Anyone who mistakenly thinks all drum & bass sounds the same should dive straight into Troubled Waters. This mix boasts 15 of the Offshore label’s refreshing leftfield leanings, which give equal treatment to both the breaks and the bass. Label head DJ Clever passionately mixes the drumfunk rhythms with no disarray and there is enough variety to keep your ears at attention. Particularly gripping are the dreamlike vocals of Seba’s “Make My Way Home” and the off-kilter noises in Sileni’s “Twitchy Droid Leg.” Definitely a contender for the one of the best d&b mix CDs this year.
Various Artists Two Culture Clash
Electronic producers have stolen countless ideas and samples from Jamaica for years; on the flipside, current dancehall rhythms owe much of their glossy jiggle to continental techno. So Wall of Sound’s Two Culture Clash project is surprising more for its late emergence than its concept: Jamaican vocalists toasting over European producers’ tunes, done in face-to-face collaborative mode rather by tape trades. The result is a tight, organically orchestrated clash between sensibilities. Jacques Lu Cont’s “Na Na Na Na” sets up an aggressive bounce for vocalists Ce’Cile and General Degree, and then spins up and out into a lovely filtered house flourish at the end. Spragga Benz bounces on Roni Size’s giant inflatable mattress of bass, while numerous productions (featuring the likes of Tanya Stephens and Junior Reid) ape the ludicrous syncopation and sparse handclaps of recent dancehall rhythms like Coolie Dance. While no one beats Jamaica’s riddim crafters at their own game, Kid 606 comes close, giving Ward 21 a roiling, martial ragga beat.
James T. Cotton The Dancing Box
Tadd Mullinix is one versatile and scary mofo. After smacking around drum and bass (with Soundmurderer) as SK-1 and hip hop as Dabrye, he transforms into James T. Cotton to delve deep into the dark heart of classic house and techno. But where Dabrye assembled hip hop out of small, clean squares of sound, here Mullinix takes the appealing structures born in Chicago and Detroit and pushes them off-balance with raw bits of noise and repetitive samples precision-engineered to induce nervousness and ecstasy in equal quantities. “The Drain” is acid house gutted and drained, leaving acid lines cruelly ping-ponged between the beats. “Distant Trip” detunes in your ears even as your feet mirror its shuffle. James Cotton’s 808s tick away, but the expected release goes unfulfilled-instead of looking up and waving into the lights, you stare down at the gritty concrete floor with jaw clenched, body pummeled by sound.
Spinn 33 Instant Rhythm Pt1
Martin H and Tony Price add a bit of tech-house stomp to this otherwise radiant techno imprint, with a drum-heavy remix by DJ Misjah. On the original, a neo-electro sixteenth-note midrange synth gains force as white noise washes the mix and launches the delayed keys. A powerful release, yet the meager vocal needs an amplitude reduction.
Southsoniks Aures Serva EP
An old-school, anthem-minded release by French native Southsoniks displays analog synth loops frantically frolicking behind digital pads. The four-voice tremolo modulated lead adds a wobbly yet hypnotic atmosphere, while a stinky bass groove emits that rancid underground edge. Automated clap panning complements the polyrhythmic progression.
The Orb Bicycles & Tricycles
The doctor is back in. Ex-Killing Joke roadie Alex Paterson and cohorts (including Jack Dangers, lady MC Soom T, Kompakt’s Thomas Fehlmann and KLF-er/fellow Orbster Jimmy Cauty) roll out Bicycles & Tricycles. It will never be 1992 again, but the familiar wash of envirotextures and goofy BBC samples is still welcome. Ambihouse ur-fathers Eno and Tangerine Dream are likely proud of the good Dr.’s noodlings with downbeats, leftism and electro-drugs for the auditory tract. And Paterson’s organically altered humor persists into the 21st century through ever-seamless mixes that meld Bomb the Bass with Kraftwerk, for instance. Paterson espouses 12-year cycles-the loopy Orb has come full circle.
Various Artists Palmbeats Vol. One
Island Records point man Chris Blackwell got the word out on worldbeat before it was nifty. His Palm Pictures offshoot incorporated electronic artists, and now Palm Beats merges old masters with new mixers. Volume One revels in all the requisite Latin, dub, Afro-folk, jazz, funk and leftfield styles. Island OGs Sly & Robbie check in from Jamaica, along with Columbia’s Sidestepper, Brazil’s Da Lata, Mexico’s Nortec Collective and Senegalese griot Baaba Maal. The remix crew is notably less diverse, but no less talented, comprising UK beatmasters like Phil Asher, Ashley Beedle and Bugz in the Attic, among others. It’s on a low pricepoint, so not only do you get the best of both worlds, but also a bargain.
John B In:Transit
Whether it’s that cool outfit he’s wearing, his new wave hairdos or his genre-bending modernism, John B rocks drum & bass beats with clear-cut ’80s overtones. On “In:Transit,” B pummels us with an array of monster foghorn basslines, Metalheadz-ish tech-step roughness, blissful vocals that could float gracefully through sets by BT or Oakenfold, and the snarling smeared-lipstick-raunch of electroclash á la Miss Kittin and Adult. Right when the drum & bass movement seems to be slowly fading out, John B shocks us with one of the more cutting-edge albums the genre has ever heard.
Mike Fellows Limited Storyline Guest
Mike Fellows (who has played with Silver Jews, Royal Trux, Bonnie Prince Billy and others) dishes out nine ditties of bucolic down-home folk/blues on a label more commonly associated with electronic minimalism and Warp-ish IDM. Fellows’ twangy voice, gentle acoustic guitar picking, harmonica solos, and the very sparse use of piano, bass and drums makes you feel like gorging yourself on chicken-fried steak and gravy, then kicking back on your country porch for a lazy Sunday afternoon jam session.
Various Artists Straight Out Of The Catlitter 4: The Cats Get Remixed
Birthed from the same litter as labels like Manchester’s Grand Central and London’s Ninja Tune, Brighton’s Catskills Records has always been known for putting a fresh step on dance music. The remix compilation idea itself isn’t exactly breaking new ground, but the Catskills crew has done an admirable job in pairing up the artists being remixed with those doing the mixing. Quantic kicks things off with a stellar take on Bushy’s original track buoyed by a rolling breakbeat, while other highlights include the skittish 2-step of Space Raiders and the leisurely basslines that are the hallmark of Bonobo’s studio re-rubs.
