Beatman and Ludmilla – Inka (Backdraft remix) March 30, 2012

While it would seem every man and his dog might have worked on this track at some point, it doesnt mean that the track feels disjointed. No this is a seriously rocking breakbeat track with all the stuff you could ever want. A really crisp, kick ass break. There is a dark as hell growling bassline that is out to hunt you down in whatever corner of the club your hiding in and the synth sweep is the icing on the cake. A seriously rocking piece of tuneage.

Strange Rollers – Preachin Jazz [2012] March 27, 2012

Caught this banger on Billy Daniel Bunter’s Monday Music podcast and what a tune it is, easily one of the best tracks ive heard in a while. It is most definately channelling the likes of Alex Reese, Earl Grey with the heavy Jazz slant but manages to make it sound ridiculously fresh. The break is super clean, the vocal stabs are perfect but that jazzy vibe is pure bottled sunshine. Absolutely perfect.

Nico Featuring Makai – Omen [1997] March 2, 2012

Oh my gosh! Talk about dark, this one hunts your nightmares at the best of times. A cracking dark drum n bass track from Nico and Makai, with one of the longest buildups in history I reckon. What, 4 minutes of scare your gran strings and bass before the beats kick in like an assault from some slasher flick. Again, not much else to say, its golden era DnB, filthy and distorted, full of bass and malevolence. What a cracker!

Ray Keith – Special Technique [1996] March 2, 2012

Ah Ray Keith, what a legend, not many people mastered the darkness like Keith. This track is vintage Ray Keith too, with its light choppy breakbeat and brutal wobble basslines designed to ruin your speakers. A cracking cut of proper drum n’ bass this one.

Intense – Prophesy [1995] February 14, 2012

Another cracker from Rugged Records, this was the A side of the excellent “Chronicles of Intense Vol 1″. Nothing but solid rolling amens and dark basslines in this one, even if the beginning leads you to believe otherwise. In fact the track kicks off with some really great string atmospherics and a cheeky little breakbeat before the drop kicks in and off you go. A genuinely perfect Jungle tune. The amen work is absolutely flawless from start to finish, successfully managing to be choppy without being irritating. What a tune.

Earl Grey – The Lick [1995] February 14, 2012

What a corker this track is. I had it on “Future Funk” (Its still in the Garage Dad!) a bloody excellent album of DnB and downtempo classics amongst other things. This is most definitely one of the stand out tracks on there, one of a core few really top shelf jazzy “Intelligent” Drum & Bass tunes. The track didnt really see a whole lot of club play, I think I heard it a few times in the chill out lounge at Goodbye Cruel World but for the most part, this is a track for the car or your lounge at 1am. The bass is pure and the break is clean and absence of any over the top synth work just make this a minimalist classic for me. Fantastic, The Lick indeed!

Freestyle & DJR – Ten 44 (1993) January 31, 2012

Whats say we get some hardcore around these parts? This cracker was caned by Sy, specifically at a great Dance Planet that I had a dat from. It takes the piano riff from a Thompson Twins track of all places and is the very definition of an uplifting piano track. The rest of the track is standard fare hardcore, choppy riff and banging breakbeat. But that piano just dominates the tune and thats no bad thing!

Alex Reese – Candles (DJ Pulse Mix) [1996] January 6, 2012

Absolute classic, this got absolutely caned, summer 1996. You couldn’t move for it, it was on the most underground station you could tune to right through to Radio 1 and Leicester Sound! Definitely a showcase of the sounds of the time, the jungle was still firmly on the underground with the “intelligent” sound dominating 96 and 97. Did it help those summers were baking hot? We may never know but I’ll tell you this, there aren’t many tracks out there that bottle the sunshine like this. Awesome.

Earl Grey – Oblivion Express [1996] January 6, 2012

Another cracking release from Earl Grey on a heavy Jazzy DnB tip. Crisp breaks, crafty rolling basslines and truckloads of jazzy piano. Nothing not to love here, crank it up, make sure you bass is warm and you have a beer in hand. A tune to kick back with for sure.

Adam F – Dirty Harry (Grooverider Remix) [1997] December 20, 2011

You have to hand it to Adam F, fully respect for Colours, its one of the genre defining Drum & Bass albums ever released. More so to have the good sense to use Grooverider’s remix of Dirty Harry as the one that makes its way onto said album. This really is 6 minutes of pure perfection. The introduction is the dogs, the easy wind up steppin’ business of the first 2 mins and into that cracking breakdown just sets the whole track up for some serious head nodding and shuffling. There have been a ton of remixes that do this original cut proud but nothing beats the original remix! To be honest, I cant actually say ive ever hear Adam F’s original, unsurprising considering how massive this track is.