2016 rolling Drum & Bass / Neurofunk / Liquid / Drumstep / Etc.

Hello! I've been lurking round ILM for about five years, and posting intermittently for the last two or so. Generally I find this the best place to find out about new music, especially in the genre threads, but have noticed a complete lack of D&B anywhere. I know, for lots of people Drum & Bass is thought of as something that was interesting in the 90s, since when it's become predictable genre music, with the innovators moving elsewhere - that seems to be the consensus view, if people consider it at all, but I don't agree.

2015 was a great year for the genre, maybe the best since 2009 or 2002, but there wasn't any sign of it here, and once again I was the sole voter in the tracks poll. That's ok, I can understand that it's way off the radar, but I hope I can do something to get it noticed in 2016. Through this year I'll aim to post a track every week, and some highlights at the end. If anyone wants to join in then please do, but if it's just me then I'll just have to deal with that. I'm very far from being an expert on the genre and its many subgenres, but I feel that that's probably a good thing as it can be quite an insular world and categorisation wars are a turnoff for everyone. It can also be an education for me as it's something I've consumed quite passively for the last decade or so.

So, to start, here’s a new release. This one has gotten a pretty mixed reception so far as the D&B community is concerned, as some people don’t like “too weird” and the presence of a dubstep wobble is considered somehow an impurity, but I think it may go down better here. It is also a bit cheesy, but if that puts you off then you’re probably better not bothering with this thread, sorry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3azOuJTZKk

I was a big d&b head in the 90s but haven't really followed the genre since then, I'll keep an eye on this thread for sure! That said, the tune you posted is way hyperactive for my tastes, it reminds me more of the nadir days of drill'n'bass than dubstep... Also, 3 minutes is way too short for a dance track, IMO. Browsing other videos on that channel, it seems they're all less than 5 minutes long - is this the norm for drum'n'bass these days?

Hi Tuomas. I'm quite into 'hyperactive' as a whole, but I'll be trying to put up a variety of stuff, so no worries there. And the track is 3 minutes because it's a preview of a track which isn't out yet, this seems to be the purpose of that channel, think it's long enough to get a flavour but sure the release will be quite a bit longer.

I loves me classic jungle and DnB but have fallen more or less much completely out of touch with the scene in the last decade... Went to a nerofunk night in Brixton fairly recently and was getting into the tunes there. So I'll keep an eye on this thread if anyone posts anything else.

I'm interested in D'n'B. I don't think I particularly love it, but welcome a thread on it. My view of it is that it hit a wall a long time ago and had trouble moving in new directions, but I'm sure someone can disprove that.

my eldest kid (19), frequents d-n-b nights in brighton most weeks.

from his reports, it sounds like the scene is thriving.

i will definitely watch this thread just so i can drop a few names into our chats.

i support this thread. as far as recent-ish releases, i like the DnB/footwork crossover stuff (well some of it), and the DNB/dubstep overlaps, as well as the straightahead tracks like what you get on comps like the calyx and teebee fabric mix, and some of the critical stuff (though i think that can be a tad restrained). what would you recommend from 2015?

what would you recommend from 2015?

Just my own choices, so not as varied as I'd like, and I didn't sample nearly as much as I'd like to this year, but anyway -

This is Etherwood, not that keen on his formula on the whole, but here I think it really works - may appeal to ambient / trance types

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paTIRbODPME

This is Rockwell, more hyperactive stuff, video is hilarious

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdf4pfkztKg

This is Royalston, doing some interesting stuff with vocals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnVQ22rkBDw

This one is Noisia & The Upbeats - it's a bit silly, but I think anyone who's into a genre will know that you love it for its flaws

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owfti2Cz06c

i'm still a technical itch fan and will buy anything he puts out - http://store.techitch.com/ - dark, choppy amen-based stuff, lots of horror film samples.

(although i'm a bit behind because the mailing list isn't what it should be and didn't see the announcements for the last 6 releases. slowly catching up. new biostacis lp?!...)

I find that Etherwood horribly cheesy I'm afraid. The Royalston is alright.

I think I prefer more abstract techy stuff from recent years.

I find that Etherwood horribly cheesy I'm afraid

yeah, aware that some, perhaps most people will have this reaction, and I share it with a lot of his stuff, but in this specific case I feel that he utterly transcends all of that.

all of this is too corny for me i'm afraid, back to the fake jungle thread.

Also, 3 minutes is way too short for a dance track, IMO.

aren't the rules different for uptempo tracks though? a lot of club & footwork tracks are 2 - 3 min.

the 6 min dnb tracks are often just the same 2 minutes repeated 3 times.

Yeah, and that's the point! You want to attach yourself to the groove, familiarize your body with it, if it plays just once and then it's over, that's anticlimactic. There's a reason why most electronic dance music is based on repetition.

but if the tracks are very fast and dense, then there's a lot of repetition within 2 - 3 minutes. it already feels like a long time to stay in one track and DJs play way more tracks per set.

Which DJs? I've never heard a d&b set where the DJ would only play 2 minutes of a track... (Though admittedly I havent been to a drum'n'bass club in 15 years.) I wouldn't enjoy dancing to a set like that, you wouldn't have the time to properly immerse yourself into one groove before it was over.

all those millions of dnb mix cds all have 20 tracks on and last about an hour.

(none of this is criticism btw)

I listen to Bassdrive with some regularity but I don't always keep track of producers or labels unless they really catch my attention. Last year I bought four or five albums, a couple EPs, and a few single tracks. I picked up the Rockwell album but haven't really given it its due yet.

does the Offshore/drumfunk axis of drum & bass still exist? i was really into that stuff a decade ago.

This is nice

https://soundcloud.com/exitrecords/exit063-b2-fracture-deft-i-just?in=exitrecords%2Fsets%2Ffracture-hype-tracks-ep-clips

This is nice

https://soundcloud.com/exitrecords/exit063-b2-fracture-deft-i-just?in=exitrecords%2Fsets%2Ffracture-hype-tracks-ep-clips

Yeah, really into this clip, though I'm concerned that it's shot its bolt a little - unless there's something amazing coming after the cut-off.

i haven't heard anything i've really liked for about two years

last thing i rated was this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA6G5QoEMmU

it's just so sparse, everything on this thread sounds really cluttered to me compared to that

i guess i liked this quite a lot too, jeez almost three years old now where does the time go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtYLo6E5pSU

even something like this, which is horribly corny, sounds much better to me than the stuff upthread, it's just all those little hyperactive fills cluttering up the sound, no space in the music, i can't get with it

https://soundcloud.com/paradox-music-uk/breaker

i like this 90s style stuff from last year, more seasoned heads would know better

https://greenbaywax.bandcamp.com/album/gbbl01-unknown-untitled-12-vinyl

We are a brand new label/collective uncompromisingly putting out exclusively 90s style Jungle & Ragga Jungle. Whilst keeping the tunes fresh, we have the strictest focus towards that golden era sound and a passion for the movement it brought with it. All Junglist & Junglettes Hold Tight!

so camaraderie what do you think of this stuff → the great fake jungle rush of '13

this is pretty dark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbIxcyn7JEo

see that's cool but it's better *before the drop* than after it

wow @ that green bay wax stuff, good find

I've never heard a d&b set where the DJ would only play 2 minutes of a track... (Though admittedly I havent been to a drum'n'bass club in 15 years.)

smdh

has anybody heard the dub phizix fabriclive 84 and is it good? that was the last dnb related thing i thought about buying

Yeah, guess I like hyperactivity, clutter if you want to call it that, and don't really care so much if something is corny - find some of the alternatives posted a little too po-faced and worthy for me on the whole, though agreed that paradox track is very good (and not really corny at all).

The 90s revival stuff can be great (love that green bay wax thing too) but it seems to be a different scene, no harm in posting it of course.

Don't know where to start with the fake jungle thread, sorry!

That Ruffhouse one is good.

has anybody heard the dub phizix fabriclive 84 and is it good? that was the last dnb related thing i thought about buying

― the late great, Wednesday, January 27, 2016 7:01 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

listened to a chunk of this the other day cos I had to write something cursory about him and didn't mind it, found it rhythmically interesting or at least non-obvious for modern d'n'b

the Ruffhouse one is good fake Photek, and the Green Bay Wax stuff is cool for a revival sound.

i like the ones the late great posted too, especially the Addison Groove one, but not sure how i feel about the d&b + half-time feel thing. i get it but it's sort of unsatisfying on both levels. these days, it tends to be other kinds of syncopated or uptempo club music that actually scratch the itch that d&b/jungle used to.

New Om Unit EP out soon, kind of "deep" dnb: http://cosmicbridge.bandcamp.com/album/torchlight-vol-2

Right on for doing this thread Camaraderie! ILM could definitely use more d&b. There was a time about ten years ago when I posted somewhat more regularly here and it felt like I was the only read junglist at the time, but I'm pretty sure Tuomas (and late great?) were around back then, didn't really realize they had junglist leanings as well.

These days I'm frankly not so impressed with the current crop of drum and bass. I was most active with it from 1997-2003 or so but the majority of drum and bass by 2003 was very stale and insular. There was a bit of a renaissance maybe around 2006-2007, and again I found the half-time sound of a couple years back very interesting but since then it just hasn't been living up to the potential.

There was a feature I think in Fact about a month back where one of their writers got the jungle bug up their ass and penned one of those sprawling "See? It's really not dead yet!" pieces with their selections of most forward-looking drum and bass tracks from 2015. I wasn't too impressed, even that Rockwell offering seems tired compared to his masterpieces from previous years.

This was the main selection that really stuck with me (definitely one for the halftime crew):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlPFKZaxoc8

Mikal - If We Become

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUEOVc7WEXE

That's more like it.

Here's a couple of things from 2016 I'm enjoying:

Etch - Technicolor Daydream
Spotify ~ Youtube

The Hospitality 2016 compilation on the Hospital label, which includes a couple of tracks mentioned upthread
Spotify
I'm partial to Ulterior Motive - Oddness ~ here it is in the middle of another mix, which, listening to it now, I think I prefer to Hospitality Youtube

What are the odds that I've embedded this many links w/o screwing up the code?

that Etch is nice. slo-mo breaks!

Yeah, like that Etch track too, though at 8 minutes it's a bit too long.

I'm making a playlist on youtube of everything suggested from 2016, will try to update it weekly - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1fmqf9vwPIkskLHY0QdE4MHWTmijn7-3 - right now only four tracks on there, but will add the Fracture & Deft and Uterior Motive if and when they appear on youtube.

ILM's Rolling Drum & Bass Thread 2016 Spotify Playlist

Thanks for the Spotify playlist Forks!

Thanks for the Youtube playlist Cameraderie! I agree, that Etch track goes on a bit longer than it needs to... Also, in case you haven't spotted it yet, here's Ulterior Motive - Oddness on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaZgLRO7Gik

Klax - Ritalin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u5kk9npZCk

Yeah, the chopped-up vocals are nice in that one!

I've heard this a couple times in full and liked it, although it's maybe a little cheesy. I'm a cheesy guy. Soon to be released on Formation Records, so this just a 2 minute sample with watermarks all over it.

https://soundcloud.com/formationrecords/sikka-adam-b-high-roll-dj-ss-ft-wilhelm-burst-into-love-the-sikkist-ep-formation-records

i like that Machine Girl

Placing this here, tho it doesn't really sound like most of what this thread is about.

Machine Girl - Gemini (2015)
https://machinegirl.bandcamp.com/album/gemini

Neon-glo hardcore breaks, reminiscent of Lone's most hyperactive stuff, or a kind of internet-age Squarepusher. Huge breath of fresh air for me this morning

― Dominique, Tuesday, 31 May 2016 23:12 (2 days ago)Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Odd one that, a vaporwave version of late 90s lounge D&B. I wasn't really that into it TBH, though I was warming to it a little by the end

RIP Tenor Fly - https://twitter.com/GROOVERIDERDJ/status/743831973769121793

This FBD Project come back tune from this year is pretty great!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9L5r6lfugw

Though not as brilliant as "She's So" or "Gesture Without Motion" obv.

Another 2 minute Soundcloud snippet of an upcoming tune I heard recently. I really like the drums on this one. Sometimes I feel like drum lines on dnb tunes are simpler these days than they were in the 90s, and then something like this comes along and it really hits the spot for a minute. And of course, it's from Brazil.

Speedwagon - "Good Old Days," to be released on All Street Recordings b/w "Forgive Myself"
https://soundcloud.com/allstreetlabel/speedwagon-good-old-days-forthcoming

thread playlist updated

Bumper Month for DBridge, still showing 'em how it's done...

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

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NleSA4Spck

plus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9QF5UjZI4o

Reinforced 1994 flavour on this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjQKP6z9Diw

And in a semi-retro jump up fashion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94GySqOFlG4

This wasn't spectacular on first listen but has really grown on me over the summer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBR11H2Hho8

Playlist updated; 50 tracks and 4 1/2 hours o' tracks

ILM's Rolling Drum & Bass Thread 2016 Spotify Playlist

Can anyone get this to embed? Can't find it on his soundcloud when I click through

https://thump.vice.com/en_us/track/kimyan-law-yore-dub-stream

Some retro-ish lovers jungle from Seekersinternational, maybe it goes on this thread?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_jtJ25HEzY

Some atmospheric d'n'b ala Logical Progression era Bukem, Dan White - Precognitive Dreams:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1MSHfmoiTA

Really like that Seekersinternational track, good find. The Dan White is nice enough too, though seems out of place outside a club setting (suppose lots of D&B does)

A club night for new d'n'b taking off from this style - a rare thing.

Neurofunk? is it anything like Braindance? jkl;)

https://cylob.bandcamp.com/album/the-quantum-loonyverse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28rjdmi9Yao

Om Unit (who currently can do no wrong) + DJ Krust (who never has done any wrong).

This is an chugging episodic monster...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sc44nF2dxw

And something altogether more simple but beautifully executed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP3ZkfTmge4

Finally some super synth work on this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTd_bIRRGYY

While I'm here, can I post this? It's not new but it's fucking brilliant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_UceUF4YFU

Urbandawn just released a full-length (named Gothenburg Cluster) on Hospital Recordings. I haven't listened yet but it's high on my to-do list. I heard one track from it in a mix and it was excellent.

https://keithfullertonwhitman.bandcamp.com/

some of the tracks here remind me of Hrvatski material from the late 90s.. haven't waded through much of these KFW tapes, but heard some alternate versions of Hrvatski tracks--suppose you'd classify is as jungle/d&b-type music?

Just updated the Youtube playlist - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1fmqf9vwPIkskLHY0QdE4MHWTmijn7-3

So, I've finally gotten around to checking out the Urbandawn LP (Gothenburg Cluster) and yes, it's really good - up there in my albums of the year after a couple of listens. It's got that mix of variety and inventiveness that's generally lacking from D&B LPs. So, posting a few tracks here, why not?

This is one of a few tracks which manages to incorporate jazz without it turning into one of those godforsaken loungecore LPs from the late 90s:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeT4AruJcRg

This one is hard, aggressively funky, slightly melancholy, cheesy vocal samples, lots going on generally

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjG0nE9rw_o

Ok, one more from the Urbandawn LP (thought there is plenty more) - not sure how it will go down as it includes a lot of the euphoric / melancholy trance elements which people seem to find cheesy, but posting as I think it's just beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjpLjtfPDeI

Come to think of it, there are a lot of elements on the LP which more tasteful UK producers would leave out - sci-fi vocal samples, session soul singers, etc. - but perhaps the message hasn't got through to Brazil? If so the lack of self-consciousness is refreshing.

This is pretty dope. Very Photek-y, and I like the half-time clave feel in almost all of the tracks.

https://soundcloud.com/samuraimusicgroup/sets/homemade-weapons-negative-space

Now I'm looking up videos of Daniel Baeder (the drummer that's my favorite part of those Urbandawn tracks) and he's ridiculous

Seems this is from 2015, but anyway, some very pleasant prog-jazz-D&B

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TInD-ynauRg

This one is the ripest of all sci-fi-D&B cheese, delicious

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NhKMFMs9Us

not into any of this stuff you all are posting ... production is too clean, everything sounds super loud and clear, it all sounds like demo track that might come with a new bass synth software or a drum sample pack or something

this is more my speed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA-m99MdejE

^ For a minute I was thinking that was quite pleasant but slightly familiar. Then I realised the rhythm track and swoopy noises are just a straight lift from"The Mystics" by PFM. From 1995.

Sadly, Mark Goodings of Hidden Agenda, the awesome rare groove sampling Metalheadz mid 90s outfit died a few weeks ago.

This is out today and nicely channels their style...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyAGSFhHcMk

is it? i just gave "the mystics" a quick listen and i don't hear it ... maybe i missed the part you're talking about

though of course i concede the larger point, "juice it" is shameless 90s liquid d&b revivalism

speaking of PFM ("progressive future music"!) i have been listening to this comp for the past few days

https://www.discogs.com/Various-Storm-From-The-East/release/9808

it was so much better in the 90s

i heard about mark goodings. really sad news. hidden agenda were always so underrated.

that dub phizix track reminds me that they managed the only good track on the ill fated metalheadz 03 comp (i think that was the point when i realized it was over for metalheadz)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihsHJ7DLKPo

that dub phizix track is really cool, maybe i should pick up that dub phizix fabriclive mix i was talking about upthread

i will also allow that the om unit + krust track you posted was pretty cool

this masterpiece was my favorite hidden agenda track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDNfNnttjVg

As it's the festive period why not post this here?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsKKf-WNtdI

I was thinking about doing a short poll of the year if people are interested, but then I thought nah, they're probably not.

I would have had an uninformed ballot in said poll but eh

Came here to post: http://www.igiveyougive.org/Gift/50/foreign-concept/music-for-aleppo
Some nice dnb supporting Doctors Without Borders. Eight tracks for $4 if you play your cards right, and all proceeds go to a good cause.

^ Ah yes "Progressive Future Music". Terrible name (of it's time, rather like the Storm from the East compilation although I don't backlash that stuff as much as some e.g. Simon Reynolds) but some legendary tracks ("Cruising Detroit", "Danny's Song" and of course "The Western")

I recall once seeing an FBD Project 12" in Fopp, Glasgow on which the store assistant had written out FBD as "Future Beyond Dance". However I had read in the mid 90s rave fanzine Eternity that it actually stood for "Funded by Drugs" because Neil Trix has sold weed to buy his studio. Neil confirmed this was correct many years later when I enquired on Twitter.

In tribute then, I shall post this stone cold classic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlNFEsyq5PQ

Some late entries...

Hidden Turn - Not Kill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_ZB7sFEjpg

Quite a bit of Teklife stuff also skirts around d'n'b/jungle territory...

DJ Chap - Float

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzQxhpOL2eY

Taso X DJ Manny X DJ Tre - Bussin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVsmwUpPVjg

Quite a bit of Teklife stuff also skirts around d'n'b/jungle territory...

DJ Chap - Float

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzQxhpOL2eY

Taso X DJ Manny X DJ Tre - Bussin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVsmwUpPVjg

Taso X DJ Manny X DJ Tre - Bussin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVsmwUpPVjg

feel like fresh 86 label had a particularly good year

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1AAIxUaeB0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfwVSrK1XOc

another release i enjoyed

Playlist is finalized for the year here.

ILM's Rolling Drum & Bass Thread 2016 Spotify Playlist