers
Breakage – Losing Track
Sabaruko – Latency
Logistics – Shanghai Skyline
Amit – Roots
Logistics – Cold World
Fanu – From Afterlife She Speaks
D.Kay & Kasra – Spider
Amit – Swastika
Klute – 174 BPM
Amit – MK Ultra

2008, Cross Genre, Requested Archive

Sunday’s Child – Jungletrain Session 179

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I put this mix together in April 2008. It starts off chilled and deep with tracks from artists like Mutt & Naibu, and just keeps on building until it is at full force with tracks from Telemetric and Stakka & K-Tee.

This one is for ChaNinja. 🙂

 

Sunday’s Child – 1hr of pure build

Breakage – Cooper
Naibu – It Took a Long Time
Naibu – Pacific
Mutt – Kush Talk
Logistics – No Words
Gex – My Sadness (Club Mix)
Mistabishi – She Lied
Utah Saints – Something Good (High Contrast Remix)
Yousef & Carl Cox – I Want You [Forever] (Marky & A-Sides Remix)
Matrix & Futurebound – Womb
Theory – Aurora Flash
Overturn – Shinobi (Electrosoul System Remix)
Telemetrik – Cosmos
Stakka & Skynet – Altitude (Dom & Roland Remix)

All Artist Mix, Cross Genre, Requested Archive

All Klute and No Klute Makes Klute a Klutey Klute

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Klute. Without a doubt one of my all time favourite producers. He can produce anything from 120bpm ambient pieces all the way through to a 180bpm dance floor tear outs. But no matter what style and sound, it always sounds quality and it always sounds like Klute.

Back in 2003 I did a mix called ‘All Klute and No Klute Make Klute a Klutey Klute’ which turned out to be my most downloaded set of all time. In 2007 I did a second part using a lot of the newer Klute tracks. I am waiting for a new album from the man before I put together part three.

But until that time, here is parts one & two for all those that asked.

PS. I have added an extra Klute mix to the bottom of the list. It is all those weird little bonus tracks you get on CDs that you don’t get on vinyl all mixed into an hour long set. Worth checking out if you are a Klute fan. 😉

 

All Klute and No Klute Makes Klute a Klutey Klute – Part One

Song Seller
Take a Breath [snippet]
Galaxian
Candy Ass
Ether
Traffico
I Minder
Problem Reaction
Return Of Forever [Klute Remix] – High Contrast
Jam the Box
Revenge [Klute Remix] – Juju
Dawn of Reason
Ambient Hell
Glue Sniffer
Evo Sniffer
Take a Breath

 

All Klute and No Klute Makes Klute a Klutey Klute – Part Tute

Klute – Property is Theft
Klute – Never Never
Klute – Our Leader
Klute – We’re All Dying
Klute – Hell Hath No Fury
Klute – Don’t Want To Be Alone
Klute – The Struggle
Invincible – Mean Streets (Klute Remix)
Klute – Come Back To Me
Klute – Most People Are Dicks
Klute – 174 BPM
Klute – Rosemary
Klute – We Control The Vertical
Tactile – The Mist (Klute Remix)

The Bonus Mix

So it recently came to my attention that all the Klute LPs come with bonus tracks if you get the CD…

…having bought all the albums on vinyl I was missing over 50 tracks by the great man that I never even knew existed!

So a quick trip to Amazon and I sorted myself out with what has to be some of the best bonus material I’ve ever heard. A lot of the tracks were downbeat/breaks in nature, but there was enough D&B in amongst it for me to throw down an hours worth of deep and abstract Klutey goodness.

Everyone knows I am a complete Klute fanbwoy, and I know there are many others out there like me. So if you like what you hear in this mix, may I suggest you buy some of Klute’s albums on CD and suprise yourself, because this really is only scratching the surface.

 

Moments Lost – Klute Bonus Tracks Mix

Klute – No Return
Klute – Three Of Us
Klute – Second Skin
Klute – Never Ending
Klute – Losing You (with Calibre)
Klute – Acid Rain
Klute – Oshima
Klute – Escape Let Go
Klute – Flight 720
Klute – Arrival
Klute – Shirtless
Klute – Annihilation
Klute – 6 Days
Klute – Troiler
Klute – Why We Fight

2008, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B

Defunk – Ear & Drum Session 4

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This is mix number 2 of 3 for the 2008 overviews.

This one concentrates mainly on the pumped up Liquid Funk sound of labels like Horizons, Westbay and Hospital. It’s has that liquid vibe, but with some serious dance floor pump behind it and when the bass fires up it means business.

Recommended playing volume: Max

 

Defunk – 2hrs of the chunky and the funky

Atlantic Connection – Interlude To LA
Altair – Collateral
SpectraSoul – Alibi
Jonny L – Oh Yeah
Makoto & T-Ak – Voyager
Bachelors of Science – Strings Track (Apex Remix)
Nu:Tone – Balaclava
Logistics – Slow Motion
London Elektricity – Southeastern Dream
Bachelors of Science – Song for Lovers
Tyler Srtaub – Walk With You
Mutt – Era’s
Equinox – Love They Brother (Breakage – Dub Thy Brother Remix)
Kahluah Funk feat. MC Chevy – Play It
R0b0t Redford & Micael Sauer – Missing Out
High Contrast – The Ghost of Jungles Past
Solar Empire – Dynamic
Blue Sonix feat. Michael Moult – Luv Me (Logistics Remix)
Mistabishi – She Lied
ICR – Overtime
Logistics – Intervention
Nu:Tone – System (Matrix & Futurebound Remix)
DJ Clart – Avenue
Nu:Tone feat. Brookes Brothers – Gold Rush
Nero feat. Alana – Solid Air
Influx UK – Show Em’ What You Got
Mistabishi – No Matter What
Shebuzz – In Infinity
Atlantic Connection – Outro to Paradise

2008, Chill Out, Deep D&B, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B

Chillax – Ear & Drum Session 3

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It’s that time of year again when I hit the decks and try to knock up 6 hours worth of the best D&B tracks for that year. This is part 1 of 3 and comprises of the best 2 hours of the deeper and chilled side of D&B.

I figure a good many of us probably have sore heads today, so this will ease you into 2009.

 

Chillax – 2hrs of the deeply chilled

Altiar – Reminisce
Calibre – Big Bang
Calibre – Shine
Sinistarr – How We Do 
Sinistarr – Colli Park
Mutt – It’s Pouring Once Again
Dirrrty B – Let’s Make Some Love
Breakage – Cooper
Commix, Nu:Tone & Logistics – Ghost Snare 
Kapsil – Numb
Naibu – It Took A Long Time
Calibre – Overreaction
D-Bridge feat. Instrumental – Blush Response 
Commix – Bear Music
D-Bridge – The Question
Well Being – Smoke Signal
D-Bridge – Mr Malcontent
Naibu feat. Artic – Pacific
ST Files – Moods
Stunna & Amaning – Mutual Life
Rob Sparks – Wildlife
Redeyes – Blue Note
High Contrast – If We Ever
KM & Paralyzah – Nega
Adele – Home Town Glory (High Contrast Remix)
Prim8 – Karma
Bachelors of Science – Hold On feat. Redeyes 
ICR – The Way it Goes
Utah Jazz – Atmosphere Intro