Back catalogue: Drum And Bass

Review: On a mission to "make d&b great again", Finland's Straight Up Breakbeat pass through once more with the second of three EPs formed to showcase modern junglism. Kicking off, 'Mystery Machines' sees Glastonbury's Dead Mans Chest slam down some deadly amen choppage reinforced by haunting vocal FX and paranoid drones. Aeon Four & FFF's 'Look Inside' is a jungle-tekno roller, served with chunky hardcore style amens and a side of warm old-skool pads. Keeping the mid-90s vibe alive, the tripped out 'Green Fields Forever ' from Fanu - which drops hot on the heels of his greatly received remaster of Source Direct's 'Stars' - delivers airtight amen trickery, weaving synth washes and blissful dubby basslines. Esc & Mineral round things off with 'Photosynthesis', a pensive stepper highlighting cut-up breaks waltzing with cheeky synth nudges and a wide, rugged bassline. If the pioneers had buried some beefed-up tracks in a time-capsule to inspire future generations, they would probably sound a lot like 'States of Art II'.

Review: Drum & bass bastion Future Retro consign two next-gen producers, FFF and Tim Reaper, to a full ten minutes of raggatonic shell-shockage. Both try their hand at the now-rare 'VIP' treatment (the acronym stands for Variation In Production, but how this differs to the term "remix" is truly up in the air, save for the fact that VIP often means "self-remix" or "remix by original artist"). Following 2024's 'Meeting Of The Minds' VIP release, which followed the same format, Reaper notes the two tracks' creation in April 2020, made from parts of the other artists' original tunes. 'World Championships' by the pair of them is the variable tune of choice here, with Reaper's version providing a glimmery ambience, while FFF's is much stodgier, rougher, less padded.