Ear & Drum: Session 255 – Swept Under

Heading into deeper territories with this mix of half time and more minimal rollers. Scar features heavily with tracks from their moody Metalheadz LP release The Road Less Travelled as does J:Kenzo with Typhoon / RawZ on Alternate Recordings, both well worth investing in.

Shouts to my DOA brethren, Satl for his track UFO off the Gloom LP on the ever present and tasty The North Quarter. So too Electrosoul System for the unique Black Album, very nice to hear him stepping away from liquid and flexing deeper and darker take on his sound.

This one is best listened to travelling on a rainy day through some headphones watching the world slide by. Enjoy.

Swept Under – 1hr of Deep D&B

Scar – The Lane
Resound – Rhytual: Pagan (Inner Terrain Remix)
Telomic – Lesson Learned
Electrosoul System – Suicide Suicide
Satl – UFO
Skoel – Leftsound
Marcus Intalex feat. S.P.Y & Ras Tweed – Make a Raise (2022 Remix)
Atlantic Connection – Rockdub (Instramental)
Leaf – Keep on Trucking
Scar – The Road Less Travelled
Scar – Lifted
Moakz – A New Future (Mineral Remix)
Flipper – NErgal
Enei – Falling
J:Kenzo – Typhoon
Electrosoul System – Chuck Norris On LSD
J:Kenzo – RawZ

Mixed By Blick – Mix 002 – All Big Bud Mix Part 1 – 1995 – 2001

My second mix on the Ear And Drum and it’s another one of my favorite artists Big Bud, Like to thank Woz again for hosting my mixes. Originally did this mix back in 2006 and it was about two and a half hours long but it was still missing some peoples favorite tracks from him and it was at 192 kbps and the sound quality wasn’t that great so i was reluctant to re-upload it when i was occasionally asked to. I’ve since bought the tracks that Were missing from the original mix and done the mix again but it turned out to be nearly four hours long so i decided to split it into two parts. This is obviously part 1, with part 2 to follow soon. Big Bud was OK with a mix of his tunes back in the day because they were all old tunes and not on his label, i hope he still is. Some of the tunes are more than 25 years old now but still sound fresh, like they were made yesterday. Such relaxing beautiful music, i hope you enjoy it.

All Big Bud Mix Part 1 – 1995 – 2001

01 – 00.00 – Big Bud 2000 – Millenium (Carlito Remix) – Creative Source
02 – 06:42 – Big Bud 1997 – Meltdown – Vibez Recordings
03 – 13:00 – Big Bud 1998 – Pistachio – Good Looking Records
04 – 20:30 – Big Bud 2001 – Indian Summer – Good Looking Records
05 – 27:50 – Big Bud 2000 – Hypnosis – Good Looking Records
06 – 34:30 – B.U.Z.Z. Feat. Sarah Morris 2003 – Fever (Big Bud Remix) – Full Fat
07 – 41:08 – Big Bud 1998 – Soulfood – Good Looking Records
08 – 49:00 – Big Bud 1995 – Fantasy – Creative Source
09 – 53:25 – Big Bud 2000 – Bluegrass – Good Looking Records
10 – 1:01:08 – Big Bud 2000 – High Times – Good Looking Records
11 – 1:07:34 – Aquasky 1996 – Tranquility (Big Bud rmx) – Moving Shadow Records
12 – 1:13:14 – Big Bud 1998 – Blue 52 – Good Looking Records
13 – 1:21:20 – Big Bud 1997 – Rafiki – Creative Source
14 – 1:27:40 – Big Bud 2000 – Listen – Good Looking Records
15 – 1:34:30 – Big Bud 1999 – State of Mind – Good Looking Records
16 – 1:42:36 – Big Bud 1998 – Mystique – Good Looking Records

Ear & Drum: Session 254 – One Six Four

160bpm D&B continues to expand and grow as a genre and while there isn’t any set ‘sound’ at the moment, the one thing there is a lot of is quality. Following in the footsteps of Fracture and his 0860 LP and mixtape, Kid Drama and DJ Trace have released a similar package again looking back at the classic Amen driven days of rave. The project titled Rule of Thirds came out under a combined alias of Nine Windows, and well worth your time as you’ll hear in this mix.

Kid Drama also features with breakbeat mastermind Tim Reaper on Ambien Sequence from Future Retro’s excellent Meeting of the Minds series of releases. Wardown’s Graphite and Glitter and The Ideal City come from the kitsch Wardown II LP, Pete Rogers of Technimatic’s ode to 60s futurism. And I have to shout out Orbit from Om Unit alias Philip D Kick’s stunning and sadly last LP, Off World Tales. Having jacked in making fasted BPMs for Electro and Techno inspired sounds, he will be missed.

One Six Four – 1hr of 160bpm D&B

Optimistic – Helper
Nine Windows – Looking Back
Nine Windows – Galaxian
Speckman – One the Flip (Synkro’s Ambient Jungle Flip)
Jamie Myerson – Shade Without Color
Nine Windows – Innersense
Philip D Kick – Orbit
Wardown – Graphite & Glitter
Arcologies – Secret Keeper
Adred – Before Your Eyes
Fracture – From the Very Top
Orboram – Sun Showers
Arcologies – City at Dawn
Kid Drama & Tim Reaper – Ambien Sequence
Nine Windows & Tim Reaper – Transitions
Robert Haigh – Koto Line (ASC Spatial Remix)
Wardown – The Ideal City
Fracture – First Aid Kit

Ear & Drum: Session 253 – Neon Jungle

Who say rewind on all the classic Jungle dub plates and VIPs finally seeing the light of day some 30 years later? Thanks to labels like Aphrodite’s – Urban Shakedown, DJ Rap’s – Proper Talent, Deep Jungle and Suburban Base digging out their DATs and releasing a swag of tunes that only ever cut to dub plate and played by a very select few DJs back in the 90s. That is until today.

A lot of the tunes in here I only ever hear on tapes from pirate radio or recorded from UK raves back in the day. If I was lucky I may have heard one or two mixed live at some of the local parties I went to. It feels fitting that D’Cruze bookends this mix with tunes from his Hidden Tracks EP only recently release on Suburban Base. Sandwiched in between D’Cruze’s Hardstep and Sublime State are some of the ruffest Jungle cuts I’ve had the pleasure to play. Enjoy.

Neon Jungle – 1hr of Dubplate & VIP Jungle

D’Cruze – Hardstep
Jaz Klash – BQE
Pascal – Just Rollin A Fat B
Krome & Time – Original Juggling
M.T.S. – Brothers & Sisters
M.T.S. – Bad Boy Sound (95 VIP)
Undercover Agent – Oh Gosh! – (Daz ’95 Dubplate)
Splash – Babylon (DJ Trace Mix Part 2)
Dexterous feat. Beverley Gage – Moments of Pleasure
DJ Rap – Spiritual Aura (94 Mix)
DJ Rap & Outlaw Candy – Intelligent Woman (On A Positive Vibe)
Dilinja – The Angels Fell
DJ Swift & DJ Zinc – It’s Time (feat. Stevie B)
Future Assassins – Future Sound (Dead Dred Remix)
Urban Shakedown – Burning Passion ’94 (Original Dubplate Mix)
Urban Shakedown – Some Justice ’94 (Original Dubplate Mix)
Undercover Agent – Bass Kick Mix 2 (96 Exclusive Unreleased Version)
D’Cruze – Sublime State

Cosmic mix 1

For my debut mix here on the site I’ve put together a mixture of cosmic jungle, heavenly half-time & atmospheric liquid.

There’s new tunes alongside some older favourites in here, with labels including Modern Conveniences, Omni Music, Offworld, Fokuz, Metalheadz and Goldfat represented, amongst others. Most of the action takes place in the 166-172 territory.

Really hope you enjoy the mix – many thanks to Wozowski for inviting me over!

Cheers, fortunecookie20

Link: https://wozowski.com/cookie/Cosmic1.wav

Tracklist:

  1. Jamie Myerson – Shape Without Form
  2. Fortune & Chance – Vortextures
  3. Akuratyde – All We Need
  4. Easy – Push
  5. Fortune & Chance – The Connection
  6. Sunchase – Night Driving
  7. ASC & Synkro – Borderline
  8. Drumantle – Apex
  9. Seijn – Tread On My Dreams
  10. dBridge – Cornered
  11. Silence Groove – The Muses
  12. Jem One – Sunday Rain
  13. governmentfun – Magic Happens
  14. Woken Balance – Voyages
  15. Commix – City Section
  16. LSB – Snap Funk
  17. Mister Shifter – The Reach
  18. Calibre – Moonlight
  19. Trident – Above the Clouds
  20. Woken Balance – Mind’s Eye
  21. Jamie Myerson – Gesture Without Motion

Alwayz WilL Mix @ Melodic Bar Liverpool 26/3/23

Played out this set at the lovely Melodic Bar in Liverpool UK as part of their open deck night. Its a cool spot, highly recommended for any music headz in the area. Has its own radio station broadcasting from a shipping container above the bar –
https://www.melodicdistraction.com/
Maximum boost to the friendly crew there!

Burial – Unite
Djrum – Ode
Photek – Can’t Come Down
Djrum – St Martins
Fikir Amlak – Walk With Jah
Nomine & Youngsta – Foundation
Darkstar – Need You
Dominic Eulberg – Der Tanz de Gluehwuermchen (Rone Rmx)
Synkro – Transient
SpectraSoul – Melodies
Instra:mental – Naked Zoo
Sabre, Stray & Halogenix feat. Frank Carter – Oblique
Alix Perez – Losing You
Kelela – On the Run
Calibre – If you Wait Remix
Satl – So Much Better
Commix – Scarlet
Calibre – Mirage
Bicep – The Game
Burial – Rodent
Echo in the Dark (Hanna & Tommy) – Serotine
William Bell – Forgot to be Your Lover


Ear & Drum: Session 252 – Functional

With the retro trend sweeping across D&B, it was only a matter of time that nostalgia returned for tech-step tinge tunes to come back. While a lot of these tunes might not lean into the stripped back 2-step beats of that era, the one thing that brings them all together is the funk that Ed Rush and Optical helped pioneer back in the day. Nailing the perfect drum and bass loop to give a tune that funky rolling flex is not an easy thing to pull off, but I hear a lot of it in all of these tunes and I have to say, I’m here for it!

Labels liked Souped Up and Sofa Sounds Bristol have been heading this way for a while now, but T>I’s recent Rollers Delight EP really nails the tech-funk. Critical Music, while not putting all their eggs into the tech-step revival basket, are also pushing the sound through their label boss’ latest LP – Humans in tracks like Acid Shot and Calm.

Functional – 1hr of Heavy D&B Rollers

T>I – Dye Migration
Rainforest – Antihero
Bladerunner – Rave Machine
Skoel – Letisound
Slay feat. Chimpo & SLR – Dis One
Calibre – Verstat
Enei – Acid Shot
DJ Trace & HLZ – Valves
Heron Flow – Raging Sea
Blocks & Escher – Shot in the Dark
Beeson & Dynamite MC – ‘Til 4am
aBLe – Still There
Enei – Calm
Enei & Jakes – Omega
Iris – Not Even a Big Up
Unglued – Peanut Butter Kid
T>I – Outboard
Data 3 – String Theory
Scar feat 2Nick8 – Count It Off
Emz & Sam Binga – Don’t Stress
T>I – Step Back

Ear & Drum: Session 251 – Motions

Heading into the soulful side with this mix of smooth sounds. When it comes to soul Dogger & Mindstate, Calibre, Lenzman and LSB instantly spring to mind, but the vocalist they always lean on is the seminal DRS. Having been around since the hey-day of Bukem and his MC compatriot Conrad, DRS has reinvented himself constantly down the years and his 2020s incarnation as Mr Soul just might be his best yet.

A good chunk of this mix is from DRS’s Del-Rok-Ski LP, which came out towards the end of last year. Collaborating with a who’s who of soulful D&B producers, this LP had way more hits than misses and was one of the strongest releases for me in 2022. Another LP well worth a listen is FX909’s Liquid Heart which also features hear along with a few tracks from Need for Mirrors super strong Nerd EP.

Motions – 1hr of Soulful D&B

Akemi Fox – Lie to You
DRS & Monroe – Kiss & Tell
Dogger & Mildaste & DRS – TMWFTE
Need for Mirrors – Happy Mondays
Auris – The Difference
Colossus – Possession
DRS & Calibre – Embers Reign
DRS & Dogger & Mindstate – Wake You Up
DRS & Duskee & Disrupta – Waiting to Go
Dub Phizix – Snowprints
Gabanna – Always the Same
DRS & Document One – Can’t Explain
FX909 – Without a Name
Missing – Ever Wanted
FX909 – Two Little Birds
Need for Mirrors – Mourning Tune
Echomatics – Sense of Control
Bop & Subway – Last Night
Degs feat. Nu:Tone & Duskee – Can We Talk (Imo-Lu Remix)
Sl8r – Magnolia
Echo Brown & KSR – Motions
DSR & LSB – Sweet Love

The Down Low: Session 054

Breaking out the 140bpm tempo this time around with a dirty dub heavy Down Low session. There are a few other styles in here as well, but the focus is firmly on the head nod of Dub influenced electronic music and Dubstep.

As always I’m looking to push D&B producers doing slower bits in these mixes so shouts out to Rainforest, Fox and Anz, Calibre, Synkro, Biome and Seathasky for all exploring outside of the 170bpm category.

And an extra special shout out to MC Duh for providing me with a copy of the DJG remix of The Specials – Ghost Town. Terry Hall passed away last year, and his influence on me and music in the 80s cannot be understated. Ghost Town was THE anti-anthem of Thatcher era Britain and it sound like nothing else I’d ever heard when it originally came out. This one’s for you Terry.

The Down Low: Session 54 – 1hr of Dubbed out 140bpm

Rainforest – Badmanizer
Hypho – Kumunda
Fox feat. Anz – Live Life (Sherry S Remix)
Vaults – One Last Night (Hippie Sabotage Remix)
Xeonz – Away From U
Trades Sound & BLK JCK – Hold Tight (Massive)
Martyn – Recon
Bingo Players – Rattle (Spenda C Remixxx)
The Bug – Hammer (feat Flowdan)
Coldcut x On-U Sound – Make Up Your Mind feat. Ce’Cile & Toddla T (Dub Phizix Remix)
DJ Tone – Breath Again
Easy – By Your Side
Mystic State feat. Elana Montgomery – Fly (Sepia’s Light Out Remix)
Unlimited Dream Co. – No Headaches
Bassnectar – Other Worlds (feat Dorfex Bos)
KeOSz & Trilo – Last Hope
Calibre – Rare Groove
Synkro – Back Then
Subtle Mind & SubReachers – Withdrawn
Biome – Light
Seathasky – Sun Stars Sky
The Specials – Ghost Town (DJG Bootleg)

Ear & Drum: Session 250 – 101325 Pascals

Session number 250, and we’re headed in an Atmospheric direction for this one. My good friends over at Omni Music have once again come up with the good with label boss Eschaton’s Speed of Light and Calm Resolve doing bits, along with long time friend of the show Starski dropping the mesmerising Memphis Lemongrab from his recent In a Funk LP. Shouts to Mineral, Echo 1, Arcologies, Parallel and The Astronics for also representing the Omni camp.

I love a good Amen, but too much of a good thing is never good for a genre and Atmospheric D&B is showing some real depth here, with a much appreciated move away from pure Amen edits and into some deeper more crafted breaks. Shenji provides us with a perfect opener in his track Promises, Dub Phizix keep up his incredible run of releases with Love Changes and Wardown’s Graphite & Glitter from their amazing sci-fi themed concept album on Blu Mar Ten Music, Wardown II LP is also a standout.

101325 Pascals – 1hr of Atmospheric D&B

Shenji – Promises
Beyonders – Release
Furney – Love Changes
Dub Phizix – A Real Thing
Starski – Memphis Lemongrab
Mineral – Why Don’t We See (Moakz Remix)
Okee – Light Being
Wardown – Graphite & Glitter
Shenji – Dreaming Mode (Kharm Remix)
Echo 1 – Where We Ride
Eschaton & Parallel – Calm Resolve
Arcologies – Outer Worlds
Mikal – Space Age Dubbing
Eschaton – Speed of Light
The Astronics – Heart of Soul (Con-figure Remix)
Airstrike – Warp Factor Nine
Echo 1 – The Morning After
Rhythm Tek – Ghost Planes
Acid_Lab – Imagine the Future (Art Cuebik Remix)