Back catalogue: Drum And Bass

Review: UKJ keeps the flame of old-school breaks and jungle afire with its latest four-track V/A 12", with contributions from label co-boss Junglord, Supa Ape, Sully, OmniRhythm and Simply Dread all in tow for the inflammatory sacrifice. Unlike your usual jungle, these four cuts verge on the insane, thanks to this label's commemorative grounding in the earliest days of jungle in its hardcore breaks and graff-adjacent days. We wager that back then, there was more room for experimentation before the "sound" got standardised and fetishised. Here's a cogent recollection of that time - a time of vocal one-shots, dramatic classical music samples and rave stabs, sure - but above all, just a generally wilder and more rapacious indulging of the promise of what was once called breakscience; Junglord's 'Ready For Retaliation' and Dread's 'Hard To Tell' tend towards UK hardcore on this front, ultrafast breaks-drilling and buzzsawing away, with glee.

Review: It was only a matter of time before Andrew Ferguson made his debut on 2 Bad Mice's Over/Shadow; his tenure in the game, his authenticity, his lack of compromise and his timelessness as an artist (both as Outrage and his more 140-oriented alias Nomine) is a perfect fit. Here are two examples; 'Goodbye' says hello with oceanic waves of disarming pads, bellowing subs and spacious breaks while 'In The Dark' brings a little more 1990 unity vibes thanks to the sensual vocal and subtle piano charm. Outrageously good.

Review: Andy Odysee continues to spellbind us 30 years after his label Odysee Records was launched. Here he dazzles the senses in two different ways. Spine Chiller takes us right back to the roots of the label; ice cold jazzy spectral sparkling in all directions. Think a deep Krust or a jazzy Paradox. Flip for a slower mood as 'White Widow' sparks up a fog wave over cool and moody 140-ish breakbeats. Ice cold.

Review: Deep Jungle have delivered once again as some seminal sounds from Lucky Spin have been unearthed and reissued. Destination 1995; a West Country trio named Orca are making their name for themselves in the jungle phenomenon. Featuring early sounds from Decoder (one half of the chart-topping Kosheen years later), each of these breakbeat bust-ups carries a certain air of Bristol grit and euphoric rave energy. 'Intellect' is all about the savage drum chops while 'Sample & Hold' goes in more for the deep swing. Timeless vibes. Have yourself a whale of a time. (Not sorry)

Review: Building on more than 20 years in the game, recent times have seen London-based junglist Opius exploring album formats and deeper strains within d&b and jungle on labels like Silent Force, Time Tunnel and his own Ballpark. Now he arrives on AGN7 Audio with a blistering exercise in experimental d&b that takes a broader look at what a breakbeat can be. The emphasis here is on jazz, as blasts of post bop drumming get sliced and diced into head-rushing constructions that feel as fresh as the first time you heard someone getting busy with an amen.

Review: Overlook continues to bolster UVB-76's position as one of the front-runners in junglist innovation with this latest single. There's many sides to the Bournemouth producer's sound, as 'Mima's Room' guides us through deft breakbeat interplay, hazy jazz samples and fathoms deep atmospherics and pads which somehow sidestep the usual Good Looking reference points to head somewhere else. It's mellow and meditative, but speaking it's own truth thanks to Overlook's precise and potent production style. By way of contrast, 'After Hours' is a rasping D&B variation shrouded in nihilistic tones and powered by hard edged drums. It's a split personality of a record, and that makes it all the more exciting.

Review: Time Tunnel continue their astral explorations with this exceptional body of work from Serbian mainstay Okee. Four cuts full, each one rooted in that cosmic, spatial, dreamy space that labels like Good Looking and artists like Krome & Time were exceptional at creating. Highlights include the very hot mind-losing sample on 'Acapulco', the big Moby-style belting diva vocal sample on 'Phobos II' and the slippery sci-fi fusion on 'Network 24'. What a package. Don't be lowkey about Okee.

Review: 90s jungle and atmospheric drum & bass is lent an excitable, experimental edge by Finnish upstart ODJ Pirkka. This EP is about as radical as orthodox jungle can get, pushing the sound into ever-reaching corners of jump-up or even UK hardcore. 'OMG' is a samply, weird, choral breaks-masher, mixing in everything from dog woofing sounds to lasershots and reese womps between its rapidly fidgeting breaks variations. 'Bookworm', meanwhile, leans into more casual G-funk-whistly directions, resting on a more atmospheric waterbed, around which endless bubbles are heard popping, and reversed vocal samples mark transitions like passing mermaids. Wild!

Review: Last spotted on Droog with Loxy by way of the despicable 3AM growler 'The Harbinger', Overlook returns with two brutalist jams. 'Tarot' is a classic breakbeat workout. Full force dynamics, uncompromising drumwork and a pressure heavy enough to flatten the seabed. 'Detour' goes a little deeper. Flexing on more of a Headzian two-step, there's enough space for a little subtle shade of jazz in the stabs. The funk making it even darker. Handle with caution.

Review: Probably the largest project that could possibly be classified as an EP that we've come across this year, Om Unit's latest record 'Fragments' is an exemplary case of bass music vacillating between two referents that newcomers might mistakenly oppose: "atmospheric" and "banger". Once again released as part of his new spate of ongoing "off-label releases, which began with his titles 'Submerged' and 'Atlantis', this is a maximized, nebulous, glassy, spectral, constellatory EP verging on ghost-notes of UK hardcore and breakstep (check our fave, 'Moonglade'). Every drum hit is EQ-scooped, polished, glossed and preened to the max, evidencing Om's achievement of a sound that few dance music producers can hack without a burnout-inducing mixing session or ten.