Review: London label further crank up the expectations regarding their upcoming Rise of the Soldiers compilation with a second digi sampler featuring the collective talents of Saxxon and Bladerunner. A strong figure in the UK drum and bass scene for over a decade, Bladerunner makes his presence felt with the taut jungle rollage of "Into The Fire", a collaboration with DNA. Saxxon meanwhile goes solo with the rugged darkside business of "Radio Raheem" that has some superbly programmed drum fills. The Soldiers' uprising will be strong on the basis of these Natty Dub samplers!
Review: A collection exploring different realms of what new age jungle can mean today. 'What's Up Soul Sister' has the stench of funk pouring through every note, the organic twangs of bass in this baby are beautiful, twangs that Ronnie and his brown paper bag would be immensely proud of. The addition of the strings and piano chords give this a very real vibe of musicality. 'You Have To Wait' see tribal drum and soulful vocal dance across a floor of dampened modern jungle and waves of atmospherics. 'Temple Drumz' see the deep warm bassline take centre stage of the track, what you might not expect is the 70's Kung Fu film style narration and pan flutes.
Review: An important snippet of advice to any would-be raver, "Party Smarty" also happens to be the squelchiest, dirtiest slice of jungle-influenced jump-up this side of the Atlantic. Pushing into obscene levels of skank-appeal, it somehow remains chilled despite having the biggest hook on the block. "Drum Machine" bounces along on a destructive mission to get the world dancing with a seriously addictive bassline and again, a false sense of security that you're being coerced, not forced onto the dancefloor. Big, punchy and lots of fun, expect this to air a lot down your local bass emporium.
Review: Coda on Natty Dub for a single that sits comfortably on the intersection between jungle, jump-up and darker bits, a nice concoction of influences that come together for wicked results. 'Chinese Finger Trap' is fresh and creative, with a skippy, Serum-esque drum line and arpeggiated synth nodes that climb and fall in tandem with each other, forming a hypnotic main melody. 'On The Take' takes things into darker, more jungle territory with a wicked bassline and some lovely stuttering breaks, wrapping up this single in style.
Review: Is a "Fat Cap" a generally large headpiece or a hat solely worn by fat folk? Serious question.... We'd ask Coda but he's too busy in his London laboratory cooking up concentrated jungle chaos to answer us. "Fat Cap" eases us in with a late 90s Die-style Bristol vibe, maybe with a wee dash of Kartoons in the funk. "Krusty Dub" whips up much more a frenzy with its nutty, not to mention relentless, amen chops and defiant, pinched bass punches. Absolute stench.
Review: Sniffing up the vapour trails of his Grid and Switch! EPs earlier this year, Coda returns to Natty Dub with two barn flattening bassline slap sessions. "Power Surge" is a nod to the early 2000s Bristol and V Records sound. Stark, grunting, unabashed and insanely addictive. "Want More" continues the heads down vibrations with another hook bass riff that's utterly infectious but delivered in more of woozy higher harmonic way. Feel the power.
Review: Calling all ragamuffins and roustabouts; DJ Hybrid's 2016 Natty Dub banger gets the treatment from two bonafide roller dons. T>I steps up first with a serious murk of approval as the creepy intro, spoken sample and stripped back nature of the original are maintained but with added clunky drums on the fills and a gnarlier twist to the bass fills. Damageman also maintains the arpeggiated intro but then drops into a classic loose-limbed breakbeat before eventually building into a big juicy synth riff a la BBK circa 2005. Spot on.
Review: Hailing from Coventry, DJ Hybrid has firmly established himself over the last couple of years as someone at the forefront of D&B's re-discovered love for jungle-influences and bouncy but hard-hitting basslines. Drawing upon those influences, he's back on Natty Dub Recordings for a full-throated six-tracker that kicks off with title track 'Push The Dub', a gently weighted sine-based wobbler that pushes on every corner of the range. 'Back in the Day' and '808 Roller' have clear Kings of the Rollers vibes, with juddering bass pulses and that recognizable sense of hardware-based rawness. This release has overtones of Manchester and undertones of the South - proper UK underground stuff.
Review: Half man, half machine (hence the name), Hybrid has been unstoppable this year. Tune after tune after tune for days and they've all been precision delivered with the dancefloor and heads in mind. Here we find him on mean debut label EP flex for Natty Congo and nothing is left to chance as all vibes are licked thoroughly; "Occupational Hazard" kicks with real classical Moving Fusion style late 90s power and some brilliantly tripped out cascading moans, "Lunar" kicks with a Rockwellian ghettotech pace while "Bad Man Culture" rolls with a mild jumpy wobble reminiscent of foundation Bristol. "Turn It Around" brings home the funk bacon with a vibe that's not dissimilar to Break. Seriously.
Review: DJ Hybrid, Jaxx, Cabin Fever, Feline and K Jah... Now that's a modern junglist rollcall you can set your watch by. Every player involved is packing serious heat here too... DJ Hybrid unleashes a rumbling understated groaner, Jaxx gets all jittery and data-glitchy, Cabin Fever get all jazzy and soulful over a massive subby wobble, Feline adds an Original Sin style widescreen brashness to the mix while K Jah takes us back to Bristol for science class detention. Five absolute jammers right here, Natty Dub don't muck around mate.
Review: Hoogs is on the wobbly juice again. Making his Natty Dub EP debut with four of his funkiest classical jump-up blends, this is not to be slept on. "JNGLST" is a vowel-snatching swinger with a hook more infectious than backstage couch, "Chimes" is all about the cascading molten bassline with "Laeddis" gets all warped, waspy and theatrical over a rusty old school break. Last but not least we have "Final Breath", a much sharper, frazzled burn-up with subtle jazzy chords seeping in mid way. Vibes are high.
Review: Fast becoming one of Natty Dub's finest success stories, Jaxx returns with a job lot of sweet sweet rolling gully. There's a sexy simplicity and minimal sense of mischief throughout; "Don't Push It" purrs, "Herbs" twangs, "Take A Walk" groans while "Search Party" jitters and teases. Lean, to-the-point and straight-up funky, this is what properly classically trained drum & bass is all about. Welcome to the asylum.
Where The Root Is (feat Mythz & Golden) - (4:51) 175 BPM
Review: Calling all space cadets, Jaxx is taking us to the moon and we have no say in the matter. The title track is all we need for a springy lift off with its rubber bass and full throttle breaks. Further into our mission "Park Hill" thrusts us through ozone with cheeky vox shots and another elastic molten bass riff, "Forbidden Fruit" brings us down to land on the lunar surface with trippy shards of jazz wrapped around robust percussion-primed breaks while the grumbling basses of "Moving Mountains" bound us around the craters in a moonbuggy stuck in top gear. Finally we take off for home with "Where The Root Is". The journey will be turbulent but the soaring harmonies and cosmic skanks will soothe your intergalactic-travelled ruffled soul. Ready for take-off?
Review: Roller realism: two of Natty Dub's most exciting rising craftsmen collide for two exceptional heads-down grooves. Loose, swinging breaks, juicy subs, stacks of room and space between the elements; these are the ingredients at play here as Jaxx and Dub General get busy. "Out Your Head" has a Shimon-style gutter kicking roughness to the vibe as the bassline scuffs further and further into the ground while "Yes I" is a little direct with brighter drums and more of Serum-style buzz to the bass textures. Both tailored for deep mix pleasure, you can file these under timeless.
Review: Having caused ruckuses galore on Ruffneck Ting, K Jah makes his Natty Dub debut with five straight-up trouble tunes. "Street Trends" taps into the classic Urban Takeover style where a funk-minded bassline is countered by a catchy hip-hop vocal sample. "Down By Law", meanwhile, rides with a hornet nest bassline that persists with midrange mischief and "Got Me" rubs majestically with a jazzy bassline that wouldn't have gone amiss on V back in the day, "Shine Like Gemz" celebrates the importance of atonal bass textures and their paranoid impact while "Now Or Never" closes the show with a clever spoken word sample and a bassline that nags so much and so hard and persistently you could write a whole book of mother in law jokes about it.
Review: Trustworthy source of killer jumpy jungle for some time now, Ruffneck Ting affiliate K Jah is jamming out some crucial vibers on Natty Dub right here. Not just a clever pun in the title, "All Rhodes Lead Here" flips between a heavenly Rhodes hook and a straight-to-business Serum-style waspy bass groove. "Destination" comes from the Warhead school of thought with its shifting bass sweep and insistent and distinctive percussion, "Heavy Hitter" has an A-Sides-style bounce and funk to it while "Get Out Of My Life" climaxes on an all-out badboy jungle brock-out. Serious business - join K Jah's on the rhode to victory.
Review: Bun your diet brands. Scrap the low calorie plan. K Jah's packing some of the creamy goodness and ain't nobody leaving without second helpings. "Full Fat" slaps with a classic bulbous Bristol funk vibe where a chunky Die-like riff, "Furious Funk" with put fire in your belly with its low gurgling turbine style bassline that rises with mechanical menace while "Reputation" is riff-flexing six course banquet of pure unfettered gully. Last but not least "Don't Play Games" serves up pudding. All slimy, sticky and loaded with fatty subs, it will drive both dancefloors and cholesterol levels crazy.
Review: Here we have a vocalist led release from first lady of Natty Dub Regina, she has a distinctive voice witch a natural, gravely tone. It feels decedent and refined, with a jazzy quality, which sits well with piano style and natural clicks in 'Daylight'. 'Fly By' shifts the focus more toward the music, with just touches of vocal adorning the track, the bass is lovely.
Review: Natty Dub vocal queen Regina returns with two more moments of distinctive vocal D&B soul. Tagging up with K Jah for "Another Day", Regina adds a sultry smoothness to some serious ruffneck beats creating a perfect game of shades. "Controlling The Senses" flips the vibe for a much more alluring soulful space jam with dials ably tweaked by Manchester's finest; Dawn Raid. Take control today.
Review: Andezz has done the liquid rounds for quite a while now, having released previously on labels like V Recordings and Liquid V, and his style is always wispy but tough, with the melancholia of all good liquid but without the emptiness of some. Regina joins him to adds a vocal lick to his production and her voice sounds amazing on top of his rolling, piano-laden instrumental base, the track progresses nicely and it's a great example of how liquid producers can strip things back but keep things tight. Excellent single.
Review: Cabin Fever alumni and longstanding vocal legend Regina builds up to her debut solo album later this year with two crucial, hard-nosed collaborations with two of the most respected men in underground drum & bass. "Killa" sees her hooking up with T>I for a fuzzy rolling vibe that's slung so low the bassline scuffs its knuckles in the gutter. "Secrets" sees her teaming up with PA on a techy workout that sits somewhere between Enei and Teebee. Comparisons don't get much better in this field. Bring on the album.
Review: Fresh from releasing their first album, Natty Dub label bosses Cabin Fever and Patman clears space in the schedule for a five track showdown of his own. Lean, spares and muscular are the power words of the day as Saxxon fuses classic late 90s jump up with future jungle and modern production touches. Highlights include the balance of atonal bass burps, the apache break and jazz chords on "Junction", the Sub Zero style bass plunges and classic gaming samples on "Street Fire" and the paranoid low end stretches and twisted soul sample on "Proceed". Complete with a cheeky 40 minute mix, Saxxon is spoiling us right here.
Review: Saxxon has had a wicked past year or so, first with the release of his debut album and then his top-notch EP on V Recordings. Now, he's on Natty Dub for a four-tracker that sits comfortably on the intersection between jungle, jump-up and darker bits, a nice concoction of influences that come together for wicked results. The title track is fresh and creative, with a skippy, Serum-esque drum line and arpeggiated synth nodes that climb and fall in tandem with each other, forming a hypnotic main melody. 'More Dangerous' takes things into darker territory, as does 'Insomniac', and 'Jungle Brothers' combines furious percussion with a ratline sense of force. Big stuff from Saxxon.
Review: More VA manoeuvres from the perennial Natty camp. The label has recruited new names and they're all packing ammo. Label bosses Cabin Fever reboot with old sparring partner Saxxon for an electrified brock-out "Clubhopper" before four acts make their label debut: DJ Hybrid applies a skillishly simplistic and highly timeless bassline stepper, Version cooks up with rattling wasps-in-tin bassline and warped retro sci-fi tones, Sureshock looks to the stars through a pair of Klute's glasses and a soaring big system vocal, while Kenji twists up with a serious space jam.
Review: Natty Dub come at us once again with a double header of pure bass-driven madness courtesy of the man like Serum and Original Sin's favourite Supreme Being. So what's the gist? Ridiculous whomping bass and slick rolling percussion for Serum's "One More Thing", "No One" is Supreme Being's offering, with classic MC sampling straight from the old school landing heavily in the middle of some serious junglist vibes. Nicely done.
Review: This double-sided single from Suv & Jaxx is about as hellish as the dystopic and/or paranormal artwork would suggest. Comprised of devilish sampling, eerie soundscapes and sharp, jagged drum lines, this release hits the absolute spot. 'Spirit' is the steppy, broken cut of the two and after a spooky intro that could be likened to a haunted house, it drops out of nowhere into an impossibly clean arrangement of tight percussive hits and gargling bass pulses. 'Ready' is pacier and is packed with more momentum but isn't quite as dystopic, it's back end arrangements ooze heaviness but also a sense of upbeat enjoyment and pleasure: it's not blackish but still packs a punch. A quality single this and we're looking forward to seeing what follows from these two.
Review: Having established their co-lab strength with "If You Know" earlier this year, Full Cyclist Suv and Natty Dub's homegrown rising star Jaxx team up once again for two honest, timeless jams: "Input" reminds us of classic Bristol badness with a classic riff/bounce bassline and a shaker-sassed rolling break while "No Discrimination" takes us deep into the conscious dub flow with delicious mystic-sheened vocal, a humming Bladerunner-style bassline, shivering pianos and subtle melodic nuances. Beautiful.
Review: Natty Dub welcome the return of the Bristol G and founding Full Cyclist Suv. Last spotted damaging the label with badness two years ago, he returns with his sparring partner Joe Peng on two more sterling workouts. "Bong Didly" rattles with a beautifully wonky vibe that's almost techno in its insistency and seeming simplicity. "Plastik Sea" grabs us hook, line and stinker with its rattled melodic percussion, belching bass and classic dubby FX. Minimal ingredients, maximum flavour; Suv will forever know what time it is.
Review: London label Natty Dub Recordings have become trusted torchbearers for all things junglist over the past three years or so of operation, and their latest offering is a fine example of just why. It sees two heavyweight collaborations, with Suv & Jaxx going toe to toe with Bigga Star and Spreda. Suv & Jaxx are first, riding a hefty line in drums and beats on "If You Know", with the junglist vibes and sampled vocals set deeper in the mix. "Aura" from Bigga Star and Spreda is all about that sub bass heft which will really light up any decent soundsystem.
Review: Fresh from a slew of slayers on their own InnaRhythm and SS's seminal Formation imprint, Yorkshire's finest Sweet N Sikka make their debut on Cabin Fever UK's ever-precise Natty Dub imprint. "Ridiculous" lives up to its name thanks to sharp horn stabs and a rising, croaking Dispatch-style bass presence while "Relative Pressure" hits with more of a subby swing that adopts a jungle-like flow when the claps come in. Insatiable.
Review: If you know T>I's productions then you won't need to read this, you'll already be on them. The man has saint-like status among the very top best roller and riff selectors such as Andy C and Serum. It's because of tracks like these. Each cut hits hard, rattles with funk and is clearly made for the mix. Both "Permanent Marker" and "Absence" really fix our focus on his deeper rolling side, "Don't Stop" switches up a well known break with an understated groaning bass whip, "Rolling With The Nines" takes us on mystical trip, Thresh Hold is freaky creeper with ghostly pianos and strange otherworldly basses while "Move On" closes on a superbly restrained soul stepper that opens out into some beautiful synth strokes midway. This couldn't be more on-point if T>I opened up a knife sharpening franchise.
Review: Hot on the heels of his Souped Up EP comes another barmy batch of rolling blunderbusses from the currently unstoppable T>I. Four slabs of flabby bass fire, each cut hits you right in the loins, soul and solar plexus: "Blue Panda" wriggles with some beautifully loose Bingo style breaks, "Treacle" is as sludgy and bittersweet as its title suggests while "Serve Cold" aims north for the jugular with a crisp groaning slap that's not so much as cold but totally glacial. Finally "Blocks" wraps up T>I's first session of 2019 with a high voltage bassline, trippy textures and some drums so beautifully crafted you want them to kidnap you from reality forever. Another strike from Norfolk's maddest man. Don't be blue, Peter...
Review: Raising tension and attention with every release right now, Natty Dub return with yet another BS-free collection from some of the underground's most respected individuals. T>I loosens the bass strings for his slinked out dark-jazz stepper "Regulate", Hoogs puts all the aces in their places with a precision space-reggae gully jam "R Ting", Coda goes all bubble-bass a la mid 90s V on "Back It Up" and Jaxx & Dub General roll out with pure grumble groove and classic jump up spoken samples. Finally Flat T brings business to a close with a deal-breaking late 90s Bristol-flavoured cut where the spooked-out bass has a life of its own. Immense.
Review: Set coordinates to stun, Trakker's tracked us down again and he's firing at us point blank with two more raw rugged heaters. "Tunnel Vision" is an uncompromised flashback to 99 and prime techstep feels: steppy, distorted and foreboding. "Blanks" is all clipped and buzzy. Swaggering on a wonked out tripletty swing, it's countered perfectly by a series of smoky horns and an overall trippy feel. Natty to the core.
Review: They don't call Trakker 'The Sweet Sweet Gully Attacker' for nothing. Actually they don't call him that at all... But trust us, they soon will when they get a slap around the chops from his Natty Dubs releases. Authentic dark rollage with strong jungle roots; just like his label debut last year - "Tunnel Vision" / "Blanks" - both these cuts hit home like a final notice bill. "Neighbour Snitch" is all waspy and ruthless, stabbing and weaving like 1999 V cut while "The Martian" takes us down a much spookier, bashier tip where tension is coded into big, broad element. Seriously sweet, gloriously gully. Trakker is on the attack.
Review: This epic release comes just in time for jungle's optimum time of year. We're talking, of course, about midsummer raves, outdoor parties and general naughtiness in the sun and "Rise of the Soldiers" has got all that nastiness and more. Packed with vintage samples from the golden days of ragga, reggae and soundsystem culture, and perked up with fast-paced drum and bass riddims and bass heavier than Jabba the Hutt's mama, you can't afford to sleep on this. Featuring Saxxon, Bladerunner, Supreme Being and Coda to name just some, there's enough talent here to get any self-respecting VIP BBQ off to a flyer. Get a shuffle on.
