Sad news coming from the dnb world today; Edward Holmes, known fondly as dnb producer/label head Optiv of the legendary Cause 4 Concern, is said to have passed away.
While not a creator of the neurofunk sound, Optiv—as a part of the then-quartet C4C—played a huge part in helping the sound grow, netting releases on their self-titled imprint in 1999 before spreading their wings to imprints like Virus, Renegade Hardware, Timeless, Metro, True Playaz, and a host of others. While they were on their tear, Optiv set up his own imprint, Red Light Recordings, which not only nurtured the future of the scene, but also helped usher in established talents like Black Sun Empire to the larger dnb realm.
It was via Red Light that Optiv started a long list of collaborations, linking with Bulletproof and Gridlok early. Always one to link with producers to explore the darker side of the dnb sound, Optiv found a kindred spirit in BTK, who he started releasing material with in 2011, resulting in three album-length projects released during their union (2012's Dirty Tricks, 2014's Blackjack, and Authentic Part One, which dropped in 2016).
No cause of death is being shared at this time, but that hasn't stopped drum & bass community from sharing condolences along with their thoughts on his legacy.
RIP Optiv. This man was such an amazing, genuine human. He will be remembered as a huge inspiration + the cleanest of sound designers. So many of my fav D&B tunes were produced by him. It’s an honor to have released music on his label but damn my heart rly breaks for his family.
We put together an Apple Music playlist full of our favorite tunes from Optiv's extensive catalog. Tune in and celebrate his legacy. Rest in peace, Optiv.
One of the most common sayings at the end of a year is "(insert the next year) is my year." I see every rapper, DJ, and wannabe influencer on that wave on the reg. I never thought it'd be uttered about drum & bass in America...nor would it start from a dubstep producer.
"In 2020 can we get more dubstep DJs to play a bit of dnb in their sets?" Downlink asked on January 1, going on to say that, "[a]s a collective we have the ability to influence whats poppin, and I think the headbangers could enjoy a bit of dnb as they become more familiar with it. Its also fun to change it up from a mixing perspective." He isn't wrong; the world of dubstep and drum & bass aren't that separate; hell, 10 years ago(!) the dnb world started experimenting in dubstep sounds via the drumstep genre, which is still kinda vibing to this day (although on a much lower level, which a number of smaller artists). In any case, that tweet turned into a conversation (using the #dnb2020 hashtag) that's still going on in some segments of the internet: How can we get drum & bass to blow up, particularly for the EDM mainstream? Currently, there's no right answer, as it's hard to pin down exactly where the issue is.
On the onset, it's not like dnb hasn't had its time in the sun in the American mainstream. Roni Size/Reprazent's "Brown Paper Bag" video got some prime-time MTV rotation, most memorably (for me) on MTV's 12 Angry Viewers program back in the late '90s—they were also doing their American tours around that time as well. The biggest EDM festivals in America—Ultra and EDC—have had everyone from Pendulum to Andy C rinsing their stages 15-16 years ago, and seem to always have some kind of representation on their massive lineups. And some of the bigger UK artists, including Subfocus and Chase & Status, have name recognition among ravers. So what gives?
To this junglist—who's lived in America all of his life and has been listening to jungle and drum & bass since '95—it sounds like there are a number of factors, based on what a number of producers, DJs, and writers have been bringing up:
There's no room for newer/smaller artists when the same bigger acts are being booked. This is no surprise; the same big name DJs I was going to see in 2000 are more than likely the same big DJs I'm seeing on flyers for Miami Music Week dnb events, or just at the biggest shows across the country. Some have said that the gatekeepers are holding certain acts or artists back, which we can't say isn't true, although we'd need to dive deeper to know the who, what and why.
There's not enough of a scene here. This is a weird one; there's always pockets for dnb across the country, including NYC, parts of California, Philly, and a number of other states. The thing is, it's always the same big cities with people flocking to the same lineups. There could be a dope producer in your local town, but if your local promoters can't get enough people to come through to a venue on a regular basis, you can't really nurture a thriving scene.
There's not enough knowledge about the scene. This is a tough one; As a guy who ran a fairly strong EDM website for a few years, one that concentrated on the bigger festival sounds as well as everything from footwork to dnb, the appetite for drum & bass was definitely lower, no matter who was making the tunes.
I'd assume there are other reasons, but it feels like the real problem is a combination of those factors, plus a bunch more. I'm more leaning to the side of Americans not giving a fuck about music clocking in at ~170BPM compared to other styles, but it seems like at a festival, people playing the hardest drum & bass should be getting ravers hype. Sounds like it should be easy...so how do we get past this?
Personally, I recommend there be some united front. No shade to the dubstep scene, but I think the American dnb scene really needs to build a new foundation. I'd love to see a situation where a dedicated group of people start a site that has multiple purposes: educating newcomers from the EDM scene about drum & bass as a whole, while highlighting American acts who are killing it, both here and abroad. This can include podcasts, a mix series, interviews and profile features, and more. And it shouldn't discriminate; it needs to be about the music, regardless of gender, race, or anything like that. If it's dope, it's highlighted. Simple. I also think we need some new life in the scene, a new outlook, or some new personalities. People outside of the scene always call it elitist, which it has been and can be; it's a huge turn off for newcomers looking to go from being ignorant about the sound to becoming card-carrying junglists. I'm not saying be a Dillon Francis or anything, but we gotta lighten up and have some fun the way we know how.
Again, that's just me. I want the scene to win, but I've wanted the scene to grow off the backs of the Sutpen's Jungle shows Goodie Goodie and the Substitution crew threw back in 2000. Loads of UK talent, but also the heaviest hitters stateside. And those are still the greatest sets I'd heard as a raver. With acts like The Burner Brothersset to drop their first album in 2020, along with artists like Ownglow and Flite getting a bigger name on the strength of their productions, now can and should be the time.
Or things will just go the way Alix Perez said.
When all this “dnb is gonna pop in 2020” etc etc... blows over. We will just carry on as we were :-)
While I can't say I've been around for everything, I've definitely been at the forefront of the stateside dnb movement. Back in the mid-to-late '90s, there were only so many producers and DJs really doing it that guys like Pish Posh, DJ Seen, and CT—collectively known as The Burner Brothers—have been on my radar. Seeing them grow as individuals and as a squad has been awesome, and after 20(!) years, they are finally ready to drop an album.
To get heads ready for that, they've come correct with Retrospect, a 35-track mix that runs through their career as a unit. You need this, seriously, especially if drum & bass is your place. Stream Retrospect below, and keep it locked for their album, which should be out Spring 2020.
Tracklist:
01. The Burner Brothers - Direct Drive Intro
02. The Burner Brothers and Pish Posh (ft. Mayor Ape Shit) - The Propaganda Bomb
03. The Burner Brothers - The Offlanders (Pish Posh VIP)
04. The Burner Brothers (ft. Joe Philips) - Sinister
05. The Burner Brothers - All of The Feels
06. The Burner Brothers - Cold As Me
07. The Burner Brothers - Road Kill
08. The Burner Brothers - Everyone Around Me (snippet)
09. The Burner Brothers (ft. Erik Kang) - Police Raid
10. The Burner Brothers - Armed and Dangerous
11. The Burner Brothers (ft. Digga Bruckshot) - Fully Bulletproof
12. The Burner Brothers - Give It Up
13. The Burner Brothers - The Concept of Love
14. The Burner Brothers - Rave Til Dawn
15. The Burner Brothers - The Happy Song
16. The Burner Brothers (ft. Emma Walker) - Affection
17. The Burner Brothers - Tower of Babel
18. The Burner Brothers - Big Boss Man
19. The Burner Brothers vs POR - Unknown Dub
20. The Burner Brothers (ft. Trixie Reiss) - Where I Want You (Subsonik Remix)
21. The Burner Brothers (ft. Illy MC) - Can’t Stop The Mosh
22. The Burner Brothers (ft. Shannon Swain) - Milo’s Revenge
23. The Burner Brothers - Global Killer
24. The Burner Brothers - Assassin
25. The Burner Brothers - Bring Back The Funk
26. The Burner Brothers (ft. Ginn Doll) - Saints Of New York
27. The Burner Brothers - Pandemonium
28. The Burner Brothers - Get Up To Get Down
29. The Burner Brothers - The Vulture
30. The Burner Brothers - You Can’t Escape The Fire
31. The Burner Brothers - Damages
32. The Burner Brothers - The Document
33. The Burner Brothers - Monday Night
34. The Burner Brothers (ft. Joe Phiips) - Far Beyond Dub
35. The Burner Brothers (ft. MC Posi D) - Release The Beast
The other day, I realized that I'd been riding for Stateside drum & bass for over two decades. It started with DJ's like Pish Posh and Seen out of NYC, but as I gravitated to the Philly scene, the diabolical Dieselboy has been a staple in my drum & bass diet ever since. I feel like I've only actually seen him DJ once during a wild night in Philly with all of the junglists in the AOL "Ravers" chatroom on hand. He was a robot, with no mix out of place and all bangers being rinsed.
Because he's always been dope, he has to explore new ways of expressing himself. That might be why we only get new DJ mixes form him every few years. Dieselboy's currently on his Heart of Darkness Tour, running through the U.S., and decided to bless the world with a 90+ minute mix, which features his "style of layering tracks that can only be described as “threaded” or “braided” - songs, loops and samples twist around one another in specific ways so that every element enhances those around it." With a tracklist that spans a three-page doc, D threads material from Jam Thieves, Mean Teeth, Phace, Current Value, Signal, and many, many more. It's a rough and rugged ride.
Stream and download the full mix below, and check out the dates up above—if Dieselboy's in your area in the near future, don't play yourselves!
With the NBA All-Star Weekend festivities underway in North Carolina, it makes sense that we'd start a part up here, right? I'm not sure what the drum & bass massive truly looks like in the Trenton area, but bassbin destroyer Jaxtella's representing, and the latest mix he sent over feels like he's fully realizing his sound.
When he he's rinsing out the latest in drum & bass, Patrice McBride is a go-to blend DJ, and it's dope to see him applying those vibes to the dnb scene. In his latest mix, he has a dope Meek Mill and Drake vs. Mob Tactics blend in there, as well as this magnificent mash-up, both of which you can download for free. This set also features material from Drumsound & Bassline Smith, High Contrast, Benny L, Shy FX, 1991, and many others.
You can stream and download the full set below, and make sure you peep that tracklist! Absolute destruction.
Tracklist:
Meek Mill ft. Drake vs. Mob Tactics - Going Dreamworld (Jaxtella Bootleg)
John Holt - Police in Helicopter (Benny L Remix)
Alibi ft. MC Fats & T.R.A.C. - No Lights
Chase & Status - Retreat2018 (Jaxtella Intro Edit)
Bou - Gun Crime
Shy FX ft. Lily Allen & Stamina MC - Roll the Dice (Jaxtella Edit)
Break & Total Science - Dog's Dinner
DJ Snake ft. Cardi B & Ozuna x Disazt - Get Them Taki (Jaxtella Mash)
Drumsound & Bassline Smith - Booyaka
L Plus - Rocks
High Maintenance - No More Time
Finn - Sometimes The Going Gets A Little Tough (High Contrast Remix)
Aries, Krak In Dub ft. Eva Lazarus & Troy Berkeley - I & I (Dr Meaker Remix)
Jorja Smith - The One (High Contrast Remix)
Sub Focus & Dimension - Desire (Jaxtella Edit)
LQ - Get to Me
1991 - Guiding Light
Karma Kingdom - I'll Be Waiting
Halogenix - Don't You Know
The Mouse Outfit ft. IAMDDB & Kinkai - Feeling High (Lenzman Remix)
The Patrol the Skies camp is putting on for stateside drum & bass, but you should've known that already. For the holiday season, they dropped a four-tracker featuring fire material from arQer & Realtime (haven't heard material from them in a WHILE), Fineprint, DJ Deffcon, and Ashflo. There's something for everyone here, and it's all available today; you can grab them for free via SoundCloud. Enjoy that!
Over the last year or so, I've become a huge fan of Monty's material. Dude's just got this hypnotic neuro style that has me open each and every time he drops. Dropping on December 7 is his Spatia EP on Alix Perez's 1985 Music imprint, and to celebrate its release, they gave away this intoxicating number, "Nothing Wrong." This cut is only available on the vinyl version of the release, and is very necessary.
With the Indian Summer finally breaking over here on the East Coast, Jaxtella returns with a massive boost of liquid drum & bass for your speakerboxes.
The Trenton-based DJ is still working through months of dnb releases, and turning them into sixty-plus minute rinseouts. This pack is from the month of August, and includes a number of Degs "sprayouts" from his impressive Hospital mixtape, as well as bits from Friction, Pola & Bryson, Danny Byrd, Villem & McLeod, Djah, and more.
For those of you looking to get your weekend off on the good food, Jax's got you covered. Stream and download this mix below, and be sure to check out that full tracklist.
As per usual, Jaxtella came through with ruckus for this month's edition of rockthedub radio. Now I know that a whole two-hour podcast full of music can be a lot, especially if you love drum & bass and just want those bits. So, we made sure you could stream and download Jaxtella's mix, which features cuts from Kid Drama, DJ Andy, The Upbeats, Urbandawn, and many, many more. Stream and download this one, and check out the full tracklist down below.
Tracklist:
Redpill - Hold It Like That
TR Tactics - Vision (Disphonia Remix)
Prolix ft. DC Breaks - Beat Down
Vowel - Pulse
Kid Drama - Dredger
Urbandawn - Roundabout
Fa11out - Necronaks
Kusp - Shook
Black Sun Empire & State of Mind - Ripsaw
The Upbeats & Rockwell - Gamma Ray
Stoner - 1984
King Of The Rollers - Running Man
Zombie Cats - Reflection
Rizzle - Memory Glitch
Benny L - Rough Edge
Chase & Status ft. Cutty Ranks - Retreat2018
TC - Test My Gangsta
DJ Andy - Keep Rolling
NC-17 ft. Replicant - City on Fire
Proxima - Localize
Mob Tactics - Crazy Hype (Annix Remix)
Dossa & Locuzzed - Cargo VIP
I don't care how late these episodes are; they stay dropping. That said, here's the latest episode of rockthedub radio, featuring our favorite cuts from August of 2018. We kick it off with a mixed bag hip-hop and electronic beats, featuring Armand Hammer, Murlo & S-Type, Silkie, Black Collar Biz, and plenty more. Jaxtella hops on for the second half, dropping a gaggle of drum & bass from the likes of Kid Drama, Vowel, Prolix, Chase & Status, and plenty more. You know the routine.
Stream below, download via iTunes, and check the tracklist down bottom.
Tracklist:
01/Travis Scott ft. Drake - Sicko Mode
02/Black Collar Biz ft. Dame Dolla - The Get Back Is Amazing
03/Apollo Brown & Joell Ortiz - Decisions
04/Armand Hammer - Hunter
05/Milo & Elucid - Milk Drunk
06/A$AP Ant ft. A$AP Rocky - Mario Cart
07/Quavo - W O R K I N M E
08/6LACK - Nonchalant
09/Kodie Shane - Sing to Her
10/Young Thug - Chanel (Ase Manual Remix)
11/Murlo & S-Type - Make Believe
12/Nuff Pedals - Hang Glide
13/Gorgon City ft. D Double E - Hear That
14/Silkie - Reevea
15/Tsuruda ft. Alix Perez - Heat Wave
talk break
Jaxtella In The Mix:
16/Redpill - Hold It Like That
17/TR Tactics - Vision (Disphonia Remix)
18/Prolix ft. DC Breaks - Beat Down
19/Vowel - Pulse
20/Kid Drama - Dredger
21/Urbandawn - Roundabout
22/Fa11out - Necronaks
23/Kusp - Shook
24/Black Sun Empire & State of Mind - Ripsaw
25/The Upbeats & Rockwell - Gamma Ray
26/Stoner - 1984
27/King Of The Rollers - Running Man
28/Zombie Cats - Reflection
29/Rizzle - Memory Glitch
30/Benny L - Rough Edge
31/Chase & Status ft. Cutty Ranks - Retreat2018
32/TC - Test My Gangsta
33/DJ Andy - Keep Rolling
34/NC-17 ft. Replicant - City on Fire
35/Proxima - Localize
36/Mob Tactics - Crazy Hype (Annix Remix)
37/Dossa & Locuzzed - Cargo VIP
When I sit back and think about how many artists from the drum & bass scene I've personally seen flourish, it makes me proud. One duo in particular went by the names Hobzee and Zyon Base. For a period from about 2007 to 2011 (give or take a few years), they saw their material end up on imprints like SGN:LTD, Fokuz, L Plates, Samurai Music and Inside Recordings, back when there were a litany of labels to drop tunes on. At some point, they realized that their respective sounds fit together (so much so that they needed a proper name, Silent Dust), and in 2011, they started their own imprint, none60, which not only highlighted their own work as a duo, but has featured gems from the likes of Sinistarr, Dexta, Sina., and many others.
It's been roughly seven years since they dropped their self-titled album, so it only made sense to link up with Andy (Hobzee) and Dan (Zyon Base) about their latest album, Listen to the Night, which features rockthedub alum like Zilla Rocca alongside DRS, Jon1st, SelfSays, and Illingsworth.
One of the biggest changes between when I first discovered these two and their roles as producers and label owners now is the evolution of their sound. Many might chalk that up to the overall collective shifting of definitions of what "genre" truly means, but to Dan, he says that it's more due to "having a label" itself, which he says "really changes the way you approach making music."
"Even subconsciously," Dan continued, "if you are always looking to impress someone else you will move your sound towards the accepted norms or whatever is currently in vogue. It's a lot harder to take risks and have them come off. It's just human nature when you are trying to get exposure for your music that you will create something that sounds marketable. I guess it's the alternative for us now, and that works for me, as I feel I could create tracks that 'work' with little effort these days—and that just doesn't provide much satisfaction. I try and set up situations whereby chance things happen—unexpected things in the studio—and use these to work off. It's generally the accidents or mistakes in tunes that are my favorite parts."
The idea of "happy accidents" in creativity fueling some of our favorite (and most memorable) moments is definitely not new, and has sparked innovations, like how Grand Wizard Theodore accidentally created the "scratch." When it comes to hip-hop, Silent Dust has always made sure that they included emcees in their productions. In my experience, I always figured it would've been harder to get rappers accustomed to their sounds, but Dan explained that these things came together rather easy. "I think the best hip-hop is pretty spontaneous and that's how we've approached these tracks. All the 'hip-hop' tunes on the album were pretty much completed in a couple of hours, and MCs just worked off those initial drafts."
It's also intriguing when you consider that aligning themselves with each artist came from their different dealings in the music scene. Andy says that they got their third track with MC DRS—one of which being a track on DRS' 2015 album Mid Mic Crisis—through the late Marcus Intalex back when their first album was penciled in to be released via Soul:R. Self was an emcee they spotted on a Submorphics track and reached out independently. They credit their longstanding relationship with Philly's Zilla Rocca to Jeff Weiss. "Jeff was a fan of our first album and thought our styles would compliment each other," Andy says, and that turned into the magic they've made over the years, which has since bridged into remixing the likes of Curly Castroand Has-Lo.
They also worked with Detroit's Illingsworth, who dropped his "mostly-instrumental" album, You’re No Fun (with the Denmark Vessey-featured "DnD") on the same day as Listen to the Night.When Ill explains how he ended up on "Beat Fate" from Listen to the Night, it definitely sounds more casual than you might imagine, with SelfSays being the connection. "I think they might have contacted him about us both working on it. I don't remember if they sent a pack of beats or that specific one but, I really enjoyed the one we ended up using for the song. It's a slower beat, which presented the opportunity to potentially write a fast rhyme. It's something that I can do but, it's not my favorite way to rap so, I don't really do it super often."
This seems to be how Silent Dust approach working with emcees; " We didn't really direct them towards subject matter or style," Dan explained. "We wanted their input to stimulate and challenge us, so trying to micro-manage everything works against that idea. There wasn't a conceived concept to the songs on the album really, so the themes evolved pretty organically. The MCs we worked with are really talented guys, and we knew that before sending anything to them, so it's easy to be this relaxed about their input. It was just a pleasure to have them put some words to the music."
So, there you have it. Talented producers picking talented emcees to craft a truly forward-thinking project. It sounds simple, and if you're creative enough, it more than likely is.
_____
Silent Dust's Listen to the Night is available for streaming and purchase via the none60. You can grab Illingsworth's You're No Funvia Mello Music Group.
With the return of rockthedub radio, we got Jaxtella back on the decks for the first of what's becoming many drum & bass sets. His secret is also out: Jaxtella is the dnb alias of Patrice McBride, and from what I'm being told, he's set to really go in with this Jaxtella sound. That appears to be including regular mixes, which you can stream and download to your heart's content.
Need something to help you return to work and/or school? Here's a power hour of insane drum & bass from this summer. Featured artists include Phace, Signal, Hamilton, Heist, Cod3x, and many more. It's a belter. Full tracklist below.
The drum & bass community has been rocked by word of the death of Duncan Bisto, better known to fans as Spirit.
For anyone checking out drum & bass from '96 onwards, something Spirit has done has to have rocked you. While a number of his earlier productions were released via imprints like C.I.A. and Timeless, it was his material with Digital that really cemented his legacy early on, with cuts like "Mission Accomplished,""Remote Control," and the absolute anthem "Phantom Force" coming from their collective studios. Over the years, Spirit not only released material through some of the finest imprints in the scene (Metalheadz, Commercial Suicide), but also set up his own imprint, Inneractive Music, which he continued to drop material on.
News of Spirit's health issues hit less than a week ago, with Digital (who had just recently dropped an EP he did with Spirit over on Phantom Audio) recently sharing that Spirit was in the hospital in critical condition since August 13. He shared that Spirit had suffered a cardiac arrest, and that there had been irreparable brain damage. The family was told to prepare for the inevitable. On Sunday, Digital shared the tragic news that Spirit had passed.
It's also sad when the drum & bass community loses one of their own; last fall, Spirit released a single he produced with Marcus Intalex, who himself passed in May of 2017.
For those looking to remember Spirit, there's no doubt going to be a number of tributes on the way. For starters, check out this interview UKF did with Spirit back in 2017, which looks back at the reasons why he's regarded as one of the best and most prolific producers the scene has ever produced. Spirit was also very active in remastering and re-releasing the Inneractive Music back catalog via Bandcamp; take some time reminiscing through those classics, especially his stellar 2005 album Puzzle Box.
For now, here's a three-hour set Spirit did back in 2016. We also put a bunch of his gems into this Apple Music playlist. Or just check out the mixes we've thrown down below. Rest in power, Spirit.
On Friday, August 24, the AGN7 Audio crew is dropping a new two-tracker from Root for the Villain, a name that you might not be aware of. If you are drum & bass with a tinge of juke, you should be all about this. The single ("Got This" with Jimmy Hoffa b/w "Special Guest") finds intriguing ways to well in that bouncy 160 BPM range while still keeping things rough for the dancehall.
To prep for this mix, and ultimately to get you into his zone, RFTV cooked up a promo mix featuring material from this single, Chimpo, Sully, Dexta, J:Kenzo, and others. Stream that below, and cop the release when it drops on Friday.
I KNOW, I KNOW; I said we'd be doing this month to month, and then dropped the ball back in the Spring. That's my bad. Either way, we're back bringing you our favorites from July of 2018, with an added bonus: drum & bass maestro Jaxtella has returned with a massive mix of treats from last month, featuring everyone from Social Misfits to Need For Mirrors. Of course, I also drop a hodge podge selection of cuts from Blood Orange, DJ Earl, Curren$y and more before him. Hopefully we've returned to form. Don't beast me up.
Bass lovers should remember the name Kyam; we featured a free album of his towards the end of 2017, and have been checking for him ever since. The Cardiff, UK-based producer is set to drop his next album, Underside, via Unbidden Audio on August 3rd. It's chock full of the kind of forward-thinking, bassbin destroying beats that wise junglists desire.
Preview Underside below, and keep an eye out for it when it hits August 3rd.
While Canada’s Profane has always delved into the breakbeat-heavy side of the drum & bass spectrum, his penchant for edited breaks have taken an interesting turn over the last few years. In August of 2017, his single “Drughms” sounded like a gospel band doing a number of different drugs during a recording session, but there’s was an off-kilter beauty to the subversive rhythms he employed.
Profane is riding that sound throughout his latest EP for Digital Wreka, Final Version 38. The opening track, “16 Bar Bullethell,” starts out unassuming enough, and while more understated at first, a guttural wail and an amen break falling down a flight of stairs summons a dynamic shift in tension for the track. “Laundromat Bees” is even deeper, with a thumping kick keeping the time for the lazy, drunken guitars and scattered percussion to fill in the dreamy landscape. The Twitch Mug remix of “Drughms” keeps the same energy of the original, with some more vibrant textures and fresher edits thrown in for good measure. A reprise of “16 Bar Bullethell” closes out the proceedings.
Ultimately, for a genre as progressive as drum & bass has been, Profane has found a way to take the sound back to the future, finding inspiration in the old to shape his sound for the aliens picking over our remains. Hopefully, they will see that there was indeed a soul in the machine, and it sho’ was funky!
If you know me and my love of drum & bass, you also know that I've always represented for the dnb scene here in the States. It didn't originate here, but I've always felt like the producers, labels, and scenes over here have been dealt a bad hand, at times in the grand scheme of things. The Patrol The Skies camp has been showcasing what's good over here, as have producers like Pish Posh, and it's dope to see that they've come together for a new compilations series, Them Vibes, to properly display what the United States are doing, drum & bass-wise.
At 16-tracks, this release spans the sounds of the scene. Pish Posh steps up for a few choice selections— "Set Apart," with DFly, is a rough, in-your-face banger, while "Every Way" is a bit more uplifting and anthemic. The critically-acclaimed Random Movement brings the soulful liquid vibes on his rework of Noisefloor's "My Heart," and this guy MK2 also has some floor-thumping soul cuts on the release as well. Also featured are Voorheez, Echo Brown ("Tunnel Vision" packs all of the bass), and more. You can check out snippets of the entire release below, dive into Pish Posh's promo mix up above, and cop the entire project via Beatport or Juno.
It's not that often that an episode of RTDR lands on this site's birthday, but that's where we're at in 2018. We're talking motherfucking 12(!) years of this site being a thing in some way, shape, or form. We used to do free compilations, but the kids apparently don't download music anymore, so here's a fire hour-ish worth of our favorite tracks from the month of March.
In this edition, we've got a pretty wide variety of material here. Brand spanking new material from The Weeknd, Logistics, and DJ ESCO (alongside Nas and Future) as well as a stellar cut from Blocks & Escher's new album on Metalheadz, cuts from Pac Div, Riko Dan, Ross From Friends, and the homey DJ Taye. You know how WE do.
We're back with our favorites from February; sorry for the delay. There's a boatload of lit rap to start, with new material from YG, Nipsey Hussle, SOB X RBE, and that BlocBoy JB featuringDrake song. We also get into some feisty electronic beats, including new drum & bass from Hybris, Bensley, and Need For Mirrors, as well as gems from Wiley, S-Type, and the Foreign Beggars.
