Review: Aries welcomes us into a new year with a generous eight track version excursion from last year's album Jungle Style and talented refixes come from all angles; Marcus Visionary flips "Jungle Style" into a thundering breakcraft, Filip Motovunski gets his chainsaw out and carves up some sweet skanking roller pie for "On Road", Supa Ape goes breakbeat bonkers in the best possible way on "Jungle Music" while Dr Meaker gives "I & I" a beautiful bouncy take that's not a million miles away from a young Clipz. All this more, Aries road is never ending...
Review: Filip Motovunski continues to chow down into the year with his Jungle Cakes debut. Flexing the label's dubwise signature, his rugged rolls, subtle skank stabs and high voltage bassline bring the message home while MC Spee's vocal rounds off the edges with love and positivity. Looking for a little less grizzle more of a thump to the bassline? Take a peek at Kursiva's remix. Listen up!
Review: A four-track EP from a couple of fledgling artists and split between Rahmanee and Filip Motovunski, this release on Jungle Xpeditions is quite unlike anything out there right now. Unique from start to finish, "Sort Dem Out" is a frantic piece full of trance-like bubbling synths, fast paced drums, a slightly out of place reggae vocal and bleepy melodies. "Sound Of The Police" is another sped up piece of turbo-D&B, whilst "The Montauk Project" is a dubstep-inspired cut full of whomping bass, and then "Obidaya" draws things to a close with more high-octane synthwork and pounding drums.
Review: Bad Taste, despite their name, are one of the most tasteful labels in the game and their furious take on neurofunk inflected drum & bass is still absolutely brilliant. That's what their displaying with their 2020 annual and they've brought through some of their best performing acts to do the job. Malux returns with a VIP of his much loved 'Turbine' and he's rolled things out on this one, adding a few extra inches to the percussion but keeping those iconic stabs in a powerful display of dancefloor energy. Kursiva makes several appearances and 'Nasty' is the best of the lot, as a Break-esque drum line rollicks through the arrangement like a steam train. Big LP.
Filip Motovunski - "Check Out The Vibe" - (4:24) 176 BPM
Gydra - "Megapolis" - (5:14) 174 BPM
Agressor Bunx - "Total Destroy" - (5:39) 172 BPM
Cod3x - "Obey" - (4:55) 174 BPM
Heamy - "Backbone" - (5:01) 172 BPM
Nakwan - "Turn On The Light" - (4:01) 175 BPM
Tobax & Gydra - "Progressive" - (5:13) 172 BPM
Bl4ck Owlz - "Geddo Fonk" - (4:47) 174 BPM
Billain & Vegas - "Shinde" - (7:21) 174 BPM
Review: Black Box Six is a big compilation with 23 tracks on it, all of which fit ideally into the neurofunk-shaped hole that Bad Taste have carved out for themselves within the D&B scene over the past few years. The label has become a reliable, known quantity for purveying dark beats so this release has been excitedly awaited. There's too much to talk about, really. Og particular note is the Teddy Killerz remix of Malux's 'Turbine', a dirty halftime remake of an already filthy original. Agressor Bunx bring the goods with 'Total Destroy', and Matys & Trilo's 'Undertaker' has so much force that it's arguably the best track on the LP. If you like your dirty D&B this isn't to be missed.
Review: Can we get a 'wicked?' Jungle Cakes continue to team up with some of the biggest donnies in the game with this latest Welcome To The Jungle collection. This time curated and fronted by the General himself, as you'd expect this is a full-on jungle assault that covers every single angle and every single era. 47 tracks and one killer mix, hosted and toasted by Levy himself, this is one of Jungle Cakes most comprehensive collections to date: From the foundation-setting, historic vibes of "Incredible" through to contemporary bangers from the likes of Kursiva, DJ Hybrid, Jam Thieves, Benny Page and all things in between, everyone involved has delivered something special. Massive.
