Review: This is a unique release of hip-hop influenced soul and funk drum & bass, tailor made for the relaxing lifestyle of Venice Beach. There are fluttering breaks, whispering basslines and endless minutes of voluptuous soul, which roll out alongside touches of menacing vocal to really add some oomph to the release. 6Blocc has killed this collection, and his remix of 'Time 2 Shine' is packed with retro 90s vibes, as spoken samples hover over an instrumental of pure vibes. Wonderful stuff.
Review: As always with the legendary production styles of 6Blocc has provided us with some sizzling flavours on this spicy, extensive new refix collection, taking the title 'Dub Marley'. Reworking numerous works from the most famous name in reggae music, 6Blocc does what he does best, pulling older tunes into the here and now through a combination of junglist and dubwise production approaches. The project as a whole is pretty exceptional, with numerous classics from the late great Bob being thrown in for multiple recreations, including 'Forever In Dub', 'Revolution, 'Ganja Gun' and more. For us there are a couple of clear standouts, with the '140 Steppers Remix' version of 'Running Away' and the highly energetic drum skips and breaksy rolls of 'Stir It Up' being the two that immediately jump out from this impressive selection.
Review: If you're looking for an album packed to the gills with authentic, fractious dancefloor drum & bass and jungle then Cali Jungle 3 from 6Blocc is the one for you. It's a superbly diverse piece of music, that moves from the reggae-infused rolls of 'Ghetto Galactic', to the stepping junglist vibes of 'Street Sweeper', to the funky touches of 'House of Music'. It's a massive 37 tracks, and so there is plenty for you to bite your teeth into. Lovely.
Review: Deep in the Jungle continue their onwards march with this, the seventh edition in their widely acclaimed Anthems series, a compilation that always finds the ideal mix of current and future talent to showcase. In the case of the former, well-travelled producers Epicentre and Kumarachi roll things out and tear them down on 'Light Em Up', which features a gnarly array of interlinked bass nodes and torn low frequency sonics, al underpinned by a percussion section that's the perfect blend of rusty and sharp. New talent emerges in the form of Trobe and Mirage, who have their first label release with '89', although you wouldn't have guessed it based off this tune's razor clean percussive edge and expert use of space, a hard thing to get right and one this pair blow out the water here. Rave samples, expansive basslines and a synth arrangement you won't be able to shake - unmissable. 34 tracks later and Deep in the Jungle have nailed every single one of them - big ups.
Review: It's a shame how little drum & bass makes its way across the Atlantic from the good ol' US of A, but Digital 6 are one of the labels which truly excel at flying the stars and stripes. This compilation seeks to push the junglist sounds of a country quite separate from the jungle itself, and with that in mind the curators behind this particular endeavour have done a fantastic job. It's a fresh take on the time-tested formulae of the 1990s, and it's summarised best by Cubik 1 on 'Anything', which sees rough and tumble breaks fall over their heels into the welcoming arms of soulful sampling and vital atmospheric tones. There are too many artists to list here considering the tracklist reaches a mighty 34, but just rest assured that this is a proper jungle album you'd be silly to miss.
Review: Digital 6 are coming out with a really unique EP from 6BLOCC, who has taken it upon himelf to give Jay Z the bootleg treatment across six different tracks, all of them classics like New York State of Mind and 99 Problemz. The former of those is a real highlight of the EP, with those eminently recognisable piano chords floating out across the top of some naughty breaks and Jay Z's famous rapping skills. It's a slick release and one that will definitely please any of you hip-hop heads.
Review: Lion Dub have reached a decade of activity. A decade! To put it in perspective, if someone was born the year Liondub started, they're about to enter high school/secondary school. It's a crazy achievement and one matched by the craziness of the music they have on offer to celebrate, a four-part journey through their past, present and future. This instalment is all about their past and it's exemplified best by Serum's VIP of Sound The Alarm, a Liondub classic, which Serum has flipped into a characteristically badboy, stabbing little roller. The vocals float above in a haze of reggae smoke, whilst the beat pulsates below. Awesome stuff.
Review: Digital 6 are doing us all a favour with this release, simply because the big old US of A desperately needs more representation in a scene that is dominated by the European players. Although this is obviously in part because the USA has less D&B fans, the more American music in play the faster this is likely to change. Stateside Junglism 3 is a jungle heavy, breaksy release that doesn't take many prisoners. 'Murda Music' by Shamanga, featuring MC Zulu, is a perfect example of this, as his vocals lead you in with a distinctive reggae tone before a broken drop emanates with some serious force, subterranean wobbles abound and it's an all-round moody listen. The rest of the LP is just as strong - big up the Atlantic crew!
Review: You shouldn't like things because people tell you're supposed to... But in the case of 6Blocc's two-part homage to one of the best TV shows to be made in the last 10 years we suspect you'll love it. If you know Blocc's MO, you'll already have this in your cart: a deep dig into the series haunted 80s sonic aesthetic weaved together with stacks of jungle motifs and mischief. No stone left unturned; cuts such as "Get Out" hit with deep dungeon finesse while others such as "Mindflayer" go straight for the soul with lavish pads and overwhelming amounts of emotion and others like "Portal" taps back into the original rave foundation that set the framework for everything we love today. 6Blocc smashes it again.
Review: The Blocster is on a roll right now! The next in his recent slew of concepts that's included homages to Biggie, Sade and Marked For Death is this bulldozer set of Stranger Things-inspired jungle translations. It's business from the off as "Contamination" and "Demigorgon" hit with Hardware-like brutality and don't hint at the more celestial 80s synth themes Stranger Things is more associated with. The darkness continues throughout whether it's the nail-biting tension of the electroid thumper "The Exit", the pranged-out pressure of the Dread-style "The Lab" or the barbed dream arpeggios of the title track itself. And this is just the first part!
Review: Following crucial homages to Biggie and Sade, the inimitable 6Blocc continues to dig deep into his concept vibe, this time with an album built around the Steven Segal movie Marked For Death. As always with the Bloccster, we're nose-deep in jungle territory with a lot of savage breaks, gritty bases and neck-break cuts and edits and the paranoid, edgy sounds fit the samples; both "Johnnie 2019" and "Hatcha" have an especially unnerving 93 vibe to them, the Shabba-stacking "Roots & Culture 2019" hits with all skanks and sirens blazing and "Screwface 2019" doesn't so much as live up to its name but rather reaches out of the speakers and physically screw your face up. And that's just a very small selection from another exceptional and deeply considered collection. Does 6Blocc even sleep? Machine!
Review: Wowzer! 6Blocc is on a roll right now as he follows up his hench Biggie versions album with another humungous package dedicated to an absolute legend. This time it's the unmistakable sunset dulcets of Sade. Come-to-bed eyes at the ready, any of these will get hearts fluttering but highlights include the Bungle-style star-gazing twist of "By Your Side", the light-footed skips and woozy sheen of "Haunt Me" and the big sweeping string lament and sudden twist of "King Of Sorrow". That's barely the tip of this soul iceberg and he's also included a fat stack of breaks from the originals. Get creative with 6Blocc by you side (not sorry)
Review: It was all a dream. You used to read Word Up magazine, Junodownload up in the limousine... And 6Blocc whipping up the jungle versions collection we've been waiting for. Known for his crafty bootleg science, here we find 6Blocc levelling up once again with 15 gully grinds of Biggie's finest. Hightlights front, max, flex and pack from every corner: the sublime soul of "Big Poppa" gets an upbeat lift, "Flava" is flipped into a low-slung purring roller with molten horns and woozy vibes laced deep into the groove while the seminal "Juicy" is given a poignant twist that hits just as hard Biggie's lyrics. And that's just the tip of iceBlocc; serious flavour in your ears...
Review: 6Blocc clearly misses the October fun times of Halloween, because they've come out with this Halloween themed EP in the month of...March. Either way, with the current state of the earth every day may as well be Halloween, so it's not untimely. What it is, however, is seriously moody and desperately dark, each inch of this release is laden with jungle stomps or low-frequency shudders and it all lands very well. 'Killer' is the heaviest of the release, the least jungle but the most aggressive with its grating, metallic conception of force. 6Blocc then runs through a string of junglist riddims, all of which deserve a look. Spooky stuff.
Review: 6Blocc's Digital 6 gives 2017 the final KO punch with this impeccable collection of US jungle through the ages. Digging deep into the original melting pot sound with some beautiful attention to drum detail, every single cut hits with future-shocking authenticity. Captain Mordrum's "Junglist Renegade" is a breakcore dreamboat, Doctor Genesis rolls out the breaks with a slurring sense of mysticism on "Dreams In The Jungle", Indradevi flips the Oriental rock switch with head-turning results on the totally unique "Step Away", OG Natty Rulers gets 2017 mindwarp flip on "All About To End" while RAW gets busy with a variety of mates for a speaker shattering finale. 27 examples of thoroughbred American jungle... And this is just volume one!
