Maybe a bit too long and a bit too homogenous - and yet I still can't think of a 2010s drum and bass album that sounds like this. Stark, steely break choppage that recalls techstep, minimal DnB and drumfunk but doesn't easily slot into any of those categories. I guess the only easy way I could describe it is if Source Direct grew up listening to Ed Rush instead of hardcore, but even then that's too flowery and sells it short. For those who need something outside of jungle revival's ... read more

Beats the shit out of Follow The Sound like it's the least fair boxing match in history - not just because it's better, but because it's fucking HEAVY, dude. Red-hot ghettotech that pummels like the best Jeff Mills work (no wonder he appeared twice on the Live At The Liquid Room tracklist), with all the blunt vulgarity and hedonism you should expect (with the exception of Weed In My Life, which is a sorta-funny sorta-not cautionary tale). Prudes stay away, otherwise this'll melt your face ... read more

Wormhole gets most of the plaudits (well, it gets most of the attention, at least) but for my money this is the better release - it bites more, the tracks do more with their runtime, the drums hit harder. "Cyberpunk" gets thrown around a lot when it comes to drum and bass, and I think it's apt here, although its vision of the future is perhaps more dystopian than the ambient jungle coming out at the same time; booming breaks underlaying an armada of buzzing sirens, growling bass and ... read more

On one hand, it's disappointing that Todd Edwards is one of the only classic garage dudes to vaguely get their dues on music sites like this, but on the other hand, mixes like this and songs like his remix of St Germain's 'Alabama Blues' (which appears here) prove why he has that hype in the first place. Languid, soul-drenched garage that sorta provides a bridge between the New York house that Edwards grew up with and the UK scenes that took its bump 'n' swing and ran with it. No idea why you ... read more

Had I not known about vaporwave, I probably would've thought 'future funk' sounded like this. Squiggly, neon synths and bass cut-up and retooled into grime-like instrumentals (the 'grime' is easiest to pick out on "Greenhouse (Night)", square wave bass and all) - imagine Classical Curves without the Jersey club elements. And while "Melba's Call" is the obvious highlight (Kelela kills it every time, I swear to God), you could pick out any other track on here and use it as ... read more

The member of Atari Teenage Riot (may he rest in peace) that isn't Alec Empire delivers 60 minutes of blown-out, fuzzy, ready-to-tear-at-the-seams Amen break freakouts. Even when the drum choppage starts getting 'interesting' instead of interesting (which, as an aside, is my beef with most breakcore in general - how it takes the viscerality of jungle and exaggerates it to a point where it becomes a dick-measuring contest), there's a genuine sense of dread that I haven't gotten from your average ... read more

Not as genre-defining as Logical Progression, but it's less slick and more versatile in tone. Bukem's brand of mellow 'ambient jungle' hasn't quite developed into its own scene yet, so tunes like 'Music' or 'Atlantis (I Need You)' rub up against harder, ruffer tunes like Peshay's "Warning". And because this is recorded on tape, the crystalline pads don't shimmer like they would on a conventional Good Looking retrospective. Anyone expecting more clean atmospherics may come back ... read more

Leaner, meaner and harder than the mixtape from last year, while still honing its 'vulgar techno-pop' sound. Vocals this bluntly erotic will make everyone involved in the WAP discourse writhe like a worm, but the beats still pound, and besides, it makes these tracks stand out in a genre so usually po-faced. Dude continues to be the techno diva we need but probably don't deserve.

ZULI takes elements of jungle, footwork, grime and trap, grinds them into a thick paste and smears the remnants across the wall. "Tany" and "Where Did You Go" have the Amen breaks and synth pads commonplace in the hardcore revival scene, but any semblance of a straight throwback is thrown out the window when the former starts sputtering like a car with a clogged fuel filter, or when the latter ditches the pads for bass-fuckery that'd make your average jump-up producer wince. ... read more

The head honcho of PC Music dons a new alias and drops a 20-minute mix mostly comprised of sped up tracks - mostly of R&B hits, but also a smattering of trance and other bubblegum bass tracks. Cameo's Back & Forth is sped up to sound like Sonic background music, Bell Biv Devoe's Poison is sped up to sound vaguely hardcore-ish, etcetera. The transition from a MGS2 soundtrack piece (mislabelled as a Burial tune) to Warlord Loves You is real ugly and ruins the vibe - otherwise it's as ... read more

'Kowloon' is the ominous, airy slow-burner that introduced the Keysound affiliate's new sound to the world. 'Error 808', meanwhile, is more fidgety, adding vocal cut-ups and pizzicatto violin plucks into the mix. 'Kingmob VIP' layers a sinister square wave bassline over congas, but the drumtrack itself is a bit too antiseptic - closer to Pearson Sound than Ruff Sqwad, if you catch my drift.

The real highlight is 'Atlanta 96', which consists of a lilting melody accompanied only by sparse clicks ... read more

Normally this guy is a guitarist for Beach Fossils - y'know, one of those pleasant but ultimately forgettable indie dream pop bands that no one really cares about anymore (to the point where I confused them and Real Estate for a bit) - but in 2015 he cranked out 5 weirdo glitch-hop/bass/wonky/whatever jams under this pseudonym. It's slight, and even at 5 tracks not everything hits, but I still got enamored by these gonzo, glossy textures - especially 'Junktion', which sounds like Jam & ... read more

Meant to write something about this, and considering that it's been a few weeks since they've announced their breakup... I mean, better late than never, I guess. Whatever - if we're not counting singles or side projects like Le Knight Club or Stardust, this 2-hour mix they recorded 24 years ago is the best thing they've done, and I am willing to die on this hill.

In a way, this is what I wanted Homework to be - rough-edged house that brings the heat and the hooks in equal measure. It goes from ... read more

I liked this more about four years ago - back when I took /mu/ charts more seriously and wouldn't listen to techno unless it was prefixed with 'ambient' - but nah, forget it. Grey, gloomy downtempo beats that seem hell-bent on beating into your head how goddamn SERIOUS it is. If the weepy violin showcases don't get it across, then the snippets of Shakespeare text definitely will. The beats boom, sure, and yet so much of it is consumed by mopey soundscapes and signifiers of 'intellect' - never ... read more

It's not hard to see why the B-side has become YouTube algorithm fodder - 45 minutes of blissed-out aquatic jungle released a year before Goldie and Bukem became recognizable names for the rockists, and classics like Renegade Snares and The Helicopter Tune in the tracklist certainly sweeten the pot - but the darkcore-centred A-side isn't a slouch either.

The title's a misnomer - there's not much disco here. Instead, this is a compilation of watery outsider house that lies closer to Roberto Musci than Mr Fingers. I'll admit I wanted more "house" and less "outsider", but I can't complain too much. At its best, it's mysterious and meditative. At its worst, it's pleasant enough.

Creaky, claustrophobic dub with an ominous post-punk edge to it - although this should probably be expected, considering Adrian Sherwood and Keith Levene are both involved here. Recommended if you want more of the dark druggy haze that was present on Mezzanine.

The second best jungle mix with Mickey Mouse on the cover.

If that tracklist (Soul Promenade, The Angels Fell, RIP, Stamina, Grooverider's own remix of Terrorist) hasn't got you squealing I don't know what to tell you.

Roughly two hours of relentless, thumping techno that makes Live At The Liquid Room sound as restrained as your average Villalobos record. Have some ibuprofen on hand because your neck WILL hurt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qqdw_KOeHI

It's like a computer rendering a rainforest. The rainforest is too huge and complex for the computer to fully handle - some of the textures haven't been loaded, there are "ERROR" signs where tree models should be, and it sometimes crashes to desktop - but there's a strange charm to it, even in its unfinished state.