Back catalogue: Drum And Bass

Review: Big Bud originally released Faceless/New Vision back in 1995 on Underdog Recordings, offering up a weighty variant of atmospheric d&b that he made his own. As you might expect OG copies of this mid-decade change hands for some hefty sums, but fear not because Vinyl Fanatiks are on hand with a spanking new pressing on pink vinyl no less. A side 'Faceless' is a laser-focused roller with tightly clipped breaks and strafing synths, but 'New Vision' is the real gem which gets more intricate in the drum programming, drawing on less heavily mined percussion and more artful synth work to make a truly standout cut.

Review: Prolific under a variety of different aliases between them, Italian artists Big Hands and Banishsh continue to push the limits on the latter's new SM000 imprint. Sitting right on the edge of a variety of genre hinterlands, there are notes of jungle, dub, techno and IDM running throughout. Big Hands' 'SWGGN' vibes with the most upbeat feeling and flow while Banishsh's 'OP' version hits with much more of a dancehall bounce and sense of bass tension and the '55' deconstructs and dubs things out even more. Stark behaviours.

Review: Japanese reggae/dancehall artist Boogie Man embarked on a career in the early 90s, inspired by the prospect of filling an unfilled niche: adding humorous and bombastic lyrics to an internationally renowned genre he loved. The track 'Pachinco Man' is a tribute to pachinko, a popular arcade game in Japan that involves shooting metal balls into a machine. Much like the ballistics of such an unforgettable arcade fixture, the track flaunts Boogie Man's energetic vocals over an upbeat dancehall riddim, emphasising positivity and humour. Specialist Japanese dancehall like this is a great boon for the label Rhythm Discs!, who are now embarking on a full scouring and reissuing of the scene's best contributions.

Review: DanJet proclaims itself to be the first Russian drum & bass label, which might be up for debate, but at the very least it would have been one of the first when it first operated in 1997. Spearheaded by DJ Dan, the label drops its fourth vinyl and chooses to, erm, pay tribute to The Prodigy on the A-side via Dan and Dima Pulsar's 'Hyperspeed'. There are more than a few elements from Experience twisted into modern d&b forms on this track, no doubt sure to please older heads and younger generations of ravers alike. Barbitura's 'One In The Jungle' on the B-side is an all-out tear-out driven by sirens, dark side bass and blistering breaks.

Review: The second release from Fushara & Ben Kei's Constellations imprint brings more of the very same hard-hitting beats-and-basses; we've got blissed out, edgy sci-fi-vibed synths and huge spacious atmospheres, all of which were first heard on the first released. A delightful follow-up, these track are primed for headphone listening first and foremost, despite their (in our opinion) just-as-good club-readiness. First up, 'Nightmare On Wax' delivers a string of eerie cosmic horrors - dormant xenomorphic sonic eggs on a silver platter - by way of endlessly tricky breaks variations and soulful sampled wails into the silent void that is space itself. The creep factor continues into the B, with 'Paranoid Park', taking its namesake from the bleak emo film and bringing with it an intense combination of psychotic mutterings and gourd-string tremblings; Ben Kei's contributions, meanwhile, are weightier and sparser, dare we say harder-hitting; 'Aperture' comes as the "tribal" highlight, channelling a huge sense of weight in its bass stabs and well-rounded break.

Review: Super-techy three-track jungle business from Sub Code Records, welcoming producers Lavery and Bow Street Runner for an "extremely limited" 12" pressing. Lying somewhere on the interstice of ragga and technical jungle - with a few soul and breakdance samples thrown in - we start off with the ruff sampleage of Lavery's 'Dead Soundboy', which happily chops and changes between pleasingly stereo'ed breaks and halfstep toasted breakdowns. The bread doesn't come out burnt, with Bow Street Runner's 'Butterfly Bass' grilling things just right, with its militant dancehall acapellas and no-holds-barred laserblasts leaving us hardly prepared for the track's sudden soul interjection. The collaborative closer 'My Yout' is by far the wickedest sound, with an untreated flute trill and entrancing break chop bottling a dubious mood; the listener is squarely placed in the narrative position of the yute in question, whom we gather is in the midst of being ordered to pass the rudeboy...