Back catalogue: Drum And Bass/Jungle

Review: South Korea junglists representing! Following a series of more house / beatsy focused missives, Sambo up the tempo for this Seoul breakbeat showdown. Local donnies Slowpoe and Kim Han get busy on 'Soju Skanking'. Big reggae licks and a sing-along chorus (even if you can't speak Korean), this is a warm-as-toast weapon ready for the summer. Setting the energy for the EP, the rest of the 12" stretches its legs in all directions; 'Groover Han' takes a deeper twist before more associate breakers join the fray... Noah1luv deconstructs the funky beat on the rock-inspired/early 90s inspired 'Def Leppard', SGSY remixes his jungle band Kom Agens into a super warm lick while DJ Funny lays down the real head-turner of the EP in the form of the heavily emotional 'Hot N Cold' before Yetsuby brings the EP to a dreamy-but-skatty close. Sweet.

Review: No production outfit keeps a pace of output quite like Vibez '93. The latest four-track record from the shadowy d&b profuser now hears them summon sampled echoes of A Tribe Called Quest and Digable Planets respectively, culling choice acapella selections from the debut albums Low End Theory and Reachin', exegeting the former's titular theory for a hard transpose into sheller drum & bass. 'Electric Relaxation' and 'Check The Rhime' are blown out across a two-side jazzstep liquescence, while 'Cool Like That' and 'All Night Long' make for finer-brushed summer steps.

Review: The latest EP from Rotterdam drum & bass outfit Vibez 93 is a peaking roll-tastic high. 'Tokyo & Paris' spatters four liquid d&b tunes of various shape and size, with 'M38' opening on an anthemic note to contrast the dynamic liquid sub squirms of the A2's 'Green Eyes'. The B1 hears a sampled verse breezily cruise the Italian Amalfi Coast, before its foil emerges on the hip-d&b title track closes on a stoner-step homage to European travel, soundtracked by the sounds of a concrete jungle.

Review: Soul Jazz Records marks the 18th anniversary of this seminal album with a stunning limited-edition red vinyl reissue for Record Store Day 2025. Fully remastered and expanded with new tracks, the compilation dives deep into the early '90s roots of jungle, ragga and drum & bass and coms on strong from the off with enre-defining anthems like General Levy's 'Incredible,' Cutty Ranks' 'Limb By Limb' and Congo Natty's take on 'Under Me Sensi'. They all make it a high-energy trip through a revolutionary moment in UK music and this version comes with extensive liner notes, interviews and rare photos making it both a crucial historical document and an essential listen.

Review:  Halogenix's label levels up in a major way here as he invites a whole troupe of talents over to Gemini Gemini for some heavyweight underground bubblers, bangers and bliss-outs. Those on the hunt for dreamy deep cuts should head for Fonts introspective stepper 'L.U.V', Azotix's 'Back Seat' and 'Monty & Indira May's 'The Motion' while those looking for something a lot darker and meaner will be all over the pure growlage of Koherent's 'Mercurial' and Quartz's thundering 'Strike Anywhere'. Complete with tracks from the likes of Zar and Verbz, Satl & Styke and En:vy, this is a very promising series from one of d&b's most authentic and consistent operatives. Resplendent in its white splattered vinyl. Join the club.

Review: The indomitable Rex Club first opened in the 1930s as an art deco style cinema, and was later converted into a nightclub space in the 70s. After a healthy dose of acid (house) hit the club in the late 80s, nothing was the same. Some ineffable juncture saw the club transition from house into breakbeat and drum & bass, serving partygoing Parissiennes only the best rollers via its A dedicated Audiotechnik soundsystem. These were dubplates that would've otherwise only been on rotation across the channel. Reopening after the pandemic, Rex now celebrate a return to good business with a 2xLPs' worth of solid breakbeat goodness, etching d&b contributions from Aquarian, Phume, Tek 9, Goldie and Hidden Orchestra onto the marble of French d&b history.

Review: There are basically two types of anniversary compilations: the humble retrospective, packed with classics and significant musical moments from the past, and collections of all-new music that showcase where an imprint is at right now. Predictably, Planet My founder Mike Paradinas AKA U-Ziq has chosen the latter option to mark the occasion of his legendary experimental label's 30th birthday. There's naturally plenty to get the blood pumping and the synapses snapping across the 25 tracks on show, from the skittish IDM of Jlin ('B12'), mutant future-boogie of Venetian Snares ('Drums') and hard-to-pigeonhole excellence of Falty DL ('Usually I'm Cautious'), to the chopped-and-screwed r&b of Bae Bae ('Living In The Memory'), Nik Colk Void's industrial gunk ('A Tough Design (demo)'), the glassy-eyed D&B/ambient techno of Xylitol ('Nevada') and the sample-rich instrumental hip-hop hedonism of Luke Vibert ('Bullet Drop').