Tim Reaper's Jungle Book // Chapter Forty Three

Adam F - Light Years



Yes, the one the only Adam F, co-owner of Breakbeat Kaos and producer behind the legendary album Colours and hits such as Circles, Metropolis, Aromatherapy, F Jam, Music In My Mind and many more. But before all that, before he made the move to somewhat cheesy jump-up and even before he had his big release on Metalheadz, he was releasing tracks the the 'proto-atmospheric' labels Lucky Spin & Dee Jay, the two labels pushing the deep jungle sound along with Timeless, Creative Wax & Good Looking before Good Looking became the top label of atmospheric drum & bass. So, out of all of Adam F's release on the two labels, this one came up as my instant favourite, mainly because of that spine tingling intro, with the chimes, the piano, the pads and that shaker, all just working so well together to create that ominous yet euphoric build towards the drop, which takes a turn into slightly darker territory, where the atmosphere is stripped away and replaced only with an amen, a bassline and the shaker from the intro, with sweeping sounds coming in and out to keep the interest there. But, it gets better, because when the pads come back, they bring with them an infectious panpipe riff and when it breaks down, it just seals the deal on this tune for me. If Adam F could make a return to his older sound, even something as brief as J Majik & Wickaman's one release (Old Headz/The Ritual), I'd be more than pleased. It probably won't happen, but at least I have this to listen to until it does.

FBD Project - Midnight Hipnosis



This track was made by a fairly prominent duo from back in the day, Neil Trix & Watton G under the joint name FBD Project. They are probably more well known for their seminal 93 darkside amen track The Core, but I like to give attention to more obscure tracks rather than talk on tracks that have already been previously talked on by many others, so out of their back catalogue I decided that I would pick this track from 1994, probably my favourite year for jungle. What I like about this track is the roling understated nature of it, with the way the drums are edited they flow very well and just move along nicely, the way that the 808 bassline just gels, if you get what I mean and the pads and vocals just work, they're very basic & simple, they don't amaze you, they just keep the track moving and grooving. Judging by the prices on Discogs though, this isn't one of those cheap rare gems, this is fairly pricey (£20 for two tracks seems ludicrous to a whole lot of people these days) but this is quite a solid release and don't sleep on this or a lot of the FBD Project back catalogue, as they were so consistent with their music, probably one of my favourite jungle duos.