Tim Reaper's Jungle Book // Chapter Fifty Nine

Plasmic Life - Death Trip

We all know about the trend back in the day where old jungle tunes would make use of samples from horror films (Ricky, Johnny & Scottie, to name the main three), but this one was a bit more overlooked than most. This came out on a release on 1994 on Bizzy B's label, Brain Records, which pushed the darker side of jungle, coupled with heavy mangling of breakbeats and this tune is that in a nutshell. It samples of Screwface from Marked From Death, a film from 1990 where Steven Seagal battles with a gang of Jamaican drug dealers, ominous atmospherics, setting spines to chill and some of the heaviest stepping amens around, edited to the point of madness. One thing that I really like with this tune is that the bassline works just right with the amen edits, coming in at the right times, like it's been syncopated and that seems to give it a bit more movement than most other tracks, where the bassline and breaks don't switch and change in tandem, which I think is a nice touch. Bit of info on Plasmic Life, it was one of the early aliases used by Mark Caro, before he settled on his main artists name of Tech Itch. Back in the day, before he found his niche of snarling reeses and rinsing breakbeats, he was making some fine oldskool jungle, with this being just an example of what he was capable of. Also, check out the other tunes on this EP, one done with another producer named Alistar, who I think is still around and another solo track, where Mark shows his versatility by tackling other breaks.

Kenny Ken - The Pied Piper (AWOL VIP)



Kenny Ken is most likely more known for his DJing nowadays than his production, but way back when he used to create the odd tune every now and then, like Everyman for example, which went onto become a jungle anthem and arguably was the main factor in establishing himself as a big name in the scene. But just to pick a different tune he did, there's this one from the rare AWOL Live album, which was mixed on CD, with GQ on hosting duties whilst Kenny Ken, Randall, Dr. S Gachet, Darren Jay & Micky Finn were all throwing down VIP after VIP after VIP. It's a well worth a listen, but if you're lucky enough to get your hands on one of the rare vinyl copies, then you'll be able to get an unmixed version of all the tunes, this included. It starts off nice and calm, standard procedure, setting it all up, getting the crowd pumped with those uplifting pads & vocals, then building it up to that heavy heavy drop, where the amen & sesame street are brought in, the bass kick in, the vocal rolls out over the top and the crowd goes wild. But like I said, you'll need luck (or a large wallet) on your side if you want a copy of this on vinyl, which is the case with a fair amount of jungle releases and it's a real shame.

EDJ Review: Ella Jones - Lately (Fracture Remix) b/w Fracture - Tunnel Track

Ella Jones - Lately (Fracture Remix) b/w Fracture - Tunnel Track [Warm Communications]

Warm Communications is a bona fide EDJ favourite these days. Its previously left of centre approach garnered a dedicated albeit niche following in the scene. Ten years down the line however and the focus of content has shifted slightly to a more widely palatable variant of 170bpm. I think the last three releases have been given EDJ's '12" of the Week' title and even though there have been recent questions raised as to how honourable an accolade that is, it is still very telling as to how popular this label is over in our little corner of dnb.

This week sees label owner EHL bring forward one of the most prolific and forward thinking artists within dnb, Fracture. A man who in the most positive sense appears to be very much in his comfort zone these days and for it is producing some of the best music in the genre both solo and as duos Fracture and Neptune and Compound One. His knack of making the music sound unique, effortless and natural is surely something that every producer aspires to.

Of the latest fruits of his labour, we are first treated to a remix of London based, soul singer/song writer, Ella Jones. The lead track from her recent album of the same title, 'Lately' gets the Fracture treatment. Not the sort of track you would expect the typically gruff sounding funk of Fracture's to compliment but actually the results are very refreshing. The shuffling break led drums are still riding there in full effect side by side with a warm fluent bassline and the sunny side up vocals that are just crying out for the summer months to rear their ugly heads. After becoming so accustomed to focusing on the production values and shear quality of the beats we have come to expect from Fracture (and Neptune) I would say the vocal maybe detracts the listeners focus from the beats ever so slightly. It's like Brian Eno once said.

"It's like with a painting, if you have a picture of a landscape. You look at that and your eye moves freely over the picture. If you put a human figure in there, even if it's just a tiny little one, it becomes the centre of your attention. It's very difficult to ignore that. Humans relate to other humans."

In the grand scheme of things it's not really a fault of the tune, it's not like there aren't plenty of other instrumental F&N tunes out there to indulge in and if you listen long and hard enough the quality is still undoubtedly there.

On the flip 'Tunnel Track' got me most excited. The 808 sub, multi-lateral top end percussion and classic emu squelch basically fuse together all the hall marks of a classic Fracture production. With beats that start at a muffled half time but then drop into a clean cut two step what you're left with is an all encompassing, dance floor friendly slice of some of the best drum and bass music to hit the ground running in a good while.

When you've got dBridge talking about your music, saying things like (of his recent 'The Limit VIP', which by the way is also very much worth your hard earned cash) "Fracture's approach to the tune has set him on a path I don’t think he knew he’d be on. If anything it should be called ‘Limitless’, as the way ahead is full of possibilities.” You know that you don't want to be ignoring anything coming out of Astrophonica, Fracture or any of his associated aliases. WARM021 is simply an extension of that notion and a very poignant one it is too.

Out Now




Words: Tom Root

12" Of The Week // Cern - Raven Row b/w Cern & Sabre - Far Fetched

Cern - Raven Row b/w Cern & Sabre - Far Fetched [Horizons Music]

Horizons Music come as correct as it's possible to be with their latest 12" from New Zealander Cern. More well known for his outings on labels like Samurai and Gridlok's P51 that trod the well worn 'tech roller' path, this outing takes on slightly more left of centre approach befitting of a label like Horizons that has maintained a fluid approach to its output and musical offerings.

The a side is a clattering cacophony of stuttering drum rolls and staccato edits that dominate the mix. To my ear there can be similarities drawn with some old Photek records in the way that the rhythmic qualities of the drums add a certain melody to the tune as a whole. What grabbed many people's attention with tracks like 'Ni Ten Ichi Ryu', to take one extremely obvious and well known example, was the precision of these drums - it was clear every fill, roll and individual hit had been carefully considered and placed where it had for maximum effect, the breaks and drum line in tracks such as this seemed to be carefully and painstakingly constructed tiny piece by tiny piece to give maximum impact to the music. Not that I can find it for the life of me know but I remember reading an interview with Photek not too long ago where he spoke of reaching a point with his music where he was simply trying to push the limits of the precision and 'purity' as far as he could go to test himself as a producer. Slightly meandering analogy aside there is a similarity again with 'Raven Row', as Cern takes all the elements of previous work (big punchy drums, thunderous bass) as pushes them in a direction that is more 'pure' drum & bass than his work up to that point, its drum & bass simply for the sake of drum & bass. Anyone follow? Unlikely, but if you haven't turned away in disgust at me comparing a contemporary producer to the legend that is 'old skool photek' then you may have some idea at what I'm rambling about.

The b side sees Sabre step up on colab duties to continue his sporadic presence in the new releases list in recent weeks. While I for one am crying out for new solo work of his to sink my teeth into there can be no denying the quality of his recent collaborative tracks has been just as good individual music so there really is no cause to complain. For 'Far Fetched' the bpm is dropped down dramatically to somewhere in the 160's at a quick guess. Desperately slow by today's standards of 174 being the benchmark but its gives the track a chance to breath and this space afforded to it does not disappoint. Again, the crisp, sharp drum hits make return but in a more of standard 2-step format. This is far from the bog standard 2-step fodder released in its droves every week though as the droning bass, sci-fi fx and reverbed perc give it an ominous vibe with a nod to the old Metalheadz sound. That last comment is a bit of cliché to be honest but this tune would be right at home down at blue note, you can imagine 'Rider in his pomp battering this. Ahh, remember those times when D&B was fresh, exciting and the 'sound of the future'? If you cant because you were too young (like me) then this a glorious chance to live vicariously in 2012, and for those that were there at the time and still have an interest in the genre (there must be a few) then sit back, get all misty eyed and reminisce. Great stuff all round.

Out Now

Sir Real // Close Your Eyes Mix

Sir Real back with another instalment of melodic soulful beats. If we only we had the weather to match eh?



Tracklisting:
Technicolour, Komatic & LSB – Rotary Motion // Integral DUB
Joe Goddard – Gabriel (Calibre Remix) // Greco Roman
Pro Luxe – Without You // Intelligent Recordings
Smote – Summertime // Innerground
Bungle – Close your eyes // Sonorous
Random Movement – Purple Getaway // FREE
Eveson – Good Times // Channel 82
DJ Chap – Its seems I’m Never // LuvDisaster
Total Science, SPY & Riya – Piano Funk // Mind Vision
Random Movement – Dirt Bobber // Innerground
DJ Marky & SPY – Last Night // Innerground
BCee feat Robert Owens – Keep the faith (Marcus Intalex remix) // Spearhead
Dynamic – Make my heart feel // Fokuz
Komatic – The open Choice // Celsius
Flaco – Choose Me (Insiders remix) // Rubik Digital
Random Movement - Feeling Translated // Innerground
Calibre – Mr Right On // Signature
Ed Thomas & Planas – Breathless (dBridge Soul Steppers Mix) // Exceptional Records
DJ Marky & SPY – Love Affair // Innerground

http://soundcloud.com/sirreal

Tim Reaper's Jungle Book // Chapter Fifty Eight

This week, I'm going to do a special on a very famous jungle label. It was started in 1991, amassing 100s of releases over a period of around 15 years. It even made an appearance on the game Grand Theft Auto III, being granted it's own radio station. Revered inside and outside of the jungle/drum & bass scene, it can be uniquely identified from this logo.



Yes, Moving Shadow, started by Rob Playford, the label that helped artists like Deep Blue, Omni Trio, Foul Play, 2 Bad Mice, Blame, Cloud 9, Hyper On Experience, EZ Rollers and so many more to break through into the scene. Over the course of its history the label released seminal classics like Dred Bass, Terrorist, Lord Of The Null Lines, Renegade Snares, The Helicopter Tune, Bombscare, Thru The Vibe, Music Takes You, Tough At The Top, Soul Promenade, the list goes on. It had an amazing run of releases, always making sure to stay on top of the current trends at the time, starting off with the breakbeat hardcore sound, then leading onto the heavy jungle, which was then followed by a run of atmospheric/jazzy releases, then when AK1200 took charge of the label, it became a bit darker and tech orientated. Whatever sound it chose to release, it always released the best and the label name quickly became a symbol of quality music and unlike a lot of labels, managed to maintain that to the end, even with such a large quantity of releases.

So out of the wide ranging back catalogue to pick tunes from, here are my picks from Moving Shadow.

12" Of The Week // Xtrah - Set The Levels ft. Code:Breaker b/w Regain Control

Xtrah - Set The Levels ft. Code:Breaker b/w Regain Control [Modulations]

After a slightly damning review of Xtrah's last release on Subtitles a few weeks back I thought I would share my continued up and down relationship with the young London based producer's music as he sets off on a journey with yet a another label, Modulations. Over the last couple of years since its creation, Kasra's sister imprint to its big brother Critical has proven to be a healthy stalwart for the deeper musical output that Critical itself now only flirts with from time to time. You may be forgiven for not instantly spotting the differing angles from which these two channels of creativity aim from though. I had to sit back and think about it when putting pen to paper here. It's like Modulations has forced Critical to diversify through a nonchalant occupation of the territory once so dearly held by its sibling. I'm sure it's all part of Kasra's master plan for growth and there can be no denying the increasing weight the group now holds in the scene with a ever proliferating club brand and Kasra himself stepping up to mix Fabric's most recent 'live CD.

That brings me quite nicely onto this release. For those of you that follow the loose narrative of this blog you will have heard our editor giving words of unadulterated praise to Xtrah a few months back. A sentiment echoed by myself and the inverse reciprocated between us when the Subtitles release dropped a few weeks back. Between those two points in time however, Kasra dropped the aforementioned Fabriclive62 mix and contained within it was the stand out 'Regain Control' that now occupies the B side of this 10" piece of wax. It's full fat drums and organic but refined cymbal crashes give it a tactile aura to grab hold of. But it's the bottom end that holds all the value here, the emu-esq squelch on the sub bass proves that you can find this distinct brand of funk outside of that oh so notable duo, Fracture and Neptune. If Xtrah is trying to replicate a stylistic trait here then the words 'nail' and 'head' are two that immediately spring to mind. To me the A side is always going to be left in the wake of the flip though. 'Set the Levels' Featuring Codebreaker is your typical MC laced 'head nodder' as seems to be a sound 'de jour' at the moment. Stepping beats, sinister fx and shakers, brooding bassline and a few token looped bars to boot. I think producers need to treat this little sub genre of dnb with care. A lot of the tracks are beginning to sound very similar. Kind of inherent with such strong characteristics being prevalent but as we have seen with tracks like 'Marka' and the forthcoming 'Never Been' from Dub Phizix, there is still a lot to be drawn from the raw elements that make them up.

So for what it's worth, some redemption for Xtrah through this release. Not that the label is a certain pre cursor to a good tune but with the A&R skills of Kasra behind it you would kind of expect something that at least fits the mould of the contemporary soundscape of today's DnB. Plus Modulations is always one to keep an eye on and this release, even if to me only half of it, goes one more step towards proving that.

Out Now




Words: Tom Root