Review: Joining dots between two sounds that came from the same mindset and very similar streets and cultural context, Influence Records have curated something incredibly special here with 'Diaries From Detroit'; a VA collection boasting some of the most talented names across the D&B generations from Seba to Conrad Subs. All exploring those cold futuristic aesthetics that both jungle and Detroit techno share, highlights can be found at every twist and turn but you'd be crazy not to check the likes of subtleties and immense subs of A Audio's 'Mercury', the ice cold grumbles of Lynx's 'De-Tro' and the shimmering dub techno influences on L-Side's powerful 'Point Of View'. What a collection.
Review: War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing... Except the outstanding Jungle Wars concept from DJ Hybrid's Deep In The Jungle camp. Nothing but pure fire from across the board as each artist works hard to bring their heaviest cuts and sharpest breaks to the ring. Mixed up by Mrs Magoo (who also collaborates on the track 'Big Bout Ya') the whole vibe and energy of this collection hits harder than 100 Fantazias. Highlights include Conrad Subs' super-ravey 'Wildstyle', Euphonique's 'No Problem', ODF's piano-slapping 'Good Times' and Plasmator's lesson in ruffness 'Bad Boy Sound'. Show us your war face!
Review: The Subster returns to Nuusic with some absolutely wild burn-ups right here. 'It's The Way' sets the levels with a classic vocal sample that all card carrying junglists and ravers should recognise. It's backed by plenty more heat as the EP title track goes all out on the breakbeat gullyness and one of his biggest cuts so far - 'Bump & Grind' - gets an on-point VIP twist. Finally Myth joins the fray with a crucial take on another Conrad classic 'Conviction'. Ipswich representing!
Review: Conrad Subs chows down hard this month with a brand new label Koba and it starts right here with 'Swayze'. Taking a leaf out of the Sub Focus book of production, it's an all-out dancefloor melter with a big stomp factor coded into the groove. For balance and a cool sense of contrast, he's also included a VIP of previous walloper 'Dance' where the jungle vibes play the lead role. Powerful stuff; no one puts Conrad Subs in a corner. Roadhouse!
Review: Somewhere on a dancefloor far, far away... Deep In The Jungle rallied up the troops for another bout of highly competitive (and exceedingly gully) Jungle Wars. The results were a high energy shoot out of historic proportions as all artists brought their very best to the battle. Here we have three fine examples as three artists, all very much on top of their game right now, lay down more teasers ahead of the album... Conrad Subs brings a little hardcore fever with the feels-heavy 'Wild Style', Epicentre's 'Cantankerous' will have you running to mumsy while Euphonique delivers one of her hardest hitting, warp-frenzied tracks to date in the form of 'No Problem'. The force is strong on these ones!
Review: Boh! A banger, a Nuusic Banger. Vibes, a drop of a gully, son! Nuusic bring the sounds once again with this fourth edition of their VA series. Loaded with exclusives and new remixes and VIPs, it brings the whole Liverpool / North Wales label's family together, highlighting the wide-armed provocative consistency throughout the album. Highlights include ELLM's Danny Byrd style VIP twist-up of 'Soundboy', Arkala Dre's slinky prowler 'Pirate Radio', Epicentre and Guzi's devastatingly huge and ironically titled 'Little Roller', the creepy tension and eerie feels of Geekcroft's 'Turn It'. The list goes on and on...
Review: Smoking sounds right here as Big & Heavy live up to their name and go for gold with this all-star VA cast of ridiculously on-point artists ranging from Conrad Subs to Tenner Dee. High in all the best intoxicating ways, flavours range from the all-out fire and venom of Ikon B's 'Turning Into Monsters' to Bill & Ed's mischievous jazzy tear-up 'Know What I Need' via DJ Direkt's early 2000s-style bubbly bass swagger on 'Boss' and the low slung, Sofa Sound style grunts and flicks of Pandora's 'About Tonight.' All this and 16 more fuming tracks, this is one pack of smokes you do want to pick up. No filter!
Review: Ting when you're winning! US soldier SuM makes his Maad debut with this powerful four track pack. 'The Darkest Shadow' brings a little hip-hop drama to the jungle with its aggy vocal over bulbous beats. It's back by some serious dark designs: 'Simple Distortion' bumps with that mid 90s Urban Takeover flavour, 'This Means Something' is pranged out slab of twisted funk before he closes with an exceptionally jilted remix of Conrad Subs 'Pow Pow'. Hard crew, this one's for you!
Review: DJ Hybrid's Deep In The Jungle slams straight into 2022 with another blazing collection of past releases, all curated and packaged together with the super sick stylings of one of 2021's runaway DJ success stories - Frenetic. Renown for her crucial three-deck blends and premium energy, she's the perfect match for the label's megamix as there are so many wounders and blinders to get through. If you know the label's output you'll already know this but just in case you're new to this Deep In The Jungle malarky, expect nothing but premium modern day breakbeat badness. Highlights include RMS's purring 'Streaks & Blurs', Toby Ross's mischievous '170 Style', Charlie B's 'Rave Up' and DJ Hybrid's tongue in cheek skank-out 'The Last Bumbaclaat'. Anthemic.
Review: Get ready for the eighth instalment of 'Deep In The Jungle Anthems' with an all-star cast as the label bossman calls in two close allies and super-skilled kindred spirits. First up is the powerful 'Give It Up' where Hybrid goes toe-to-toe-to-toe with Conrad Subs and Mrs Magoo to sculpt this perfectly bubbly late 90s Die-style bouncer. Elsewhere the bossman goes it alone on the turbo charged slap-about 'The Last Bumbaclaat' before Conrad closes the EP with 'Keep Breakin' which is a huge head nod to the legacy of Aphrodite and Micky Finn. Bring on the album!
Review: Portsmouth-based label Murky Digital returns with another collection of moody, dark, rolling and steppy drum & bass and jungle, curated by label chief founder Elsta. Highlights include: DJ Direkt's subterranean roller "Claret", Yatuza getting mental on the neurofunk trip of "Seeing Things", the ever reliable Conrad Subs steppin' out into the darkside on "Sketchy", while more expansive UK flava comes in the form of Guzi & Agro's grime crossover "The Dirty South" (Guzi remix) and with names like Malicious & Bass Antics you'd surely be in good hands right? Their offering "Talk & Chat" ticks all the boxes.
Review: The unstoppable, ever-flexible, super-dependable Conrad Subs barges his way onto Influence with two of his more leftfield work-outs just in time for a new lockdown. '2am Breakbeats' lives up to its name as our focus is fixed on the fractured drums and the ever changing switches. 'Timelines' meanwhile is all about the spacey cosmic themes, loose roomy breaks and gentle jazzy undertones. Influential.
Review: Wooi to the oi, Camo Tribe look back over this strange old year we call 2021 and compile the biggest and baddest of their releases on this one collection. Weighing in 56 tracks, there's a lot to unpack here with far too many highlights to mention individually. But with a spread that ranges from the high end trills and high voltage energy of Smokin' Keys' 'So High' and goes all the way the timeless subby fluctuations and dubby vocals of Temper Dee's 'Lion Hart' via the dreamy rave pads and thunderous bass of DJ Uniques' 'A Little Love', you know there's something for everyone. Camo: hiding in plain sight, vibing with plain hype.
Review: Following up some great releases recently on Original Key and Liquid Bass, Ipswich-based DJ and producer Conrad Subs is back this week on Deep In The Jungle with his new one entitled "Calm". It's a proper old school junglist roller featuring the lyrical skills of MC Neat, and some beautiful soulful vocals by Sammie Hall. Despite the title, the Jungle mix is more of a techy stepper with an early aughts sound to it, and we liked it all the same. Also featured are some instrumental versions for your rinsing pleasure.
Review: Conrad continues to lay down supreme contemporary dnb jungle as he returns to DJ Hybrid's Deep In The Jungle with this very handsome six-piece. 'Gold Selection' says it all as a big soul sample brings the heat over a rolling, rattling breakbeat. The rest of the EP maintains the high level with big moments like the overwhelming sub rumbles on 'Let's Jungle' and an overdriven roll-out that's so bad-ass, you'd think it came out of Bristol around 97 on Dope Dragon. Bossman Hybrid joins the situation for a super-smoky sign-out on the sax-tooting 'Wings'... Watch out for that late entering bassline twist!
Review: Conrad Subs has been consistent with his assault over the last few years, doing damage on a whole gamut of labels from Deep In The Jungle to Liondub International via Nuusic and exploring a whole range of styles and vibes. But this debut on Break's Symmetry feels like a real step up. Famously operating a very high quality control, a co-sign from Charlie Break is a massive compliment... Which is reflected in the weight and flavour of these tracks. 'Cool Off' is a bubbly stinker with shades of jungle and little echoes of squidgy bass while 'Gross' buzzes and vibes on a more cosmic flex. Big.
Review: The man, the monster, the machine: Conrad Subs returns to his good pals Murky with this feisty fiver tracker. As always with the Ipswich heavyweight, the vibes flex with fury across the board. Peaktimers will be all over the icy stabs and riffy energy of 'For So Long' and the Fraser-fronted aggy blaster 'Movement'. Those looking for woozier sensations will enjoy the likes of 'Swish' and the pure grit and twistedness of 'In Your Arms. Meanwhile people looking to absolutely flatten folk should jump straight on the ridiculous slices of 'Cluster'. We've been waiting for sounds like these 'For So Long'.
Review: Nothing old, nothing blue, nothing borrowed, all things NUU. Once again the Nuusic crew deliver with another EP designed to make you shout 'Crikey!' quite a lot. Pairing up High Frequency and Conrad Subs, the whole collection bubbles across their solo pieces and co-labs: 'Nation' is big warm skanky banger, 'Ignite' purrs with tension and drama, 'Give It To Me' is a hype-inducing full-thrust ravey shake-down while High Frequency's remix of 'In Check' finishes the EP with nothing but a fat jacksy bassline and sweet shakers sent from heaven. Check in and ignite the dance today.
Review: Camo Tribe have been surfing the radar of true school drum and bass now for two years now, who again rise to the surface with a a 22-track large compilation. Full of unique artists, monikers, aliases, collaborations and pseudonyms, Camo Tribe's expression comes through low key urban junglisms like C.E.'s "Are You For Real" next to UK hardcore and rave in S-Man's "Clash Tings". You'll find an undeniable classic edge and retroactive refreshments in numbers by Destiny, DJ Evil E and Conrad Sub, to the devilish dubs of Jumanji, Danny Styles "Get Mad (1996 Unreleased Dubplate)" and DJ Direkt.
Review: DJ Hybrid continues doing bits for the scene as he lays down this massive 31 track selection on Deep In The Jungle. Reflecting exactly where the mother genre is at right now in 2021, he's dug deep for a whole range of flavours, including a few cheeky exclusives. Every track is a banger but you'd be mad not to check Crom and Rider Shafique's theatrical slap-about 'Change', Xav's mind-blowing shock-out '1993', Mrs Magoo & DJ Hybrid's stripped-back and purring 'Back To 96' and the absolutely foul behaviour of Kumarachi & Epicentre with 'Patterns'. Trust us, this isn't even the tip of this jungle iceberg - cop it and bop it!
Review: The ever-unavoidable Conrad Subs returns to Maad Ting with another brace of steamroller shock-outs. 'Nothing' sets the tone with its eerie jungle feels and epic break switches before 'Black Monday' twists things up with a bubbly tubular bassline that's not dissimilar to an old Die vibe from the late 90s. Further on we hit the title track 'Seismic' and get thrown off our feet by the Basement Track style bassline and classic house vocal lick before '5th Symphony' goes full-on ghetto with its stampy bashment vibes. Last but not least 'Every Day, Every Night' closes the EP on a stripped back subtly soulful flavour. Plate shifting business.
