Review: Put this release on, close your eyes and you can almost see Boomtown: the sprawling crowds, the bucket hats and the fat stacks of speakers undoubtedly blaring out something that sounds a lot like Asbo's The Hardway Volume 10. A combination of ragga jungle and harder flavours, this release epitomizes the feel-good yet moody take on music so common to this side of the scene. 'Bass Rodr' rolls and rolls, with Break-esque sub-bass dives and growling sine wobbles that beautifully transform into rowdy jungle. 'Soundbwoy Down' features some more chilled out jungle atmospherics that still pack a punch, once more containing a switch into naughty breaks. The other track - 2min Man - is also properly wicked, including Daddy Freddy on the mic. Top stuff.
Review: Fifty tracks from Ghetto Dub. We'll repeat that; FIFTY tracks right here from the Bristol badassery stable! Fresh from the stashes of SR, Kumarachi, Aries, Vinyl Junkie, Conrad Subs, Octo Pi and many more on-point junglists across the generations, many of these tracks are brand new and all of them are heavier than a night down the Weight Watchers. Highlights include Conrad Sub's skanky groaner "Good As Gold", Jaguar Paw's utter filth session "Southside", Jay Aftermath's gnarly tech/soundsystem hybrid "The Jungle" and the pure rave purrs of Vinyl Junkie & Sanxion's "Outlandish"... But that's not even touching the sides of the fifty track attack. Dig deep and get rolling.
Review: You can have things the easy way; you live a sheltered existence, have everything served to you in pretty little parcels with bows and ribbons and listen to cheesy manufactured pop music. Or you can have things the "3 Hard Way" and slapped in those cheeky chops of yours by one of the most on point new talent championing labels in the jungle / rollers game right now. We know which path we've chosen. Listen to these three stank shock outs and you will too... Durban comes with those eerie downpitched rave keys and classic soundclash vocals, Jaguar Paw gets his spacious shake on while Asbo regular Rassterlin closes with more stabs and an all out vocal on "Magazine". Read all about it.
Review: Celebrating four years - and biting into the new year in the process - Asbo's soulful little brother Anti Social take stock over the past and brings it all together with scope and surging soul. Repping the full circle and full family of artists, the album flexes from the deep dream synth breathing of Basic Forces to the heavier, party-shredding styles Skinley via the lean, steppy punctuation of DJ Westy and the bare moods of Mr Explicit and beyond. Highlights include, but are not limited to, Expicit's thuggish droning lash-out "Destruct", Venom's junglised shock-out "Saw" and Westy's orchestra murker "Eclipse". An generous collection considering how proudly anti-social these cats are... Here's to another four years.
Review: Choices: You can do this the easy way or "The Hardway Vol 6". Pick the former and your life is simple but kinda unfulfilling. Pick the latter and you're rewarded three killer jungle jams from everyone's favourite antisocialists. Jinx gives Durban's remix of Savvanah a complete rinsing, Vinyl Junkie, Rachael EC and Boomah's "Fade Away" is the sound of a beautiful sunrise at 172BPM while Choppah cuts us down a peg or seven with the super-skank slammer "Tuff Sound". Hard times call for hard ways.
Review: 48 tracks? Asbo you are truly spoiling us. The quality is as high as the quantity too; a selection of Asbo classics and brand new flavours we're taken from smooth silky rolling soul such as Westy's "Making Moves" and jazzy V-style thunder like Savannah's "Glide Away" to hurricane amen depth (Dawn Raid, Gold Dubs & Jinx - "Old Fashioned") and classic mid 90s style jump-up ruffage (Cabin Fever's remix of "Raw Dogs") via warm-as-toast dub soul a la Vinyl Junkie & Sanxion's "Talk Too Much" and Daffy's beautiful "Love Dub". And that's only an eighth of killer cuts on here. Easily one of the best tenners a junglist can invest this month.
Review: Fractured Jungle. As if jungle wasn't fractured enough, along come longstanding Savage Rehab don Symptom and all-round jungle whore Durban. Between them they've cooked up four immaculate retro-flexing documents. F"Listen" wouldn't have gone amiss on Reinforced in 93 while "Rock The Disco" taps into the b-boy badness of the Ganja Kru circa 96 and "Shapeless" is all about the BC-style bass, epic hoovering fills and tungsten-tipped skanks. Gold trophy goes to "We've Been Expecting You", though... An absolute madness of tune that squeezes 30 years of hardcore down into one sizzling 174BPM bombshell. Explosive.
Review: Any jungle is festival jungle when dropped at the right time, but if you're looking for out-and-out skanky bumpers that guarantee arena meltdowns look no further as Vinyl Junkie and Rachael EC have selected 48 (yes 48) cuts that promise to raise all kinds of bodily temperatures, noises and movements. Serum's wobble-funk "Rat Trap VIP", Rob Blaze's system-slaying "Sound Boy", DJ Hybrid's Headz-style drone bass snake-wrestler, the iconic rave vocal emotion on Vinyl Junkie & Sanxion's "Ninja Bizznizz", Billy Bunter's chaotic dancehall skanker "Killa Sound".... We could list the highlights for days on end. An epic collection.
Review: Asbo and sister imprint Anti-Social collide to curate the ultimate break compendium: 26 of both label's strongest tracks (and, let's face it, all their releases are pretty hefty) here we find ourselves smacked by the ageless amen magic (Ricky Tuff's remix of the classic "Stamina"), iced out by sudden synth blasts (Westy's "Jungle Law"), massaged by abyssal subs (Cloak's "Stereo") and given nonstop nightmares by the dark designs of Sterling Sound's "Predator". Other highlights include the paranoid stretches and bends of Durban's "Dark Room" and Symptom's neuro-slapper "Transmission". Trust us; this collection isn't messing around.
Review: DnB Radio's second label Plush has had some impressive artists grace its books since its inception. Pushing the intelligent, deeper sounds of drum and bass, this EP looks to showcase some of their ethos, as well as providing a platform for some seriously intelligent newcomers to sound their battle cry. Paperclip launches straight in with the icy breaks of "In My Dreams", a solid techy roller with plenty of attitude. From his addition to the compilation, Durban definitely casts himself as one to watch with the oriental vibes of gorgeously flexing, neuro nasty "Infinity", featuring the smooth vocals of Ella. Shivaxi offers some respite in the calming deepness of "In The Moment", where ParaDigm's glitchy, intensely-studied "Modern Fortunes" acts as a half-time counterpoint to the EP's fast-paced d&b heart. Meek Odyssey bubble and brew a Bjork-influenced soundscape; Mr Mann adds some twinkling beauty and final track "Pheadra" offers some deep lulling bass to soothe and comfort. A seriously accomplished EP from some exciting new talents.
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