Back catalogue: Drum And Bass

Review: The 20th-anniversary edition of Squarepusher's Ultravisitor showcases Tom Jenkinson's groundbreaking blend of live and studio recordings, remastered for new depths of sound. Spanning frenetic breakbeats, jazz-funk explorations and atmospheric fusion, this album captures the complexity and eclecticism of Jenkinson's work. Tracks like 'Iambic 9 Poetry' deliver sunlit jazz tones, while 'Tommib Help Buss' brings serene electronic bliss. Although Ultravisitor might feel overlong at nearly 80 minutes, its sprawling length doesn't diminish its innovation. The title track encapsulates Squarepusher's signature drum-n-electro-pop, while pieces like 'Circlewave' and 'I Fulcrum' balance virtuosity with thematic exploration. Jenkinson's improvisational drumming and bass solos, such as on 'I Fulcrum', demonstrate his command over both instruments and composition. Jenkinson's eccentricity shines through, making Ultravisitor an essential listen for both long-time fans and newcomers. This edition reaffirms Squarepusher's pioneering role in electronic music, blending technical brilliance with intriguing, if at times chaotic, compositions. It's a record that intrigues and impresses, pushing the boundaries of beat-driven electronic music.

Review: Not too many artists can create a buzz quite like when word spreads of a new album more than Squarepusher. Dostrotime is the first album for Tom Jenkinson in nearly four years, one of his longest breaks between albums. Proceeding the album release, the video for the hardcore acid banger Wendorlan has been making the rounds on the internet. If this is any indication of the rest of the album, then expect some serious heat. Audio samples have been tightly secured to protect leaks online until the release date. This album will be spread over a 2x12 and nicely packaged in gatefold form and no doubt contain some great gallops through the genre spectrum like only Squarepusher can do.

Review: With A Real Piece Of Work, Stillhead helps Brightest Dark Place reach into the "hazy, blurred overlap between techno and ambient", throwing a suspension chord between two bluffs over a vast sonic chasm, and letting terse rhythms monkey-swing across it, letting reverb bellow from below. This is an equally dynamic but intense listening experience, proving that vast, chasmic sound design need not chafe against dynamic buoyancy: the two can coexist. Keeping to about 170BPM, the Edinburgh DJ marks his sixth release here, and it is an impressive logical extension from 2022's comparable mission statement Restraint And Reverb: 'The Red Ball' suspends a sampled 'Funky Drummer' over an atoll of sub compulsions, while 'A Light Thump On The Head' stretches a classic future garage rhythm over a telegraphic void, with dispersive, long-decaying results.

Review: Sub Focus has as far back as we can remember always been a 'big name' in drum & bass, but it's only now that the London-based music producer cements it as such with a slice of contextualising nostalgia. Evolve is his new LP, charting a new feel for 1990s influences and various musical homages to the acts and songs that contributed to his sense of musical evolution and maturity as a musician. Nods to the Chemical Brothers and early jungle and hardcore are conveyed through contemporary collabs with the likes of CamelPhat, Gene Farris and LOWES.

Review: London label Footnotes turn the page on a bold new drop cap with Annotations, a handpicked compilation reflecting on the label's growth since its inception in 2018. Helmed by LSB, the project draws from a pool of core contributors - Alibi, Anile, Tokyo Prose, and Bazil - alongside fresh voices, all credited as shaping the current drum & bass landscape. LSB's interwoven originals pockmark further remixes and collaborations, presiding over a quality output emphasising nuance over impact.

Review: We're not sure where the phrase "blissed out" but whatever its origins, London's Blank Mind Recordings have caught on to its signification of a certain kind of jungle and breakbeat hardcore, prevalent in and around the given timeframe, 1991-1994. This new compilation charts just eight tracks of miasmic atmospheric breaks pressure-releases from the likes of DJ Mayhem, Luxury and Skanna from the time, with the star track in point being Mayhem's 'Inesse', around which the rest of the compilation was put together. Linking the record to a turbulent political climate, with 1994 being the year in which the harsh anti-rave Criminal Justice Act was passed, the record and the juddering pieces making it up are reframed in a resistant, socially just light.

Review: The latest collection from the mighty Soul Jazz draws together a myriad of different styles favoured by black British sound systems, not only reflecting the roots of different communities reaching these shores but also the UK twist that that music has received as result. Reggae forms the backbone of the collection, from the blissful consciousness of Pebbles' 'Positive Vibrations' to the more protest-orientated Brown Sugar's 'Black Pride' and Tabby Cat Kelly's 'Don't Call Us Immigrants'. But the presence of Shut Up & Dance, Ragga Twins, Ray Keith aka The Terrorist and Digital Mystikz helps show the uniquely British areas into which sound system culture evolved - rave, breakbeat, jungle and dubstep.

Review: The North Quarter has always done a fine job of offering up widescreen drum & bass sounds that are often heavy on soul and based silky grooves. Their second State of Mind compilation is another caesura in point as it draws together four sides of fresh riddims from plenty of contemporary talents. Alexx A-Game opens up in funky fashion as remixed by Satl, then the good time grooves carry on with Lenzman & Redeyes's 'Hold Tight Girl.' Further highlights come from the jazzy depths of Channell's 'Intrigue' and Note's fathom-deep 'Affirmative Action.'

Review: Those interested in the roots of UK bass music have been well-served of late, with a number of books and compilations focusing on the first wave of British dance music in the late 80s and early 90s. Soul Jazz's latest compilation is a superb addition to this growing list. It showcases music made in the post-bleep and early breakbeat hardcore period, where basslines got bigger, drum breaks faster, and ragga influences started to come to the fore. The selections are on-point throughout from the dub-wise rave rush of Babylon Timewarp's "Durban Poison" and the bleep-and-breaks-meets-proto-jungle shuffle of DJ Dubplate's "Tings A Go On", to the rave-rap goodness of The Freaky's "Time & Age" and the heavily edited darkcore/early jungle insanity that is Krome & Time's terrific "Ganja Man". In a word: essential.

Review: Since launching last year, Dead Man's Chest's Western Lore imprint has blessed us with nothing but contemporary (but immaculately rootiscal) jungle. Blunted Breaks takes things to a whole new level, however, as we're treated to 12 more outstanding broken affairs from some of DMC's peers; Earl Grey, Threshold, Thugwidow, Coco Bryce and many more. Highlights hang from every corner of the crate as the likes of Response & Pliskin flip the technoid switch on "Anima Morta", Cavanaut takes us deep sea diving on "Vanishing Point" and DMC and Bryce go toe to toe for a skanked up swaggering finale. Get blunted.

Review: Did you know that Iceland had its own rather influential rave scene back in the 1990s? Whatever the answer to that question, you will want to check out this first-ever collection of anthems from that era which is now on vinyl for the first time. This collection came on Thule offshoot label TMT Entertainment as a CD in 1992 and features memorable and timeless tracks from back then, many of them now with cult status. It's called Alsaela, which translates as "ecstasy" and gives you some idea of what to expect from it. It features a non-stop selection of old school rave alongside some lost and previously unavailable classics by Agzilla & DJ L.S.K and some unreleased gems from AJAX. A great bit of history that still does the trick.

Review: Hospital Records is one of the most mighty in all of drum & bass and here it joins up with Soulvent who now join the family. It's a label founded by Joe Goss, Jack (Pola) Higgins and Liam Holyoak-Rackal that has been on top of its game since 2014 and at the forefront of the new generation. This fiery 14 track collection is packed full of brand new remixes of classics from both imprint's back catalogues. There is dream-like stuff from Nu:Tone, Hugh Hardie is in fine form on his take on Japan-based Mountains' 'I'm Free' (feat. Kojo)' and one-to-watch DJ and producer Vektah drops some real jungle heat.

Review:  Halogenix's label levels up in a major way here as he invites a whole troupe of talents over to Gemini Gemini for some heavyweight underground bubblers, bangers and bliss-outs. Those on the hunt for dreamy deep cuts should head for Fonts introspective stepper 'L.U.V', Azotix's 'Back Seat' and 'Monty & Indira May's 'The Motion' while those looking for something a lot darker and meaner will be all over the pure growlage of Koherent's 'Mercurial' and Quartz's thundering 'Strike Anywhere'. Complete with tracks from the likes of Zar and Verbz, Satl & Styke and En:vy, this is a very promising series from one of d&b's most authentic and consistent operatives. Resplendent in its white splattered vinyl. Join the club.

Review: Exit Records wraps up its 100 series with EXIT100 Pt. Four, featuring an eclectic line-up of cutting-edge beats, drum & bass, techno and experimental tracks. Curated by label boss dBridge, it embodies Exit's forward-thinking ethos that brings together some of the most inventive names in the scene. From Tasha & Cadans' 'Soft Grimness' to Freedom Engine's atmospheric 'Welcome to the Pharmacy,' each track showcases a unique approach to the electronic dance scene. This final instalment perfectly represents Exit's progressive sound and vision, celebrating a legacy while firmly looking to the future.

Review: The indomitable Rex Club first opened in the 1930s as an art deco style cinema, and was later converted into a nightclub space in the 70s. After a healthy dose of acid (house) hit the club in the late 80s, nothing was the same. Some ineffable juncture saw the club transition from house into breakbeat and drum & bass, serving partygoing Parissiennes only the best rollers via its A dedicated Audiotechnik soundsystem. These were dubplates that would've otherwise only been on rotation across the channel. Reopening after the pandemic, Rex now celebrate a return to good business with a 2xLPs' worth of solid breakbeat goodness, etching d&b contributions from Aquarian, Phume, Tek 9, Goldie and Hidden Orchestra onto the marble of French d&b history.

Review: Shogun Audio is a towering drum & bass behemoth whose presence in the scene has very much shaped its sound over the last two decades. To mark this fine milestone, the label has assembled the ultimate collector's piece in the four of this 4 x 12" vinyl box set plus a 20 Years Of Shogun Audio book housed in a bespoke presentation box. The tunes take in 10 remixes of Shogun's best tunes and 10 forward-thinking new cuts. Plenty of key associates such as Friction, DJ Marky, Monrroe, Emily Makis, Lens, GLXY, Sustance, SP:MC and many more all feature in what is a real slice of drum & bass history.

Review: Brittle bass music from 1985 Music, who present the first edition of Fragment, their new V/A albums series focusing on dubstep, drum & bass and experimental oddities in between. Convoking names both old and new, well-established and less so, this fiendish silicone collection bottles ten headtop hitters onto a single 3xLP gatefold record, channelling a whole uncountable host of aggressive intentions in the process. When it comes to being whacked round the head, we're not talking sugar glass either: with tracks from mainstays Headland, Drone and Visages, all the way up the cullet pile to 1985 label boss Alix Perez with the relatively chic 'Bloomsbury', all tracks herein command the utmost polish, shrillness and pressure, never failing to push us to the edges of our seats.

Review: Rhythm Section International turns ten this yearia whole decade since Bradley Zero started what seemed like a modest project, spinning out of those infamous Peckham pool hall parties. But modest it was not. In those ten years, Rhythm Section became more than just a label. It became a pulseia defining force in London's music landscape, rippling out across the globe. To celebrate the milestone, Rhythm Section has pulled together something that's as much a reflection as it is a bold step forward: a three-part compilation titled PAST, RE-IMAGINED AND FUTURE. Six discs, 30 tracks, spanning the label's evolution while pointing toward its next era. The first two discs? A dive into history, with one track from each year since 2014ia walk through the archives that pulls out deep cuts and forgotten classics. Then we get into the RE-IMAGINED part, where artists from the label like Ruf Dug, Session Victim, and Private Joy reinterpret past tracks in their own styles. No gimmicksijust raw, playful creativity that breathes new life into the old. And finally, the FUTURE: two discs of brand-new material for 2024. Artists like RONI, Gayance, and Jordan Rakei under his Frank Liin alias step forward to show where the label's heading, blending genres and moods seamlessly. What's special about this release is that it never feels like it's trying too hardiit's a reflection of the organic growth that's made Rhythm Section what it is today. Ten years in, and the label's as forward-thinking, alternative and grounded as ever.

Review: A man of many sounds (and even more swanky tracksuits) Voltage takes time away from the Kings Of The Rollers to unleash an album that no one saw coming. Kicking off with an 80s flavoured freestyle jam 'So Close', Rouen Wilkins takes time to guide us through his influences and showcase sounds and styles you might not expect from him... The Josh Wink style acid breaks of 'Moonshine', the sultry space-bound jazz of 'Endless Dreaming', the 90s piano house-meets-drum & bass vibes of 'Keep On Dancing' and the Burial-esque tones and textures of 'Consciousness' are just some of the excellent off-piste highlights from an artist who has more cards up his sleeve than you may realise. Balance is everything

Review: Wardown, the emotive and experimental project from Technimatic's Pete Rogers, releases its second LP on Blu Mar Ten Music. Where the debut Wardown album was a diary of smeared memory, musically recounting the author's childhood home and his subsequent feelings of dislocation from it, Wardown II expands on the themes of nostalgia and focuses on our collective reactions to a promised future that remains undelivered. Using aural scraps from that most optimistically futurist period, the 1950s & 1960s, Wardown weaves them into an uneasily dreamy, bittersweet commentary on postmodern nostalgia.

Review: Wilkinson is a big name when it comes to the contemporary drum & bass scene. He is someone whose name you will find on all the line-ups of the major clubs and festivals around the world and is no stranger to bringing the noise to Ibiza, either. He has a multi-genre approach that finds him playing effective and eclectic sets that appeal to all manner of crowds. Back in 2013, he dropped his debut solo album Lazers Not Included on Ram - where else - and set all this success in motion. This tenth anniversary edition comes on yellow vinyl with UK number 20 single 'Dirty Love' and many more gems.

Review: Xylitol is the alias of producer and DJ Catherine Backhouse, also known as DJ Bunnhyhausen. Building on her slowly snowballing status as a co-host of the radio show Slav To The Rhythm, which focuses on vintage central and eastern European pop and electronica - as well as co-writing a book on Yugoslavian pop culture - Backhouse's debut album 'Anemonies' is the essential musical component for aiding the task of stomaching her many multifarious outings. Taking as her cue the art of illustrating molluscs, anemones, cnidaria and other aquatic creatures, Xylitol uses Anemone as an album-form outlet for the exploration of fizzing, extrambient jungle missives; tissued, papillary hardcore. The name Xylitol is an indication of what's in store for you here: impeccably reasoned intellibreaks, and piqued, pitched-up samples, both of which invoke childhood pelagic fantasy; virtual underwater verde. The whole record is an odyssean island hop, and we thoroughly recommend it.

Review: Since he first landed on our radar via Vivid a few years back, Yosh has dished out enough high grade garage and breakbeat gear to fuel the scene on his own. Not only a prolific producer, he's also got a razor sharp flair which edges him in front of a crowded scene, and now he's back to Vivid to show us exactly what he's about with a 12-track double-pack, his biggest release to date. In one sense you should know exactly what to expect - elevated steppers and deft rollers, but the fundamental appeal of Yosh is all those ear-snagging traits which make his tracks sparkle, and you never know what they're going to be until the needle's tracking in that groove. Now you can enjoy that sensation 12 times over - a good deal if ever we saw one.