Drum & Bass Recommendations July 2016

Review: Seba is up there with Break, Total Science and S.P.Y when it comes to that perfect tight-rope walk between dark and light. Following some recent devilish drumfunk pieces, he's dipped back into golden liquid with the help of smoky horns, lilting Calibre-style pianos and the delicious dulcets of Jenna G. "A Little Close" continues the cloud-chowing vibe with a light-footed arpeggios, surging pads and woozy, yearning vocal. The stuff dreams are made of.

Review: Nonplus began trawling through the Source Direct back-catalogue in early 2015, serving up essential reissues of acclaimed '90s jungle classics "Black Rose" and "Approach & Identify". Here, they revisit 1996 smasher "The Crane", where punchy jungle drums and Reese-influenced sub-bass come accompanied by woozy chords and creepy electronics. As with Nonplus's previous Source Direct reissues, the B-side boasts a contemporary remix. This time round, it's Brooklyn techno mavericks Inland & Function (Infrastructure New York, Ostgut Ton etc.) - whose careers began around the same time as Source Direct - delivering a radical but appropriately clandestine interpretation.

Review: It's about time... Fresh off the heat of his Trevino album, Marcus returns to the D&B source with a full-fat foursome on his label's spotless Four:Fit series. Each cut a 24 carat diamond, shining in its own special way: "Mixed Bag" is a DRS-polished soulful addition to the ever-growing halftime annals, both "Step Forward" and "Stingray" are brittle two-step heads-down headbutts while "Jupiter" is an amen-rattled jungle shake-up. Timeless, deep and spacious; Marcus never fails.

Review: Boddika's NonPlus label commenced a programme of Source Direct reissues last year, pairing up tracks from the seminal UK jungle act with fresh remixes from some well-chosen contemporary artists. Blawan and Demdike Stare lent their distinct sonic sensibilities to the first two Source Direct 12" reissues last year, whilst Berlin techno type Inland was handed the hard task of reworking "The Crane" for the latest. To accompany that 12", NonPlus have secured an alternate version of "The Crane" which was allegedly uncovered on an old DAT Tape by Boddika and SD's Jim Baker. It's given pride of place on this one-sided 12" with the extended and stripped down take a must for any Jungle collectors out there.

Review: Vibez almighty! Another skank-packed doublet from Dutch soundsystem crew. This time Gunmen and Mystic Pulse are at the controls... The former gets his digidub dancehall vibe on with rapid-fire MC toasting and booty-busting halftime switches ("Greetings") while the latter carves out a soulful sun-kissed shaker that skanks so sweetly it could make Aries blush. Highly limited... Don't sleep.

Review: Celebrating 20 years of CIA (and switching from The Funky Technicians to Total Science) Quiff and Spinback have curated an almighty album with some of their label's most popular artists alongside a bunch of label debutants. Here's a taste of the LP with DLR's sinewy tech take on Quiff's 93 agenda-maker "Champion Sound", a sultry slice of piano gold from Calibre and dubbed out stepped jam from the guys themselves as they pay homage to the likes of Digital and Spirit with "Respect Due". Immense.

Review: Here comes Detboi! On Metalheadz! Oh sh*t, waddup! Dos McGouran has been crafting his own take on dark, grimey street music with a hardcore edge as Detboi for almost a decade now, getting his break via On The Brink Recordings. After a prolonged association with Herve's Cheap Thrills label, McGouran threw something akin to a curveball last year with the Scatter 12" for Keysound, and here's another with the Joyride 12" for the mighty Metalheadz! Apparently introduced to the label via Paul 'Spesh Request' Woolford, Detboi actually gets the honours of sharing the studio with Goldie on title cut "Joyride," a ruff sub-130 roller! "The Hunt" sees Detboi on a solo tip, pairing up crisp percussive textures with dark as you like sub-bass and killer vocal licks.

Review: Original Special Branch badman and current Rupture roustabout, Threshold lays down the jungle law with four soul shattering slammers: "Don't Ask Me Why" carefully balances pummelling drum edits with dreamy chords creating maximum contrast and scope but "Cavernous Heart" isn't quite so forgiving due to its hurricane detuned synth stabs and classic Reinforced style ice. Finally "Blizzard" whips up an immense drum frenzy that will leave you dizzy for weeks. The stuff of legends right here...

Review: Survival & Script keep scuffing up the D&B landscape: July 1st sees the release of their debut LP The Orkyd Project... An album many of us have known will be game changing since they arrived on the scene two years ago. First, though; the samplers... Here Naomi Pryor softens the toxic grit of "I'm Gone" with her gutsy, soaring vocals while "Yours" is a much more carnal affair with its tribal drums and deep, dark grumbling groove.

Review: Total Science are one of the rare acts who have consistently delivered innovative music every single year since first emerging in '92. The very same can be said of their label CIA when it launched four years later. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Total Science have recruited kindred spirits from across the generations to contribute with equally forward-thinking cuts. Every artist delivers something special; S.P.Y gets ways deeper than he would on Hospital with "Be Strong", Calibre surpasses himself with his cool combination of sci-fi and soul on "The Trot" while The Invaderz work up their frothiest drum frenzy to date. 20 years is a long time in any game... In drum & bass it's several lifetimes. Both Total Science and CIA have soundtracked each one.

Review: Five men on a violent mission: Dutch trio Black Sun Empire and New Zealand duo State Of Mind have been collaborating since 2008 with consistently huge results. Following last year's "Until The World Ends" comes another quartet of hurters; The Audio-on-steroids "Thug" was the first to be unleashed earlier this year to rapturous response. It's now joined by the equally gnarly "Pull The Trigger", the Tiki-fronted punk-like "Skin Crawler" and the metallic techno odyssey "Kill That Noise". Violence never sounded so good.

Review: TMSV is hitting it hard this year. This is his third jungle-flecked release in as many months, having smashed it on Artikal and Rua Sound earlier this year. Now he's delivering the goods on Om Unit's Cosmic Bridge... And it's every bit as raw, choppy and dizzy as you want it to be. "Over Out" fires with relentless drum edits and vocal processes, "Torpedo Riddim" is lesson in molten lava bass, "King David Riddim" is all about the percussive textures while "Rolla" lives up to its name with some precision sample magic and kicks that bowl for days. Super sharp stuff, TMSV have been on such a roll.

Review: A juicy liquid soul cherry atop an already delicious D&B cake, Bcee rounds up some of the most respected troops for the all-essential remix package. With Tokyo Prose, Klute, Pola & Bryson and GLXY on board, the emphasis really is on the word 'essential'. Highlights include P&B's synth shake-up on "Sun Goes Down" and the rampant drum splashes and added dark nuances on the album's title track. Comely.

Review: At last: Phil Tangent's back with his signature space-aged soul. Kicking off with "As Much As I Can Take", Hannah Eve softens the rough bass edges consummately as we rise and fall gracefully in a similar way to that of Integral bosses AI. Further into the wax we glide: "Drawing You" has that rich mid-noughties feel with a succinct vocal sample and layered instrumentation while "Illuminate" emphasises more drum thrust beneath cosmic pads. Deep dreamy and barbed with just the right amount of darkness... Phil's only fault is that he doesn't release as much as we'd like to him to.

Review: American drum & bass is thriving right now and Elm Imprint is right in the eye of the storm with its monthly dispatches. This is the first time they've split artist duties across a 12" and it works a treat... Side A is all about A Sides with brash cymbal-splashing jungle roller while side B is all about the unstoppable Will Miles who pays homage to the 97-era techstep with brittle two-steps, gnarly bass plunges and a classic spoken sample. On-point.

Review: Pure unadulterated jungle choppage from Newcastle producer Champa B: "Reform" has so many edits, dices and splices it could easily be a Paradox record. With full focus on the drums there's just a smidgeon of space for airy pads and velvet subs. These classic signatures are maintained on the B as "Past & Present" subverts a snare roll to the point of obliteration while more dominant chords guarantee rushes for even the most hard-nosed junglist. It really doesn't get any more real than this.

Review: Soul Intent's Lossless imprint continues to delve deep into the underground jungle psyche with three seriously on-point talents. Michigan's SPKTRM lays a really weighty halftime smack down beneath an array of space-age noises. Rupture's Acid Lab nods towards Digital & Spirit's legacy with "Tundra" while Chromatic follow up their incredible "Over There" EP on Innerground with a Hadron Collider-sized stepper "The Machine". Finally label boss Soul Intent wraps up the package with a devilishly techy jam where the drums hit with such metal awe you can taste the rust. This "Hoth" doesn't need hassling...

Review: Four years on from his second album, 2, Hospital's go-to Belgian bass connoisseur Netsky returns with his third long player, the cunningly-titled 3. Boris Daenen has the fine art of the album down to a tee and there is a real sense of occasion about this 11 track epic. Last year's festival favourite "Rio", the Digital Farm Animals-featuring, Brazilian DNB-style is a fine example of the Netksy sound right now and it features prominently here, a beacon to coax people in and experience the further delights of 3 with Chromeo and Emeli Sande also among the cast of contributing names. 3 is energetic, brash, a reflection of its producer's discography, and yet something new entirely simultaneously.

Review: California roller merchants BoS delivered one of 2015's finest D&B albums in the form of The Space Between. Now, as the LP dust begins to settle on the ever-developing D&B landscape, they've recruited some equally talented acts for a series of remixes.... Bcee & Villem twist up the bass and polish the strings on "Satisfy", Quadrant, meanwhile, adds a whole new level of dark drama to the deep dream dynamics of "Kanto" while Method One breaks down the album title track and rebuilds it somewhere off the second sun of Kepler-1647. Dive deep.

Review: Methlab: the agency behind some of the biggest names in tech D&B and innovative events around Europe continue their pact with Vegas & Maldini's Bad Taste imprint with the second instalment of in-house creations. As you'd expect, it's an all-out assault as Current Value leads the charge with a sizzling neuro racer "Pelham 212", the ever-innovative Billain tumbles behind with "Metal Jaws", a loose and frantic cut with drums that really shouldn't make sense, but definitely do. Elsewhere Optiv & Cza get gritty and abrasive on "Sub Surface" while Disprove, Signal and Audeka shove their middle fingers up at the space/time continuum with "Ritual". Brutal.