Review: It's WAR: Deep In The Jungle charge forth with another battle set that features some of the label's heaviest prize fighters. Shells across the spectrum: duck and cover as Epicentre's supersized warped bass jungle slapper "BIG" comes flying upside your noggin, Veak's awesome samplecraft on "Heavy Load" sends you into a hazy spin and the total drum hurricane on Sound Shifter's "Urban Style Formation" knocks every puff of wind out of you. Elsewhere Soul Defiance's "Pariah" coats you in sticky napalm bass before drying you off with soul-stirring pads, Crinnion traps you with a drone sub pincer movement and Sikka provides the final blow with some of the eeriest bass textures ever heard on DITJ by way of his Kumarachi remix. These are the dubs you are looking for.
Review: The second chapter in Deep in the Jungle Anthems 7 is upon us, and there is yet another cacophonous blend of fractious jungle riddims inside. Drawn from artists across the scene both old and new, this LP is the second leg of a journey that's pull you deep through the spiky, rough edges of a the jungle. The crashing force of K Jah's 'Quest' is a good example, as repetitive breaks needle their way into your soul amidst a wobbling sub and jazzy samples. Bish is on remix duties for label boss DJ Hybrid and his tune 'Badboy', which samples possibly one of dance music's most iconic film lines and does so amidst a relentless, rolling instrumental. Sick - there are over 30 tracks inside so get involved.
Review: The man, the myth, the monster... Kumarachi returns to one of his strongest stomping grounds Deep In The Jungle for a furious four piece of amen addled action. "Sound Boi" sets the hair raising tone and pace before we're treated to a whole cavalcade of collabs.... Newcomer Veak joins the fray for two stinking space gazing work outs while the similarly unavoidable Sl8r brings the badness on the finale "Freeze" where low slung subs worm, wriggle and melt beneath evocative rave pads and head turning pitched drums. Phenomenal scenes as always.
Review: These 3 are some of Manny's best forthcoming talent, a collection of artists who prioritise genuine vibes and naughty head nodders over pretentious introspection or chin-stroking punditry. Hardcore Vibes is an exemplification of that worldview, with four system-shaking cuts of jungle-influenced hedonism that range from the funky to the downright dirty. 'The Masses' falls into the latter of these two categories and it packs a tapestry of different low-frequency slivers and punchy bass notes, all underpinning a raucous set of jungle stutters and vibrato breaks. Wicked stuff.
Review: Let us see your war face!! Just in case the "Ravey Misbehavey" collection on his Audio Addict imprint wasn't enough this week, DJ Hybrid has also blessed us with this killer "Jungle Wars" series edition. As always the vibes are high with each track rolling like a 10-strong trip to Holland. Highlights include the dancehall damage of Euphonique & Kelvin 373's sticky icky "Hot Spliff", Veak's rusty break gut-puncher "Nuff Respect" and the classic rave stabs and thundering drum work on DJ Hybrid's "Stand Up".
Review: Don't be misled by the title: this is no thrown-together 'greatest hits' package but rather a 40-track label showcase from DJ Hybrid's Audio Addict label, coming complete (if you opt to buy the whole album) with a fast and furious, 52-minute mixed version by Canada's RMS, aka Paul Currie. Tracks come a mixture of relatively new names (Martyn Nytram, Saffire Dubz, Confusious) and more established players (LJ High, Scartip and of course Hybrid himself), while stylistically the album touches on various different D&B sub-genres, but with the emphasis always firmly on cuts that are built to tear up the rave.
Review: Deep In The Jungle is a UK based label dedicated to resurrecting the jungle stylings of yesteryear and bringing them back to their rightful place: front and centre of the dancefloor. Next up on the label are Canadians RMS & Veak with some hard drum and bass steppers on the Foundations EP, which undoubtedly give a respectful nod to the old school. From moments of fierce darkside breakbeat science as heard on "Fiyah Burn" or "Amen Props", through to the title track or "Hear It Come" which use late '90s reference points such as Dillinja or Loxy & Ink.
Review: Run Tingz are a Bristolian crew with an ever-expanding pedigree in the unique blend of Dub, jungle and D&B that comes out of the city. The sound there is honestly like nowhere else and these guys really capitalise on it, their releases always strike that balance between fun and seriousness and they land hard but also chill out at the same time. Salaryman and Veak team up for this one and it's all very sick stuff, especially 'Ghetto Youth', which combines some slick lyrical business with a fluid, wobbling back end. 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 appears that the Ghetto Dub Recordings team has assembled one hell of a roster for this one as they unleash the fully unmixed version of the Dubz: ReRubbed album project, allowing us to enjoy each and every tune in its full majesty. We find the perfect balance of high intensity dancefloor danger and more stripped back rollers throughout the compilation, from the Phibes remix of Wrecked from Vinyl Junkie & Sanxion giving us a gritty, synth lead smackdown to the much more junglist inspired recreation of Java's 'Screwface' from Aries. There are a few standouts throughout this eclectic selection, including Epicentre's monstrous sub-driven rework of 'We Up There' from Bill & Ed, alongside Veak's neurotic overhaul of Subcriminal's 'Mack 10' and the system rattling recreation of Flat T's 'Proceedings Closed' from Durban. What a selection this is!
Review: From Bristol to the world, long-standing jungle collective Run Tingz wrap up 2020 with a serious jolt of positivity as they take in the internatty landscape and bring the full crew and many new faces together for this album rammed to the rafters with original - and largely vocal - dancefloor skank-ups. Highlights are instant as the opener 'Beautiful World' sets the vibes to stun. Elsewhere 'Lava Mouth' with Junior Morgan fuses savage breaks and disco stabs, Jinx and Deanie Rankin go for some proper gritty late 90s Dread vibes on 'Hooligan' and Cru newcomer Dublic dishes out a serious grumbler with the Total Science-style 'The Streets'. These are just the tip of the iceberg. Go global or go home.
Review: 10 years deep and counting; DJ Hybrid's Audio Addict are celebrating the big milestone with a whole brace of absurd updates on already slamming originals. Digging deep over the archives, the likes of Kastro, Hexa, Rantic, Dunk, Shayper, Zoro, Epicentre and many more all get their grubby mitts on some serious Audio Addict classics. Highlights include Zoro's brilliantly bubblesome old school twist on DJ Hybrid's 'Mix & Blend', Crossy's spacefunk bass grunts on his remix of Kartoon's 'Soundboy Surrender' and Epicentre's insane twists and touches on his remix of Scattyone's 'Give It To Me'. And that's just the tip of the remix iceberg. Huge shouts to Audio Addict for 10 years of ardent, loyal service!
Review: Doe, a deer, a female deer. Ray a drop of golden sun. That's The Sound Of Music, circa 1965. Boh, a banger, an absolute banger. Whey, a drop of golden gunfingers. That's the 'Sound Of Nuusic', circa right about now as the Manchester based label let rip with their third V/A experience. Now an annual thing for the label, it's their biggest collection yet as it's super-charged with blaze-ups from the best in the new-gen game. From Sl8r's opener to Conrad Subs' grand VIP finale by way of cuts from the likes of Teej, Sola, Kuma, Epicentre, Kumarachi, Motiv, Selecta J-Man and many more on-point future headlining names, this isn't just the sound of Nuusic, it's the sound of now.
Review: All time original jungle label outta Caledonian Road, London, is 24 Karat, a platform that since its inception in '94 has tirelessly delivered all matter of drum and bass that over the years has morphed through hip hop, grime and trap while remaining a central port of call for UK club culture. Deep into 2020 the label presents Heavy Hitters: Volume Two - a 23-track large compilation that brings back productions from new signings Armada, DugBass, Destiny and Sasha Khan ("Soundclash") to established regulars and in-house pioneers like DJ Direkt, Keith Patience, Pablo G and label boss Danny Styles. Introducing new flavours from the freshly signed H2O and Juxt with the dreddly "Danger Dubs", other highlights include DJ Direkt & Faysha's demented "Killa" alongside the the grubby dubs and rave of Dugbass in "The Lies". It's a knockout.
Review: Deep in the Jungle have emerged as arguably the biggest standout new jungle label in recent times and, off the back of their growing family of artists, they've decided to try and represent both where the label and the genre are in 2020. With artists from DJ Hybrid, to Conrad Subs and beyond, it's a statement of intent from the imprint. The music reflects that intention as well, with jungle sounds throughout but punctuated with that modern, sharper edge that we've come to expect from our newly revitalised scene. DJ Hybrid's 'On A Riddim' is the best example, as a punchy bass note streams out of a bedrock of clattering breaks, whilst we're seriously digging the rolling reece's of 'The Rhythm' by Conrad Subs. All of these are proper percys.
