Back catalogue: Drum And Bass/Jungle

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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.