Tempo - Aestatic Drum And Bass Record Specialist

Community

VARIOUS EVENTS

Aug/Sept-2010 (T.B.C.)
Tempo 1 Year Anniversay | Guest dj’s: t.b.a. Residents: Fusion (Tempo Records), Kapital (Ammunition Rec) | Venue t.b.a.

June-2010 (T.B.C.)
Soup Kitchen, Manchester | Guest Dj: Fusion (Clone, Tempo Records), Simon Tonkinson (Baked Goods Distribution, Soup Kitchen) | Soup Kitchen, Manchester, UK

12-06-2010
Basic Base | Guest Dj: Fusion (Tempo Records) & Adi-J (Bassground), Flanagan (Subbalicious, Bassground), Bisnezz (Basic Base) | Underground Lelystad

08-05-2010
Pats Boem | Guest Dj: Fusion (Tempo Records) | Live-act: T.B.A. Residents: Kay | Ciccionina Delft

Contact Us for submitting your event on this community page!

……………………………………………………………………………………………….
NEWS OF THE MONTH

DJ Flight (BBC Radio1xtra | Play:Music)
Play:Music labelhead dj Flight lays down a true musical dnb mix for award winning british radisstation Rinse.FM (started in 1994 and online in 2002). Fresh mix that shows why Flight is still ahead of her game!

dj Flight | Rinse.FM Mix (June 2010)

Source: Rinse.fm Website

We all know Instra:Mental from their groundbreaking “Comanche” track on Darkestral, from there on the pair gradually explored all different terrains with huge succes thus far. Here we have a very nice new mix from Al Bleeky (Alex Green) and Damon Kirkham.

Fact magazine contacted the two for a short mix and it’s HOT!

We (fact Magazine) first invited Instra:mental to record a FACT mix for us absolutely ages ago, but what with their regular Autonomic podcasts and recent FabricLive CD to worry about, not to mention their escalating duties as DJs, producers and label-owners, it’s taken until now for that mix to materialise. It was well worth the wait.

A duo comprising Alex Green and Damon Kirkham, Instra:mental have been releasing music under that guise since 2000. Over the past decade they’ve become known principally for a kind of dubstep-influenced drum ‘n bass minimalism, but that’s really just one facet of their sound – electro-flavoured vocal tracks like ‘Leave It All Behind’ and the masterful ‘Watching You’ owe as much to Drexciya and Kraftwerk as anything from the UK soundsystem tradition, while ‘Tramma’ and ‘Forbidden’ are among the best techno-not-techno tracks of the 21st century.

Tastemakers to the core, Kirkham and Green are also responsible for the carefully curated Nonplus label, providing a platform for releases from the likes of Actress, Skream and ASC. The latter’s Nothing Is Certain, due out later in summer, will be the first album from the label. Then there are those Autonomic podcasts. Conceived and executed with their friend and frequent collaborator dBridge, the Autonomic sessions present bleeding edge d’n’b steppers alongside tracks culled from the wider reaches and deeper recesses of the trio’s record collection – Two Lone Swordsmen, Julien Neto, This Mortal Coil, Prince, Cam’ron. Omar-S, Chapterhouse, you name it. Entertaining, educational and allowing us all to sip from the crucible of influences that makes Instra:mental such a unique production proposition - the immense popularity of the Autonomic mixes is hardly surprising.

The duo’s FACT mix is centered around their own productions and music from other Nonplus and related artists. Look out particularly for ‘Forbidden’, the aforementioned track from their Apple Pips 12″ of 2009, and for ‘Rift Zone’ and ‘Doink!’, both forthcoming on Loefah’s Swamp81 imprint. Skream’s hugely underrated ‘Minimalistix’ is another stand-out; he also contributes the as-yet-unreleased ‘Rollin’ Kicks’. Addison Groove, LOL, Photocell (remixed by Dexter), Kito and Riya all weigh in with heavy productions.

Instra:Mental | Fact Mix 20158 (deleted in september 2010)!

Source: Fact Website

Kode9 Jungle special!
Our friends at FACT have provided us with a spot on Jungle mix from Tempa’s main hitman Kode9!

Debuting on Tempa in 2002 with ‘Fat Larry’s Skank’, Kode9 has spent the last decade exploring an aesthetic that’s taken him from suffocating dread-filled dubstep to toxic house music. Along the way, he’s released a superb album (Memories of the Future, with frequent collaborator Spaceape) and become just as famous for his record label as his own productions: since Hyperdub’s inception in 2004, it’s released albums by Burial, Ikonika and King Midas Sound, and singles by Zomby, Terror Danjah, Cooly G, Mala and more.

This month, 9 will release the latest in K7’s DJ-Kicks series of mix CDs, a journey from elasticated house and dancehall, through soul, funk and hip-hop, to overbearing dubstep and grime. Kode is one of the world’s best DJs – his extended sets at Plastic People last year are spoken of with pure reverence, and this year he’s let out specialist mixes in 2step and “sino-grime”. Here he contributes a mix of “mostly ’94-’96 jungle”, bound by an icy, misty quality. Lemon D, DJ SS, Undercover Agent and more feature.

Kode9 | Jungle Mix (deleted in september 2010)!

Source: Fact Website

New Dutch Jungle Label: Lickshot Records!
Finally dutch dj & producer Junglefever delivers some quality Junglesounds with Seek & Find on his own new Lickshot label. This record label was set up in 2009 by Junglefever and his fellow label partner Bong Selecta to give a platform for the Jungle scene. Their main aim is to release tunes on 10″ vinyl records in limited quantities. The first release is out now. It is limited to 250 copies.. so don’t say we did not warn you!

Lynx ft MC System Mix
Recorded live at Intrique (may 2009) @ Motion, Bristol, UK.

Lynx ft MC System

Source: Intrigue Website

Calyx & Teebee special!
Two of Norway’s best kept secrets….huh secrets…? These men have been productive since 1999 and stil are one of today’s hottest dnb producers!

Calyx: Over the last decade, South London-based Larry Cons has amassed a vast discography on the drum & bass scene’s most respected labels. His debut album, ‘No Turning Back’ for Moving Shadow was the highlight release of the year and was only surpassed by his and TeeBee’s collaborative ‘Anatomy’ LP, which raised the production bar to new levels.

Now busily working on their second album and perfecting their 6-deck live set, they are the official drum & bass tour de force.

Calyx & Teebee Mix For ATM Issue71 Cover CD

Teebee: Hailing from Norway, TeeBee has made a collosal impact on the drum & bass world since first emerging in 1999. Following three highly celebrated albums for Certificate 18, TeeBee launched his own Subtitles Music imprint which has played host to the scene’s biggest stars and remains one of drum & bass’ best loved labels.

More recently TeeBee has joined forces with Calyx, releasing their first joint album ‘Anatomy’ to critical acclaim.

TeeBee 3 decks Deeper Mix (Nov, 2009)

Artist Info
Booking Contact

15 Years Logical Progression
From 1995 LTJ Bukem and the Logical movement have constantly pushed drum&bass into a new galaxy of sound, combining chilled atmospherics, sultry strings and crisp basslines. Logical Progression’s conception came from the passion and belief that a unique musical voice needed an uninhibited platform to express itself from.
On January 15th 2010, Melkweg Amsterdam is that platform, as LTJ Bukem returns for an installment of the infamous Logical Progression club night. 2010 is a year for celebration. Not only for Logical Progression as it celebrates its 15 year anniversary. Also the Melkweg venue has a reason to party. In 2010 Melkweg celebrates 40 years of underground music. From 1960 on Melkweg has been groundbreaking. From flower power to techno and rock to hip hop. Melkweg has introduced it all to the Dutch audience. During the mid nineties Melkweg was one of the first club in the Netherlands to host drum&bass nights, where young LTJ Bukem made his first appearance in 1996. Now almost 15 years later it is time to look back. The first overseas edition of Logical Progression offers a selection of celebrated DJs, all of whom have inspired or influenced LTJ Bukem himself, in a master class of drum&bass featuring the best music from 1994 till 1998.

LTJ Bukem needs little introduction: ground breaking DJ, inspirational musician, record label entrepreneur (‘Good Looking’), club visionary (‘Speed’)… This is the man who took the drum & bass concept from a small venue off London’s Charing Cross Road and catapulted it onto the international stage, introducing his advanced sound to the masses with ground breaking releases on his label Good Looking Records and the Logical Progression and Progression Sessions parties. Alongside Bukem will be the Godfathers of drum&bass, Fabio and Grooverider who will be serving up double portions of rolling basslines and melodic drum&bass beats.

Fabio was one of the early pioneers of in the late 80’s and early 90’s. He started clubnight Speed with Bukem and from thereon taking the music from the raves to the radio. First on Kiss FM, then onto BBC Radio 1 where he hosted legendary ‘One In The Jungle’ and now together with Grooverider the weekly ‘Drum & Bass Show’ where Fabio still continues to champion new talent and sounds.

Grooverider was at the heart of the music, releasing influential tracks as Codename John and building reputations of many big stars of today on his Prototype label. In 1997 Grooverider compiled a seminal LP entitled Prototype Years which featured the best tracks by various artists who appeared on his label. It is considered one of the most influential LP’s in drum&bass history.
Also playing will be Storm, a woman who has sat at the forefront of the D&B evolution together with partner in crime, the late, Kemistry. Along with Goldie they founded the Metalheadz label in 1994. Pioneering new styles and sounds with releases on Metalheadz and Reinforced. In 1999 they released an edition of DJ Kicks on K7. Still acclaimed as one of the best dj mixes in drum&bass.

This is not all! No Logical Progression without vocal support! With the lyrical talents of MC’s Conrad, Stamina, Moose and Five-O binding it all together, expect serious magic on this legendary edition of Logical Progression.
The milestone party will glance back and celebrate some of the standout cuts of the past decade and as Bukem himself states: “The music is still very much alive. Fifteen years ago a lot of doubters said the music, the people, the soul of what we were all trying to create wouldn’t last a year…it’s all a matter of opinion”.

Dutch:
Ritmisch slagwerk, lage tonen en een gebroken vierkwartsmaat. Dit zijn de basis ingrediënten van drum&bass. In de jaren ‘90 kwam deze muziekstijl op uit rave en jungle. Critici riepen eensgezind dat de hype nog geen jaar zou duren. Het tegendeel is waar. Anno 2009 is drum&bass nog altijd springlevend met wereldwijd een hartstochtelijke achterban. Om dat te vieren presenteert LTJ Bukem vrijdag 15 januari Logical Progression in de Melkweg. Dan kijkt hij samen met drum&bass veteranen Grooverider, Fabio en Storm terug op de hoogtijdagen van het genre.
LTJ Bukem is één van de grondleggers van drum&bass. Als dj, producer en label eigenaar heeft hij een bepalende rol gehad in de ontwikkeling van het genre. Als eerste combineerde hij drum&bass met jazz en soul. In 1990 bracht hij zijn eerste track uit onder de naam Logical Progression. Vanaf dat moment ging het snel met Bukem. In 1993 richtte hij Good Looking Records op en startte met dj Fabio een club avond genaamd Speed in hartje London. Gevoed door het succes zocht hij een groter podium voor zijn feesten. Dat werd in 1995 Ministry of Sound. Onder de naam Logical Progression nodigde hij iedere editie de crème de la crème van de drum&bass scene uit. Al vijftien jaar lang is Logical Progression een begrip in de scene. Bukem vraagt veel geduld van zijn fans. Slechts één keer per twee jaar kunnen zij zich uitleven tijdens een Logical Progression feest. De clubavond is uitgegroeid tot een eerbetoon aan de artiesten en de scene. Met London als thuisbasis. Daar komt op 15 januari 2010 verandering in. Want dan neemt Bukem zijn gezelschap voor één keer mee naar Amsterdam. Niet zonder reden. In 1996 maakte een jonge Bukem zijn Europese debuut, in de Melkweg!

De focus van Logical Progression ligt op de hoogtijdagen van drum&bass. De jaren 1994 tot 1998 worden door insiders als de mooiste en muzikaal beste jaren gezien. Alles was nog nieuw en spannend. Artiesten als Fabio, Grooverider en DJ Storm veroverden wereldwijd de dansvloeren. Het is dan ook geen toeval dat Bukem juist deze artiesten uitnodigt op 15 januari. Fabio was begin jaren ‘90 Bukem’s kompaan in Club Speed. Hij introduceerde vervolgens drum&bass op de nationale radio. Eerst op Kiss FM en later BBC Radio 1 alwaar hij nog wekelijks een drum&bass show presenteert samen met Grooverider. Grooverider heeft als ‘Codename John’ aan de wieg gestaan met releases als ‘The Warning’ en ‘Kindred’. In 1997 bracht hij ‘Mysteries of Funk’ uit. Dit album wordt heden ten dagen nog gezien als de blauwdruk van de drum&bass. DJ Storm was samen met, helaas te vroeg overleden, Kemistry de eerste vrouwelijke drum&bass dj. Samen met Goldie richtten ze in 1994 het Metalheadz label op. Ze beleefden hun absolute hoogtepunt in 1999. Toen vroeg het vermaarde Berlijnse label K7! de dames een editie van DJ Kicks samen te stellen. Tot op vandaag wordt dit gezien als het beste drum&bass mixalbum ooit.
Geen drum&bass feest zonder MC’s. Zo ook op 15 januari want dan zal het podium geheel in old school stijl bevolkt worden door 4 MC’s! MC Conrad kennen we als de vaste side kick van Bukem, Stamina vergezelt sinds jaar en dag DJ Marky en Moose en Five-0 waren er al in Club Speed bij.
15 januari wordt een unieke en legendarische dag. Voor de doorgewinterde drum&bass fans een niet te missen avond. En zoals Bukem zelf zegt: “The music is still very much alive. Fifteen years ago a lot of doubters said the music, the people, the soul of what we were all trying to create wouldn’t last a year…it’s all a matter of opinion”.

General Info Logical Progression
- Date: friday january 15th 2010
- Line-up: Dj’s: Fabio b2b Grooverider | LTJ Bukem | Storm | MC’s: Conrad | Stamina | Moose | Five-0 /
- Venue: Melkweg (Milkyway), Lijnbaansgracht 234a Amsterdam
- Time: 22:00 – 05:00
- Tickets: € 18 (ex membership), more info: Melkweg Website
- Web: Goodlooking Website | Goodlooking Myspace

DJ Fusion Old School Intelligent Liveset (Dynamix Radio 2009)

Some of dj Fusion’s favourite classic dnb video’s from the past.

Doc Scott Special
It was about time that we made a Doc Scott special, he just finished 5 very nice studio mixes this year and we thought let’s share this with you!

From the birth of drum n bass to where it is today. From its transitions from rave to hardcore, jungle-techno to tech-step, UK based, to a global scene and industry. Scott McIlroy aka Doc Scott aka Nasty Habits aka Octave One has seen it all and been there for the entire journey.

“Im a DJ who makes music, always a DJ first.” (doc scott 1996)

And to put Doc Scott’s words into action, here’s are some timeless studio mixes:
Doc Scott’s The Deep End pt.3 Studio Mix 2009
Doc Scott’s The Deep End pt.4 Studio Mix 2009
Doc Scott’s The Deep End pt.5 Studio Mix 2009
Doc Scott’s Going Deeper pt.6 Studio Mix 2009
Doc Scott’s Going Deeper pt.7 Studio Mix 2009

His other passion is producing DnB, from his early productions for Marc Mac & Dego’s aka 4 Hero Reinforced, Goldie’s Metalheadz and Ltj Bukem’s Goodlooking label Doc Scott is now running his own 31 Records label and since his first 31 release under his pseudo: Nasty Habits’s Technology & Chillin’ Out wich came out in 1994 the label was born and here to stay.

But it was his Nasty Habits’s classic production of the single Shadowboxing in 1996 wich introduced proper dark atmosphere’s, harsh techstep beats + the well placed Shaolin Kung Fu sample proved that ’simple’ & ‘minimal’ DnB worked out well for any dancefloor worldwide. Even today Doc Scott is still visiting many countries and enjoying his international dj career, hopefully it won’t swollow all his production time and maybe we could see some new tracks soon…

Contact Doc Scott
Myspace
European Bookings Agency: ESP
Northern America Bookings Agency: Circle Management

A Bunch Of Cuts Special!
A couple of established labels put their heads together and formed the A Bunch Of Cuts digital platform to expand Drum and Bass to more worldwide audiences to get their daily fix of DnB music. This place of like minded music labels made it possible to download the entire label’s catalogue for the rest of our lives. This is the exclusive and official home for digital downloads from the following quality drum and bass labels such as: 31 Records, Bassbin, Commercial Suicide, Exit, Revolve:r, Signature and Soul:r.

Contact A Bunch Of Cuts
A Bunch Of Cuts Website

Scientific headhoncho MAV is selecting his finest Atmospheric and Techmospheric drum & bass on his weekly sunday radioshow at: Bassdrive.com For those that want to listen what’s this is all about pls check below, these are his most recent shows in 320kbps high-quality MP3, perfect for your ipod, iphone or whatever-it-is-that-you-play-music-with…!

Download Show 1 via Soundcloud:
Scientific Studiomix (INC Mav vocal) - Radioshow No.1 recorded 04-10-2009

Scientific Studiomix (EX Mav vocal) - Radioshow No.1 recorded 04-10-2009

Download Show 2 via Soundcloud:
Scientific Studiomix (INC Mav vocal) - Radioshow No.2 recorded 01-11-2009

Scientific Studiomix (EX Mav vocal) - Radioshow No.2 recorded 01-11-2009

Tracklisting Show 002:

Download Show 3 via Soundcloud:
Scientific Studiomix (INC Mav vocal) - Radioshow No.3 recorded 06-12-2009

Scientific Studiomix (EX Mav vocal) - Radioshow No.3 recorded 06-12-2009

Download Show 4 via Soundcloud:
Scientific Studiomix (INC Mav vocal) - Radioshow No.4 recorded 03-01-2010

Scientific Studiomix (EX Mav vocal) - Radioshow No.4 recorded 03-01-2010

Check new editions of Scientific Radio, monthly between 16:00 - 18:00 central european time (cet) via Bassdrive.com, hosted by MAV from Utrecht/The Netherlands !!

Also remember to join the chatroom on www.bassdrive.com, or hit MAV up on AIM at “ScientificRadio”.

More info: Scientific Website | Bassdrive Website

2562 / A Made Up Sound Special
With genres “crossing” over these days and musical boundaries fading away, finally it seems people understand that it’s not all about putting music in a certain box… We had the privelege of “borrowing” a nice 2562 mix with off course approval of Dave himself. The nice people at Fact Magazine made a 2562/ A made Up Sound feature on this dutch maestro! Here we go and don’t forget to click on the mp3 player down below. We have included the tracklisting and tried to put the labels behind there as well.

2562, a.k.a The Hague’s Dave Huismans, has been responsible for some of the most arresting dubstep and dubstep-influenced music of the past few years. His debut album: Aerial, was released last year to much acclaim on Pinch’s Tectonic label, and this November its eagerly anticipated follow-up, Unbalance, is set to drop. As previously reported, it’s without doubt one of the best electronic albums that we’ve heard in 2009.

As well as his work as 2562, Dave also produces under the name A Made Up Sound (a name he got from a trackname by one of Drum And Bass earlier heavyweights Source Direct and also one of Dave’s favourite DNB producers alongside Photek), A Made Up Sound’s project dedicated to more obviously house and techno-oriented sounds. There was a low-key Made Up Sound album released last year called Short Cuts (a 19 tracks piece de resistance wich he made during a rainy month in june 2004) and a new A.M.U.S. out earlier in this summer on the Archive EP, released on the new Clone Basement Series is one of this year’s finest. October sees the limelight of Dave’s masterpiece Rework & Closer on his newly formed A Made Up Sound label.

If you’re in London, make sure you check the Unbalance launch party, which takes place at Corsica Studios on Friday October 2nd and boasts a line-up numbering 2562, Shed, Kode9, Pinch, Actress, Ikonika, Brackles and more.

So, what about this FACT Mix?

“I hadn’t recorded a mix in ages,” Dave tells us, “So I made one that gives an impression of how I like to play in a club right now: warm up with some house and techno favourites and boogie on from there. Some old, some new, some borrowed etc…”

Featuring new productions from 2562 plus tracks from the likes of Martyn, Anthony ‘Shake’ Shakir, Marcel Dettmann, Shortstuff and Untold, FACT Mix 81 is basically essential. Click and enjoy.

2562 Mix September 2009

Contact
2562 | A Made Up Sound Bookings
Source Interview
Fact Magazine UK

Martyn Great Lengths New Album On 3024!
In 2007 Martijn Dijkers aka Martyn started his own label called 3024 (the number reflects his Dutch zipcode in Rotterdam) and already created a huge buzz worldwide. In 2009 after four 12″s on his label and a couple of very hot remixes for various other labels Martyn finally drops the Great Lengths album on his own label. It seems like a dream come true, perseverance & discipline are the key words (and the energy to make things happen), goed gedaan Martijn!!

Martyn explaines:
I always like to think my stuff is ‘music for a warm but rainy day - music and sound is everything’ Low frequencies do something to your muscles when you listen to them. There have been studies of low frequencies contracting your muscles, and because they contract certain muscles you have the urge to move, you know, to get rid of that itchy feeling in your arms and legs. So that would be a reason to dance. Hailing from Eindhoven, which back in the day had ties with many Chicago and Detroit artists and labels. I think what makes music interesting is when an artist incorporates his/her influences and translates it into a unique sounding style. Although it might sound a tad arrogant, I’d like to think of my music as ”Martyn music”. I try not to think of it as dubstep or techno, or house or drum & bass, it’s not about genres, it’s about music. Making music to me is like a game between happiness and depression - I hope you enjoy the fruits of it”..

We can’t agree more on this, let the music speak for it self!

Double CD contains 14 tracks:
1.The Only Choice
2. KRDL-T-GRV
3. Right? Star!
4. Seventy Four
5. Little Things
6. Vancouver
7. These Words
8. Bridge
9. Elden ST
10. Far Away
11. Hear Me
12. Is This Insanity ft. Spaceape
13. Brilliant Orange
14. Natural Selection

Buy Martyn’s Great Length’s 2CD

3LP contains 7 tracks including a very nice poster with artwork from Erosie:
A. Right? Star!
B. Seventy Four
C. These Words
D. Far Away
E. Elden ST
F1. Hear Me
F2. Is This Insanity ft. Spaceape

Buy Martyn’s Great Length’s 3LP

Other 3024 Recommendations:
Buy Martyn | Velvet / Twenty Four | 3024-001

Buy Martyn | Natural Selection / Vancouver | 3024-002

Soundclip: Natural Selection (Flying Lotus Cleanse Mix)
Soundclip: Vancouver (2562 Puur Natuur Mix)
Buy Martyn | Natural Selection (Flying Lotus’ Cleanse mix) / Vancouver (2562’s Puur Natuur mix) | 3024-003

Soundclip: Embrace
Soundclip: Hijack
Buy 2562 | Embrace & Hijack | 3024-004

Various Other Releases:

Martyn Myspace

Digital & Outrage Red Letter New Album
Spearheads of the J-Tek movement Digital (Timeless Recordings, Function) & Outrage (Backlash Records) have put together a promo mix of their latest album Red Letter, down below a nice DOA interview.

Digital & Outrage Red Letter Promo Mix

Tracklisting:

Top10:

Tempo would like to thank Digital & Outrage and the good people at DOA for their effort! All content (c) Tempo & Function Records & DOA 2009.

Digital & Outrage Myspace

DOA Digital & Outrage Interview

Jungle & D&B History Special
Lost In Music - London Jungle Documentary:

Reinforced Records on Jungle:

Source: Reinforced Records Myspace

One other hot Jungle classic:

Photek & Source Direct Interview For Loladamusica (dutch tv program)

Photek Website

Phil Source Myspace

Insiders (Intrigue) Special!
The Insiders have been making ace music in the past but also loads of new stuff upcoming. Nowadays they have new events planned under the Intrigue flag, and to get you in the mood we’ve got an exclusive free mix for you!

Recorded at the Meltdown launch party earlier this month, the mix features The Insiders with Ayah on vocal duties. Tracks from Random Movement, Break, Commix, Lynx, Teebee, The Insiders & many more.

The Insiders Mix

Tracklisting The Insiders Mix
The Insiders Website
The Insiders Myspace

Noble Special (Jungletrain)
Noble joins Diffusion as a resident, Noble started his musical career in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. His first experience with drum & bass music took place at Helter Skelter in Milton Keynes ’98. His first dj break came in 2000 when a dj contest was organised in Rotterdam. Noble ended up winning first prize, and his first steps in the Dutch d&b scene were made. He has played alongside many national and international dj’s on Festivals like Lowlands and dutch clubs, artist who dj’ed alongside Noble includes: Bad Company, Dom & Roland, Furney, Ed Rush, Zinc, Grooverider, Krust, DJ Die, Denny D, Noisia, and many more. Noble’s style can be described as very versatile. He adapts to any crowd and plays a selection that truly goes across the board. From the old intelligent sound to the more raunchy music, he always tries to make the vibe interesting for the people attending the party, keeping the love for musical funky drum&bass. Since March 2008, Noble hosts a bi-weekly show at the well respected jungletrain internet radio station, where he continues to bring the sounds of yesterdays classics, as well as some upfront music of today’s scene. Be sure to check him out, on odd weeks at Jungletrain on Mondays from 17.30 till 19.00 cet, and don’t forget to check his Myspace

Noble Stories Unfold Mix

Noble Liquid Rollers Trilogy pt.1

Ruffrhythmz Special
Statik’s Ruffrhythmz continue to unleash quality mixes of various mixes and again Symmetric who brings the heat with a tribute mix of Ed Rush & Optical of Virus Recordings fame.
Symmetric’s Ed Rush & Optical Tribute Mix

Source & used with kind permission: www.ruffrhythmz.com

Nymfo Special:
Woohoo….flying dutchman Nymfo….on a rrrolllll!
Nymfo has been apart of Drum and Bass for well over a decade, a mastermind and organizer of the high quality events in the Netherlands, Red Zone and ICON. Seen as one of the most talented up and coming deejays in the scene, Nymfo was well established in 2005 when he won the ‘Best Dutch Drum and Bass DJ’ then went on to win the same title again in 2007.
Since the last 3 years, Nymfo has been signed on some of the biggest labels in the scene - such as Andy C’s RAM Records, Renegade Recordings, Critical Recordings, Frequency Recordings and the huge Shogun Limited imprint.

Listen in and turn up your speakers!
Nymfo Mix

Nymfo’s Podcast Mix

Contact Nymfo’s TWU Booking Agency

Vinyl Or Digital (or why not chose for both?)
In a world of loads to chose from, nowadays many dj’s/producers are asking themselves do i have to switch from vinyl to digital? Personally i find this a strange thought, of course digital is easier, sometimes you dont have to wait for the official releasedate and just track it down from the net and rip it (i.e. steal).. Why pay if you can track it down from a dodgy website who doesn’t care less about the rights of the musician anyway…and still askes $1.99..? It’s a strange cycle; dont pay for the music-the musician can not survive-has to take day-/nighttime jobs to get some bread on the table-it means less music productivity, less music for dj’s to chose from, this all sounds a little weird to me.

But back to the question, why ask ourselves do i have to switch? Just combine both formats! It’s still a great feeling to find your “wanted” record in some dusty recordshop/ market/ fair or whatsowever, it’s like finding a rare emerald to me but it’s also great to test your fresh produced track, render to wav, burn on a cd and play at a club at the same night, it’t a great buzz too! That’s the luxury we are living in these days, a few years ago you would have to arrange a appointment at the cuttinghouse (travel a few miles), master and cut a dubplate, it’s a process i liked but to be honest it takes too much time and too much money for just a test..and afterwards make an adjustment/ edit on your track because you did not like that particular drum/basskick, nowadays it’s just simple editing, render to wav and try again, just perfect!

I think vinyl people should stop moaning about the digital (revolution) and try to be open for new ideas/ technology and digital people should not forget where the music came from and always pay for their download and of course respect the vinyl dj who is doing the same as you; playing music!

Here’s a nice topic on this ‘oh so’ boring discussion but hey… it’s a free world! -Tempo| Fusion-

Vinyl Will Survive!
Taken from residentadvisor.net
by: Peter Chambers

You cant make a rational case for choosing vinyl, and I wouldnt there isnt a single one thats compelling. Digital is cheaper, less wasteful, more malleable and far more portable. Theres virtually nothing to store, scratch, warp or shatter. Records meanwhile remain cumbersome, fragile and expensive. And yet, in spite of all this, I will continue buying, collecting, playing with and paying for the damned things, for as long as Im willing and able to. Why?

Well, there are lots of reasons. First of all, its because vinyl has life. Dont get me wrong, Im not such a caner I dont think that my records are alive in the way my lover or my dog is. They dont eat, drink, bark or bone. But, like us, they exist in space and through time they have their own history, they wear their own scars, they need our care. They have a world.

When you dig for vinyl and you find something youre looking for, you dont just uncover the music. Theres a sense of connectedness, both of your desire to the sound and the sounds embodiment in the object. Who knows the circumstances surrounding the original purchase? Maybe the record got sold because of a drug habit, a death, or a disappointment. Or maybe because of indifference. But in every case the piece you hold in your hands is the silent bearer of a story, a mute witness to whatever and wherever it went. It also carries the signal of its producers, embodying their dreams. I think Danny Wang said it once: second-hand record stores are such sad places. Thats because theyre dream graveyards. At one point, a group of people invested all their time and talent in making it. It was going to make them famous.

At the receiving end, the previous owners of a record invested their best hope in it too. So they chose it, they took it and kept it with them, and it slowly mapped itself into the web of their memories. Or they hated it, and flogged it. I dont recall every intricacy of what I did last week, but I can tell you almost without fail the circumstances surrounding each record I own, and explain the resonance it has, what it evokes. Its an object of music and of memory, and to me that gives it the true aura of an artefact, and makes it deserving of respect, reverence. I also love the presence of the music in the scratch. The groove is a perfect visual representation of the metaphor of what the thing is and does, and the music is there in a way that digital formats, even in whatever visual/waveform representations they use, arent. Functionally, this makes absolutely no difference. Visual mixing of the kind now possible with digital obviously has advantages, but its always at a distance. Like talking through glass.

Records are also incredibly sensual objects, and this has always been their advantage for mixing. Even with the abilities the new technologies have given us to loop, sample and freely choose key and pitch (which is in every way musically superior as an instrument) theres no substitute for being able to touch, to play by feel. Serato and Final Scratch have overcome this limitation, but even in the best of both worlds theres more than a little of nowhere and nothing at all. Mp3 doesnt even exist, at least, not in the way we and our records do. Its a nothing and it exists nowhere but in blips on our portable nonplaces.

Crucially, choosing a track through drag and drop is utterly different to digging through a box with a very limited selection thoroughly and carefully chosen before leaving home, or so youd hope. In fact, the irony of having a greater number of choices is that its invariably harder to choose, or easier to make do with default choices, which are not real choices at all. A lot of DJs selections turn to shit after they start using digital. Somehow - no, because of all those choices, theyre unable to make a single interesting one. This is no coincidence.

Theres no sacrifice involved in collecting digital formats either. Any two-bit chump can download a huge body of work in a matter of days, something that would have required a huge expenditure of time, effort and money on the part of a vinyl collector. When you go and see a veteran play her set, shes carrying with her whole decades of memories whittled down to some eighty selections. Packing a box requires further sacrifice, further selection, further acts of will, respect and love. You have to think, choose, include, reject. Without these repeated sacrifices, its all to easy fall prey to the tyranny of any old thing. Oh shit, I need a track with drums to mix out of this, um shit, only sixteen bars to go, oh, okay, thisll do Click, click, drag, drop. You hope the audience wont feel the difference, and you fool yourself that you feel anything at all. I wouldnt argue that this is a necessary outcome of digital, but its going to happen far more often.

The same is true of Ableton: paradoxically the programs incredible power, speed and flexibility means you can churn out an average tune, not even in a matter of hours, but on the fly. You can do anything on Ableton and you can, but most people do less and less. They dont make minimal, they make very little of a lot. In fact, in a turn of events that would shock grandpappy, its easier to record a track than to write a song. All too often it shows: lazy drum programming, boring melodies with no tension or development, and a screaming, dithering, swarming shitload of plugin effects to cook the tune in, so we dont have to listen to the half-baked mess. And how good are you as a musician really, Mr DJ? Can you really perform with the same level of musicality thats contained within a well-made record, something a talented, dedicated person invested everything in for days, weeks, months? Why not let the record play, if its a good one. If its not, no wonder youre bored, no wonder you need to fiddle.

Back to the body the other quiet crime of indifference that this choice contains is the death of another related artform: cover art. One of the things that make records so valuable and beautiful is the incredible creativity that goes into a lot of the covers, even if its the artful details of the colours and fonts chosen on the plainest of my EPs, or the mastered by X at the Exchange scratched into the run off. No doubt the artisans who manufactured gilt frames for heavy oil paintings mourned the passing of their time, and maybe all systems of artistic representation are not only bound to, but should wither and die. Its still sad.

Like most technological advancements, digital isnt an improvement of what went before, its a rationalisation. Never forget that. From a consumer point of view, CD wasnt better than vinyl, and at least until the mid-nineties, a well-pressed record played better through a good component system (again, all put together through individual choices) than most CDs, even with, and probably because of the sound artifacts and sub-audible frequencies in the record. Were losing them, too. But theyre inaudible, right? Never forget, it was the record companies, greedy to reduce distribution costs and fit more units on shelves, who pushed for CD, and we paid more for less. Three times the price for something a third of the size and a fraction of the cost to make. Now theyre reaping the whirlwind, and a big and happy fuck you all.

The technology might end up getting us over the barrel too: it isnt simply better its a new entanglement that solves some problems and embroils us in others. Im late finishing this article. Thats because, not three days ago, my Powerbook, on which I do, well, almost everything, decided to play Hungry Hungry Hard Drives and eat itself for breakfast. Luckily, all my media and documents are backed up are yours? Dont think it wont happen. Houses burn and vinyl will too, but data loss is a completely new kind of risk. If any of you still have the XT you grew up with, go pull it out of the garage, turn it on and see if it still works. Then, take one of the diskettes with all your old games on em and see if you can load them. Captain Comic, Space Quest, all those daggy old things. Remember them? The only story most of mine can tell me now is one that goes from beginning to end in three words: permanent fatal errors. Vinyl dies too, but not all at once. It goes slowly, just like we do. Do yourself a favour, and age gracefully with records. Theyre not dead, theyre elderly, and they need your care and respect.

I suppose this whole things based on a bogus choice vinyl or digital. We dont have to choose. Ill eventually buy myself a digital interface and start using it, in conjunction with my records. But dont expect me to love the interface. Thats a leap Ill never make. Can you? Do you really love your interface? Can you cherish a hard disk? I can only speak for myself and my records, the only musical objects I keep that capture my imagination, just as they capture something of the magic of music in space and time. And thats something that no data packet can ever do.

Matt U Special:
Architecture, Cyberfunk, Westbay International label recording artist Matt-U is curently on the roll with some very fine Drum And Bass releases, and for those that wish to hear some Dubstep as well, pls click the mix and listen!
Source: Recording from Friction’s show on BBC Asian Network in 2009 from 10 till 1 featuring a Matt-U Dubstep/DnB mix!
Matt U Dubstep-DNB Mix

Contact Matt U’s TWU Booking Agency

Ruffrhythmz Special
Statik’s Ruffrhythmz continue to unleash quality mixes of various mixes and this time we have Symmetric who created a tribute mix of Technical Itch (real name Mark Caro) who is known for his many releases on Moving Shadow and word goes that he produced/engineered some tracks for Goldie’s album on Metalheadz as well. Respect for Symmetric’s time & effort, so click & play below!

In Symmetric own words: “Harsh, dark, aggressive, uncompromising, ruthless, technical, itch…

Typical words which come into mind when I try to describe Mark Caro’s music. The man who is best known as Technical Itch, lodged himself figuratively in my record collection pretty soon after I started listening and buying drum’n'bass music. Caught by his mean and nasty sound, deep basses, twisted breakbeats and drilling beats, I started collecting much of his work.

Being into music production since at least 1993 (according to Discogs), this guy knows a thing or 2 about music production. Creating unsettling atmospheres, programming some of the catchiest, dancefloor smashing or even nerve wrecking beats and producing crisp, clean tracks, he has ensured his place among the greatest drum’n'bass producers ever.

I tried to grab some of his, in my humble opinion, best tunes and mix them in an hour full of controlled anger. I hope you like the mix and if you don’t know this great artist, get acquainted with his music soon. It’s not too late to get the Technical Itch…

Symmetric’s Tribute To Technical Itch Mix

Ruffrhythmz Website

Santorin Special!
From the very early start in 1998 Santorin have proven themselves to be a versatile quality label on their entire catalogue, they have just celebrated their 10th anniversary and the two Santorin originators from Tübingen are already on a roll with their latest single the Rhythm Track (check down below for some other nice tracks). This producer duo since the days of Treasure Island, Days Like This (Ambassadors) and Confidential Thoughts (Super8Sound) teamed up to create the rootical Rhythm Track (Flute & Rhythm), some serious beatdribblin’ tune featuring some wicked African drumming, to take you to the immaculate roots of broken beats but the best description on a release is..No More Words, just click ‘n listen!

Santorin Keep The Faith Mix

Telmo A and Simon V with Ocean Drive

Tyler Straub with Waiting For You

Santorin Artist Roster

New 3024 Release!
Martyn’s 3024 label is on a roll at the moment with some new sci-fi futuristic tech dubfunk tracks on this hot new record, wich will probably see the daylight late december at your local vinyl pusher (digital release in januari 2009 on all well known platforms).

Dave Huisman aka 2562 (Dave’s area code in The Hague, The Netherlands) takes his signature 2-step techno hybrid visions (or in Dave’s own words”A Made Up Sound” inspired by Source Direct’s A.M.U.S. on Goldie’s Metalheadz/ Meth016 imprint) to a new and original take of depth, spiralling hypnotic rhythms and lush warm deep subbasslines that would naturally work great in a club with a big rig (soundsystem for whitepeople ;), while his smooth but a touch of rawness easily glide between dub & techno funk (we can defenately hear some influences by Convextion/ Ovatow/ Mike Huckaby/ Deepchord and even some raw Metalheadz influences) are most common in 2562’s work.

It’s all about hybrid these days… and in Martyn’s own words: “Music for a warm but rainy day - music and sound is everything - making music to me is like a game between happiness and depression - I hope you enjoy the fruits of it”.

2562 | Embrace & Hijack | 3024-004 (upcoming dec 2008)
Releaseinfo:
001100011000011000 we welcome you to the fourth release on 3024 and our quest for numerologic beats for your body and soul continues with two tracks from the dutch dubtechno hero 2562. Dave Huismans has treated us with a wonderful series of 12″es and his debut album “Aerial” (on Tectonic) this year which has gained him a well respected place in the dubstep and techno community. On this new release he strips the music to its bare essentials - what is left is an extremely funky 2 step workout on “Embrace”, where crisp beats are setting the pace until soothing pads take over and take it to another level. “Hijack” shows us the shadow side of 2562, also reminiscent of his work as A Made Up Sound on Shed’s Soloaction label. “Hijack” is a driving four to the floor track with shards of synth pads and sounds floating freely around a menacing bass line. The massive tension in this track is never really unleashed which leaves you yearning for another play ; the 3024bots have had this on continuous repeat, and they hope you will enjoy this offering just as much. Artwork by the might Erosie.net —> 00011001010100011000 end of transmission.

Feedback/ Comments:
Barack Obama (The white House) “Phat Beats y’all!”
Ramadanman (Hessle Audio) “I heartily endorse this event or product”
Headhunter (Tempa) “2562 laying down his distinctive sound for the ever impressive 3024 label. Pure Class!”
Appleblim (Skull Disco/Applepips) “I’m hammering Hijack everywhere at the moment, proper driving bassweight techno soul!”
Fusion (Tempo, Diffusion) “What the F**k… did i just see Tony Montana dancing on a stripclub’s dancefloor last night..??”

3024 so far:

Contact Martyn & 3024
Contact 2562

DJ Krust Interview
One of our all time favourite artist has been interviewed by Dogs On Acid, it’s time to know all about Mr Krust!

DOA: Thanks for speaking with us, Krust. Many have not heard from you since the release of Hidden Knowledge. What was your mindset in creating an album that could definitely be seen as a return to form in regards to your sound?

DJ Krust: When approaching Hidden Knowledge, I made a conscious decision to go back to my original style. I made a playlist of all my music and just listened to that for weeks, getting back in to my sound, getting back in to my vibe. And a few things happened: one, I realized that there was so much more to explore and two, I had to go back to samples. What I also realized was that I want to put a stronger message in to this project. I wanted every track to tell a story, be a talking point. So if you’ve read my blog on MySpace or kodedk.com, you would know that right now I’m all about social comments. Right now, we are in a transition period, so we have a great opportunity for change and that laid the groundwork for this project

DOA: What are your thoughts about fans who were openly disappointed when your style evolved from the classic ”Warhead” or ”Soul In Motion” days?

DJ Krust: I think music is about the journey. I have been able to express my full spectrum, in as far as what I like, but I feel what the fans are saying ‘cus I’m a fan too, and I follow artists as well, and when they go off in a new direction I’m like ”hey”! But on the flipside, for me I was like ”here is the brush, here is the canvas, now paint from your heart”. So I did. Now I have been around for a min., and I know what I want to do with my time. So I’m going to be going deep in on my style now, so people can expect a return to the ”Soul In Motion” vibe.

DOA: Nowadays, you’ve got a new project going on, a band called The Rules, which is said to be a mixture of Jungle, Punk, Techno and Hip-Hop. What is the background on this group? Who else is involved? What is your role, exactly, in this band?

DJ Krust: I have a few new projects; one is a band called The Rules. I have a design company called RUE that will do all the art, video, design merchandise and then there’s kodedk.com and my new music outlet, Rebel Instinct. The Rules is a live project, with five people in the band: bass, drums, two keyboards and vocals. I’m working with Si John, a well known Bristol bass player (he did the Reprazent stuff). Uv Ray - he’s been a long time collaborator; we have been working together since Coded Language. He’s from a band in the States called Soul Coffin. We have Liam Duggan from Breakbeat Era, one on the best synth guys on the planet. And on vocal I have a new guy called Nik Toots. We met in Bristol - he handed me a CD on the street and two days later we were working together and haven’t looked back. My role in it is producer and keys. The music is kind of Jungle/Punk/Experimental with a lot of energy. Its all song based with something for every one. The energy in the band is great - we are all on the same page. We all want to do the live thing, and the music has got a strong message of social change. The voice of the community, we’re dealing with a lot of issues that we feel need to be talked about right now. Power to the people!

DOA: What’s it like playing live in a group like The Rules, as opposed to the Reprazent collective playing live? Are there any similarities?

DJ Krust: Playing live is playing live: it’s about the buzz, the energy. It’s about the vibe when you’re up there, giving a 100%, the crowd giving it back to you. With Reprazent, it was Full Cycle on stage, and that was good fun to hang out on the road for three years with the guys. The Rules have only done 8 gigs, but they were really good because it showed how far we had come in doing the live thing, I mean, as far as setting it up and making it happen. We just sat down and put the show together. We have all been in bands before so we all knew what to expect.

DOA: Do you have any plans for an album or EP release from The Rules? Any singles we can look out for?

DJ Krust: The plan is for an album for next year; we might put out a single before Christmas, but we have to wait and see how things pan out - we’re still in the lab cooking; when we feeling it’s the right time to put some thing out, we will.

DOA: One thing that has been hinted around but never officially confirmed, so it seems, is a reported demise of Full Cycle. With DJ Die establishing his own label earlier this year, Suv doing his thing, and Clipz going for broke with Audio Zoo, as well as your new projects, it would seem like Full Cycle is at least on a hiatus. Can you shed some light on this? If Full Cycle is done, what caused it? Will there be some kind of swan song for a label that has brought many heads to the scene?

DJ Krust: As far as Full Cycle, I have left. It was time for me to move on and start my own thing. I have a lot of ideas and I need to be able to do whatever I want when I want. FC did everything we wanted it to do, and for the next part of the show, I needed a new cast.

DOA: Are you still DJing these days? What tracks or producers are you vibing off of?

DJ Krust: I’m still DJing lots and really enjoying it. I’ve started a new company called Rebel Instinct, and I’m working with a few artists at the moment. The label will be the main outlet for every thing I do. And I’m looking for some people to work with. There’s a few artists out there that I’m digging at the moment: Dan Miracle, Heist, Skitty, the Valve boys - anyone one rolling it out and doing there own thing. I hear lots of good stuff out there, so it’s all good right now.

DOA: Another one of your passions, so it seems, is the world of philosophy. If anyone checks out your MySpace blog, you get into some heated debates and conversations on various topics. How important is expanding your mind and questioning the world to you?

DJ Krust: My whole life right now is dedicated to expanding my knowledge base and spreading that in anyway I can. As you pointed out, we have had a few heated debates on my blog. That’s what it’s all about - we have to engage one another and question everything. The time has come for us to see things as they really are and not as they appear to be. For me, when you have a better understanding of the self, life becomes clear. You don’t rely on what you’re told, you can use your inner guidance to help you and that is your truth; no one can tell you other wise. I’m going to do Mastermind classes in the coming months to help people build a better mind set with tools to help you get a head in life, and in the music business. I’ve been doing this for 20 years, so I have a lot to offer. I’m looking forward to helping people and sharing what I have learnt about the music business, and life in general; it’s going to be fun.

DOA: What are your thoughts on the Large Hadron Collider?

DJ Krust: Not sure about the Hadron Collider. But you should check out Dr. Michio Kaku: he’s the new Einstein. He talks about the Hadron Collider. This guy is next level. He discovered the string theory. If you’re into the fourth dimension, black holes, time travel, and Star Trek, he can break it down for you. Happy hunting.

DOA: Are you still producing DnB tracks? There has to be a wealth of Krust dubs sitting in your vault - any plans on releasing a compilation of your favorite unreleased beats?

DJ Krust: I’m still making jungle; I’m going to put out the final LP in the series next year; I’ve got about five things cooking in the lab that’s on the right track, but The Rules are my priority right now.

DOA: Let’s get a little personal with FIVE QUESTIONS:

a) What’s the last book you read?

There are a few books that I’ve read and now I’m re-reading them:

The Answer by John Assaraf and Murray Smith
Introduction to African Civilizations by John G Jackson
The Divine Matrix by Gregg Braden
Your Life, Your Legacy by Roger Hamilton

b) What’s your guilty pleasure?

Junk food, one day a week.

c) When’s the last time you lost your temper?

Don’t really loose my cool, I’m like Samuel L Jackson.

d) Who is your favorite actress?

Favourite actress is Michelle Yeoh

e) What’s your acronym for DOA?

Pass

DOA: What’s your favorite release from your back catalogue?

DJ Krust: Favourite from the vaults would have to be ”Soul In Motion”, if I had to pick one that is. But there are many more.

DOA: How do you see your musical efforts panning out in the next couple of years?

DJ Krust: My next ten years will see me move more in to production, producing bands and artist from all kinds of genres. Building an entertainment company with a strong group of artists and moving into the education field to help people develop.

DOA: What advice would you give a new producer or label head coming into the scene today?

DJ Krust: Find out as much as you can about the business. Talk to everyone you can. Think about how you can connect to your fans, think about what you want from artists that you follow and come to one of my Mastermind events.

DOA: Do you have any final thoughts?

DJ Krust: We are all aware of the changing times we are heading into, but we have to work together as a people. We all have choices to make - some of them will be life changing, but that is the nature of life. We are always changing, never standing still, always evolving. When we move as a community, it makes things easier to deal with, less stressful, so now we have a group of like minds to share the load. This way, we build a new way of thinking into our lives. And we each teach this new way, naturally. Seeing life as an experience, and not something you have to win, changes the focus. Now, it becomes about cooperation, not competition, so life is now about helping and sharing, something to enjoy. Follow your own vision.

DJ krust Myspace
Kodedk Website
Dogs On Acid Website

Thanks to DOA, especially the kind words by: Khal!

DJ Ros (Addiction, Poland)
Dedicated Polish DnB dj Ros is well known for his quality Liquid sets and nowadays he’s producing tracks on his own and with the help of his friends. Ros is a kind and dedicated person who has already pushed DnB in Poland and now will take it further with his productions worldwide. He still can be considered as Poland’s number one DnB dj, a few years ago he invited Fusion (Tempo, Diffusion) to one of his Addiction nights and the Polish people where “havin’ it” and including Fusion as well!!

Ros biography:
The history of DJ Ros - the unquestioned creator of Drum&Bass scene in Poland – finds its source in Italy. He has there, at the start of the 90s, been totally infected with club music, which in Poland at the time was still in its infancy. When he came back after 5 years (1995) he decided that it was his duty to spread the virus of good party in his homeland, what in effect brought co-operation with the legendary Warsaw club Blue Velvet.

At the start of 1999 he launches a project called Sabbia Kru, which unites performance of a DJ (Ros), an MC (RDW), a scratcher (Cent) and live instruments (Dominik Trêbski). A group full of dynamic, representing a stronger beat than before, has directed the ears of many listeners towards drum & bass, arousing an increasing interest in this music style.

From March 2002 he ran a vinyl shop Addiction Records in Gdynia. In spite of a constant intensive presence on the scene, he still finds time for production (Addiction is also a label), these further on find recognition of phonographic studios, what is proved by: a remix for Space Junkie from Prague -remix of Slodkiego Milego Zycia by Kombi (put forth as promo Addiction rec. Addict001), -Sabbia feat Sqbass By The Sea / original and Ray Keith rmx is supported by Ltj Bukem, Nookie, A.I., Makoto, Big Bud, Tayla, Pete Rann… plus another single Nasq & Ros - Higher plus Nasq & Ros – Rythm Blows My Mind.

It has to be stressed that from 2004 Sabbia is only a production duo Ros + Sierak, co-operating with musicians and vocalists like: Nasq (producer, arranger, keyboard instruments), Sqbass(vocal), Wiosna(vocal), Dominik Trebski(trumpet), Panek(trumpet), Vongues(percussion).

To complete the picture of a man who is enchanted by what he does, one cannot forget about organisational activities of Ros. The cycle Addiction Night, is a recognised and quality representing brand. It brought the people music of such stars like: Ltj Bukem & MC Conrad (Good Looking rec. UK), Makoto & Deeizm (Good Looking. JAP/UK), Nookie (Good Looking. UK), A.I. (V rec/ Comercial Suicide. UK) and many others!

DJ Ros Mixes
Addiction Label
DJ Ros Contact

DJ Die Skate Or Die Special
New project by DJ Die calles Skate Or Die EP on his new label: Clear Skyz. Check out his Ollie 180 on this vertical ramp somewhere in the UK, nice one!
Biography:
DJ Die, real name Daniel Kausman, was born in north Devon (1972). Throughout the 70’s and 80’s he attended many U.K festivals with his mother. As a result Die grew up surrounded by music. With early influences such as his father playing guitar, he began a journey into music. From Rock n’ Roll to Ska, Two Tone to Punk, he ultimately finding a passion for Hip hop. It was around this time he moved to Bristol and took up skateboarding. Here he discovered that Krust and the Fresh Four crew were mixing house, hip hop, rare groove and funk at warehouse parties just down the road from his house. “There was a movement starting around the time - there was the Wild Bunch thing, the graffiti thing, the carnival and sound system thing happening up in Bristol.” Die got his first taste of musical production around 1988, when he hooked up with Jody Wisternoff, now of Way out West. Together they formed Tru-Funk and produced 4AM, a house tune released on Smith and Mighty’s imprint Three Stripe Records. They followed with two hardcore EP’s under the name Sub-Love and made numerous DJ appearances at early Universe raves. As Jody’s and Die’s musical paths split Die started playing at the many free party’s happening in the southwest, continuing to make a name for himself as a DJ. In the early 90s a chance meeting with Roni Size on the Gloucester Road in Bristol, led to what would be a long musical relationship. Beginning with their first collaboration, ‘AGILITY’ on Bryan G and Jumpin’ Jack Frost’s label V Recordings. Soon after Die and Roni, AKA Scorpio forged the seminal classic ‘MUSIC BOX’, which would ultimately lead to the birth of Full Cycle. This label would become the home for Krust, Roni, Suv and Die for many years to come.

Click here to contact DJ Die

Artificial Intelligence Special
Artificial Intelligence are a production duo comprising of Zula Warner and Glenn Herweijer hailing from the UK. Riding high on their early success they state their ethos as wanting to spread our music to as many people as possible, that’s the whole reason for doing it in the first place. It’s the satisfaction of making it but also of spreading it to as many people as possible. Not like a preacher or someone on the TV. We prefer to let our music do the talking across the world.

We can’t agree more on this so check out this A.I. excellent livemix:
A.I. Graz, Austria Mix Sept 2008
Source: Play.fm and special thanks to: Graz DnB Crew, Austria.

Click here to contact A.I.

Dj Vapour News
With distributors winding sales down for the summer period DJ Vapour has been busy locked in the studio over the past couple of months working on new material at a shocking rate. Now the summer break is over there is a whole slew of new tracks hitting the Dubplate circuit at the minute with DJ’s such as Hype and Andy C playing these new tunes.

You may have also by now heard DJ Vapour’s remix of the classic “We R Ie” by Lennie De Ice this track has been getting some huge support with DJs Hype, Bailey, Nicky Black Market, Randall, Storm and Ray Keith, all giving the track some battering on Dubplate at the moment.

DJ Vapour Studio Mix Oct-Nov 2008

Click here to contact 36th Booking Agency.

Lenzman Special

Dutch prolific liquid producer (and dj) Lenzman is on a roll at the moment, check this nice dutch interview!

Hoe ben je met drum & bass in aanraking gekomen?

Lenzman: “Midden jaren ’90 kwam ik door Engelse vrienden in aanraking met drum&bass. Het waren vooral de producties ven mixen van LTJ Bukem die me aanspraken. Door hem ben ik eigenlijk verslaafd geraakt aan het genre.”

Hoe ben je vervolgens in de drum & bass-scene gerold?

Lenzman: “De eerste jaren heb ik me vooral als dj ontwikkeld. Met een aantal gelijkgestemden hebben we in 2001 de organisatie Future Research opgericht. Na verloop van tijd kwam de hardere drum & bass steeds meer centraal te staan in de programmering. Daarop heb ik mijn conclusies getrokken en ben toen Fever gestart - een maandelijkse avond in het LVC in Leiden waar ik mijn eigen ding kon doen. ‘Soulfull drum & bass’ staat centraal staat tijdens Fever. Alle artiesten die er in dit genre toe doen hebben er al eens gedraaid. Onder anderen Marcus Intalex, Calibre, Ill Logic & Raf zijn graag geziene gasten. In het rijtje mis ik er nog één: LTJ Bukem.”

De afgelopen jaren heb je naam gemaakt als producer. Welke stijlen of stromingen hebben invloed op je muziek gehad?

Lenzman: “Ik ben muzikaal zeer breed georiënteerd. Ik luister veel naar soul, jazz en funk. Vooral artiesten als James Brown en Isaac Hayes zijn een grote inspiratiebron. Op drum & bass-gebied is LTJ Bukem een groot voorbeeld. Daarnaast artiesten als Calibre, Carlito, Pehay en Addiction.”

Met ‘soulful’ of ‘liquid’ drum & bass heb je niet voor de gemakkelijkste weg gekozen.

Lenzman: “Ik ben eigenlijk actief in een ‘niche in een niche’. In Nederland wordt het steeds moeilijker om met dit genre het hoofd boven water te houden. Je moet het vooral hebben van de oude garde drum & bass fans. Die sterven langzaam uit. De kids gaan toch voor de harde drum & bass a la Noisia en Black Sun Empire. Ik volg mijn hart en doe geen muzikale concessies. Gelukkig slaat het in het buitenland wel aan. Vooral in Oost-Europa krijgen ze er geen genoeg van.”

Als producer heb je in korte tijd naam gemaakt. Is het allemaal zo gemakkelijk gegaan als het lijkt?

Lenzman: “Dat valt erg tegen. Eigenlijk had ik het al opgegeven. Eind jaren ’90 ben ik begonnen met produceren. In 2003 ben ik gestopt omdat het niet van de grond kwam. Ik had te hoge verwachtingen, ik dacht ik doe dat wel even. In 2006 heb ik alles weer opgepakt en vanaf dat moment is het hard gegaan. Ineens draaiden grote voorbeelden als Bukem en Fabio mijn tracks. Ik werd door Fabio zelfs gedraaid tijdens zijn show op de BBC. Dat was echt een kick, dat mijn helden mijn tracks draaiden.”

Je hebt tracks uitgebracht op relatief kleine labels als Spearhead en Strictly Digital. Is de volgende stap nu een groot label?

Lenzman: “Dat lijkt makkelijker dan het is. Het grappige is dat grote namen meer open staan voor nieuw talent. Waar mensen als Bukem en Fabio mijn tracks al lang draaiden volgde de rest pas later. Moeilijker is het om bij grote labels binnen te komen. Het is voor de gevestigde orde al moeilijk om succesvolle releases uit te brengen. Het risico is dan ook groter als ze een track van Lenzman uitbrengen. Het lijkt er op dat het toch gaat gebeuren. Goldie wil een track van mij op Metalheadz uitbrengen en Bukem op Good Looking. Of en wanneer dat gaat gebeuren is nog onbekend. Zoals vaak in drum & bass worden tracks uitgebracht die één of twee jaar geleden zijn geproduceerd. Ik moet dus nog even geduld hebben.”

Is het een optie om zelf een label te starten?

Lenzman: “Dat is zeker een optie voor mij. Maar nu is het moment er nog niet voor. Er zijn teveel drum & bass-labels en de scene is te klein. Als ik een label start wil ik niet in de anonimiteit verdwijnen. Ik moet mijn naam nog verder vestigen en een hype creëren. Mijn naam moet zo groot zijn dat ik het label met eigen producties kan dragen. Dat is nu nog niet het geval.”

Wat kunnen we in de nabije toekomst productioneel van je verwachten?

Lenzman: “’String City’ is onlangs op Fokuz op promo uitgekomen. Daarnaast komen er binnenkort tracks uit op C.I.A. Deep Kut, Spearhead en Integral. Verder werk ik samen met artiesten als Redeyes, Random Movement, Furney en Lynx aan tracks.”

Aanstaande vrijdag warm je in het Patronaat voor Bukem op. Is de cirkel daarmee rond?

Lenzman: “Het is een grote eer voor hem te draaien. Met zijn muziek is het voor mij allemaal begonnen. Hij is een groot fan van mijn producties. Hij heeft me vorig jaar al uitgenodigd om op Progression Sessions in de Fabric in London te draaien. Sta je daar ineens in de vetste club van London! Dat ik dit mag herhalen in Haarlem is een droom die uitkomt. Zo is de cirkel rond!”

Source: Aart Gaasbeek for djscene.nl 2008

Lenzman Top10:

Click here to contact Lenzman

Fre4knc
Well known Dutch dnb dj who runs the weekly Break-Fast dnb radioshow. More info following soon..

Fre4knc Break-Fast Radio show Mix 2008

Click here to contact Break-Fast Radio

Grooverider Free!
Some of you already know but Radio 1 DJ Grooverider has been released from prison in Dubai after serving 10 months for possessing drugs.

The DJ, whose real name is Raymond Bingham, was in the middle of a four-year sentence.

But he has been let out early after being pardoned by the Dubai Royal Family. He has flown back to the UK to spend time with family and friends.

The DJ was originally arrested on 23 November 2007 after being caught with 2.16 grams of cannabis at the airport.

At the time Bingham said the drugs were in the pocket of a pair of trousers and he had forgotten about them. He was handed a four year sentence in February.

Grooverider co-presented a weekend drum & bass show on the station.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/entertainment/newsid_7598000/7598831.stm

Previous topic on Grooverider’s imprisonment:

Drum n bass DJ Grooverider faced a four-year prison term for carrying cannabis into Dubai.

Grooverider, aka Raymond Bingham, has been in custody in the UAE since his arrest at Dubai airport on November 23rd after customs officials discovered pornographic DVDs in his luggage and a small amount of cannabis in his record box.

Local press in Dubai reports that traces of drugs were found in Mr Bingham’s urine in laboratory tests by police examiners.

Grooverider faced a hearing in Dubai Court which resulted in a 4 years sentence in a Dubai prison.

The arrest is the latest in a series of drug busts involving Western musicians booked to perform in the Gulf State, which struggles to balance conservative Islamic traditions with the liberal tastes of its large expatriate population.

In 2006, US RnB star Dallas Austin was sentenced to four years in prison in the country after being caught carrying cocaine and ecstacy into the country. Austin was later pardoned by the ruler of Dubai after intense lobbying from both US senators with business ties in the region and Lionel Ritchie, a cult favourite in the Arab world.

British Embassy officials in Dubai have been in contact with Mr. Bingham (Grooverider), according to reports. Hopefully all the right actions will be taken to free the Rider!
Source: HERE!

On a personal note:
Any of you dnb collectors or fans should have signed the petition down below (just click the link, yes you can, just do it)!
A personal reaction on Grooveriders ridiculous 4 years sentence of imprisonment should work as well, now is your chance to get this man out of prison, at least try and do your best, Mr Bingham aka Groovevrider (and surely others as well) has done his best in all these years to put DnB as a serious genre on the musical map.

Here’s what i wrote, maybe emotional but who cares..!

Mr Bingham (Grooverider) is a well respected international legendary & pioneering DJ for more then 20 years and no person (or country) could stop this man on his musical journey to spread the Drum and Bass sound. Huray to Dubai for preventing very small amounts of canabis and certain dvd’s (wich are for his for his own personal use only). But what about the UAE oilpipelines wich has flooded the world with war(s) and terror, aren’t there more important issues in solving today’s problems (why are there still people starving each day)?
No country on this planet (i guess no other planets as well) offers it’s guest a four years imprisonment on carrying illegal substances & dvd’s for personal use only. Also sending a fax (ad2008, who reads them in these modern days anyways and half of them will not be received due to the European sense of not spoiling paper anymore) Dubai’s inhabitant Mr. Nath’s should he not have known better to clearly stated the most important UAE law information to Grooveriders booking agency?

Personal note to Mr Nath: maybe it’s a good idea to send the UAE law regulations via e-mail or maybe better in the artists contract stating; ” i have carefully read the Dubai regulation on illegal substances and certain dvd’s”, this would maybe also benefit future artist travelling to the UAE, not sure if any of us will follow after this huge “penalty”, but maybe if they offer enough money…;)

Surely it wasn’t Grooveriders smartest move (but everyone can forget for some time, it’s only human) but 4 years imprisonment (?), a half year would have been more appropriate and would have given Mr Bingham (aka Grooverider aka Code Name John) The Warning of his life. We wish him all the best during this period and we hope you will be with us soon! Words: -Fusion-

Free The Rider!
Act now and sign the petitionform: HERE!

Metalheadz Presents: The Platinum Series (Various Artist)
Release Date: September 2008 | Catno: MethCD010

Following on the huge success of last year’s album ‘Call to Mind’, Metalheadz present ‘The Platinum Series’, a compilation of cutting-edge tracks produced by some of the scene’s leading producers. If that wasn’t enough, work has begun on Commix’s remix album, ‘Recall to Mind’, featuring top artists from various genres within the dance world. How does a
Burial remix sound to you? Released on vinyl, cd, and mp3, the Album features stunning artwork, and as part
of the whole package there’s a picture disc containing two remixes by the mighty Doc Scott and G.Dub.

Next year, Metalheadz celebrates its fifteenth year and will be releasing a special CD featuring some of the best Metalheadz singles from over the years. Expect classics such as the sublime Pulp Fiction, the ominous Stone Killer and
more! Headz up!

Track listing (the vinyl release features eight select tracks):

Randall & 36TH Chamber Special
Mac II label headhoncho and dedicated dnb dj for many years Randall has just signed his Mac II Tour Nights with 36th Chamber booking agency and to celebrate the 36th Chamber re-launch there’s an exclusive live set from the one and only DJ Randall recorded at Fabio’s Swerve night at London’s End club on the 16th of July 2008 Click Here: Randall Swerve Mix!

And for a complete Randall profile please check the Drum and Bass Icon section down below on this community page!

36th Chamber Booking Agency
Their strong believe in the Artist First policy enabled 36TH to help well known and upcoming dnb artist to book them for many performances throughout the world. Their current artist roster includes:

Click here to contact 36th Booking Agency

Crunch Recordings presents City Of Light
Crunch has been gracing the D&B community with forward thinking music for the last 4 years and now for their 1st album release they delve deep into the Dutch underground to showcase some of Eindhoven’s greatest & undiscovered talents…
Icicle, Martyn, Proxima, Nymfo & Mindmapper lend their signature sounds to help craft an album full of deep, futuristic, rollers and is a great representation of the scene in Eindhoven and Crunch’s musical mantra.

The vinyl release contains 3 x 12″ LPs:

The CD contains the above tracks plus 6 exclusive tracks:

“It’s been a real pleasure working this group of talented artists on the City of Light compilation. All of the artists featured are from the city of Eindhoven in the Netherlands. I’ve been traveling to and performing there regularly since 2001, and for me its always been a special place. The music there is very abstract and forward thinking by nature…

When DJ’s go to Eindhoven they know they can really dig deep with their selections and styles which the open minded crowd really appreciate.

This album represents the industrial, electronic vibe of the ciy as well as its relaxed welcoming warmth.”
Enjoy! Words: Ben Verse (Crunch Recordings), 2008

Digital: http://www.crunchrecordings.com, Itunes and Beatport
Vinyl & CD: Distributed By ST Holdings, UK.
Sounds: http://www.myspace.com/crunchrecordings
Click here to contact Crunch Recordings

Serum Special!
More heavy Drum and Bass coming from a fairly new but highly talented producer Serum, check his new releases at your local DNB shop!

Releases:

Serum Jungle In 2008 Mix

Click here to contact Serum & 36th Agency

DJ Storm (Metalheadz) Interview + Mix
Our dear friend Inaya at Dogs On Acid made a very nice interview with Metalheadz legendary dj Storm:

DOA: Hello and thanks for having a word with us today. I think I can safely speak on behalf of everyone at DOA when I say that it’s an honor to have you do a mix for us! How’s it going?

Storm: It’s going well.

DOA: Starting at the beginning, can you share with us how you first got into DJing and what some of your first gigs were like? Were there any DJ’s who directly inspired you to learn to mix?

Storm: Started raving in late ‘89, alongside my best mate Kemi, she introduced me to it. We started getting obsessed with the music we were hearing and as avid vinyl collectors, started buying tunes. At every chance we could we would listen to any DJ we could find playing this kind of music, via Pirate radio stations, our favourite a DJ on Centre Force FM called DJ Randall.

On New Years eve ‘90 after a year of raving hard we both found ourselves watching what the DJ’s were doing , we were completely clueless , but between us we tried to work out how they were beat matching. When we came home that night we wondered how we could make this obsession our lives… we came up with DJing. At that time for us we felt Grooverider taught us the art of selecting, Fabio taught us how to tell a story and Randall showed us the way, when it came to putting it all together; the art of the mix.

Our first couple of gigs were hilarious as we were so nervous and naïve, but we gave it our all from the moment we stepped up to the wheels of steel, and we practiced so hard at home… but we were pretty awful. (laughs)

We never took our eyes of any DJ we could find; you can learn so much from watching other DJ’s. I think the most experience we gained in our early ventures in DJing was having a pirate radio show; it was invaluable and so important for that moment in time.

DOA: Please tell us a bit about your early DJing days and how you ended up meeting Goldie and first getting involved with Metalheadz.

Storm: Kemi met Goldie when she was working in a shoe shop in Camden, where he basically asked her for a date, and that’s when they started seeing each other. Goldie had recently returned from the States and he was exhibiting some of his artwork. I met him at his exhibition. Kemi explained to Goldie we were into this music and our plans to become DJ’s and so we took him to Rage, for his first adventure.

He got it… he felt what we felt and now came the new dream. He would make try and make this music and we would play it. We would later make a label and have a club. We worked hard and we lived the dream… so Metalheadz was born.

Randall and the Reinforced Kru played a huge role in all our developments within the scene, Goldie had found a label he could release on, but he always wanted his own label. Initially, he wanted this label to be about showcasing the artists that turned him onto this music, and that’s what he did. In 1994 he began to release Drumz, Doc Scott, Ghosts, Goldie.

He had also been working on an album, Timeless. By 1995 had no time to run the label, so he asked Kemi and I to take it on, which we were happy to do.

DOA: While most people recognize your affiliation with Metalheadz, they may not know what a seminal role that Kemistry and yourself had with the label. Can you share with us a bit of what your involvement was like during the beginning stages?

Storm: The first release we were given to work on was a double release, Your Sound / Tranquil by J.Majik and the Angels Fell E.P. by Dillinja; what a baptism.

So we sat down and worked out what to do, from mastering the tracks to release. It was a lot of work but it never felt hard. And as we travelling abroad, we were able to take promo’s on the road and get advice from DJ’s about contacts in each country getting turned on to D+B and that’s how we made the Metalheadz mailing list.

We pretty much did everything between us, and a friend of Goldie’s called Christian took care of official paper work.

DOA: It seems like Metalheadz had a real family type vibe to it. Who were some of the other artists involved in the early days? Do you think the label would have been such a success had the crew not been so dedicated?

Storm: Yes Metalheadz was The Stussy of the D+B scene, we brought more than a label we brought a kind of lifestyle. Our religion being the music which was reaffirmed in late ‘95 we were offered the chance to do a trial of five Sundays at a club called The Blue Note in Hoxton, which originally was The Acid Jazz club.

It just took off and then we had a home to play our brand of D+B; it was so exciting. By early ‘96 we took on a Saturday night at a bigger club called Leisure Lounge, so we ran Saturday and Sunday and both nights were successful as were we.

Our family consisted of every artist that came to the label, and we were taught this vibe from Reinforced. In those early days if we did not know what to do, there was always help on hand either from Goldie himself, the Reinforced Kru, or Doc Scott for advice, given that he was the original silent partner. The artists too were asked their opinion about stuff at artist meetings, so everyone felt involved. It was a good creative experience.

DOA: When you were first starting out DJing, at a time where female D+B DJ’s were pretty hard to come by, did you ever encounter any bias? Did you ever have to work extra hard to prove your skills or were other DJ’s fairly receptive and encouraging of you?

Storm: People were surprised when not only one girl turned up but two, but once we got on the decks and proved ourselves, we usually got repeat bookings.

We did encounter bias, but not negative just a curiousity kind of vibe. We were watched and listened to carefully, but we did not care, as we felt we could step up to the plate. We truly believed in what we were doing and our joy of mixing spoke for itself.

DOA: Kemistry is greatly missed by all who knew her and by D+B fans world wide. I have always found it so admirable that, despite her unfortunate passing, you continued to pursue DJing with a great passion. Am I wrong to assume that you were inspired to hold the torch, so to speak, and to keep pursuing the collective vision that you both possessed?

Storm: Kemi and I dedicated ourselves through a passion to our DJing and the scene, and we a worked pretty hard at what we did, but like I said before it was never a chore, it was exciting. We believed in our expression as DJ’s that we could move a crowd.

Belief in myself without Kemi has taken a long time to find, but in my ability as a DJ, my belief has remained the same. I will never completely get over what happened that night but the strength I get from what I and Kemi went through to achieve our goal always pulls me through, and the feeling I get from the music I play is still the great healer.

She is always with me.

DOA: Your dedication to D+B is undeniable and you are one of the select few DJ’s who has been able to roll with the punches and remain successful over the years, despite how much the scene has changed. Does this come naturally for you? Do you still enjoy what you do as much as when you first started out?

Storm: I do still enjoy it as much as ever and my faith in the music has never waned. If what I play gives me the most amazing joy… then I know others will fell the same.

I do think what comes naturally to me is my love of this scene, and every year that it becomes more and more global, my excitement levels raise even more. It is like traveling round the world communicating through a universal language that is music.

If I didn’t enjoy it, then I really shouldn’t be earning money doing it, as I wouldn’t be able to give it my all, and that’s not fair to the crowds. I hope I never feel that way.

Even if everything is going wrong (i.e. the flight has been cancelled and you spend all day on the phone working it out with your agent, and it may take all day to get there, you haven’t even eaten as there has been no time, etc…) when you get to the decks you release all that tension, that is the remedy.

DOA: How would you compare D+B in its early stages to what it’s evolved into? And can you tell us some of your favorite producers who have broken through in the last few years?

Storm: As I previously mentioned, it has definitely expanded globally. And that is so exciting that I can now play a set with tracks from producers from different parts of the world… might be a Makoto track from Japan, or Kiat and Ash from Singapore, Seba from Sweden, Concord Dawn from New Zealand, etc.

Also many new producers from the UK are making amazing tracks, I am so proud of the fact that we all inspire each other and as a UK based music it is a shame it doesn’t always get given the respect it deserves.

There have been many new producers who have broken through in the last few years, Commix to me being one of the most significant. Also, Break, Vapour, Jem One, Icicle, Kiat and Ash, Dan Miracle, Alix Perez, Nu Tone, Logistics, Heist, Lynx and Zero Tolerance are all really coming through right now. Watch out for productions from MC System and Lenzmen as well.

And of course all Metalheadz artists, I think the original producers have stepped up to another level.

DOA: Can we have a current Top 5 from you?

Storm:

DOA: Where can people catch you in the near future? Do you have any tours or gigs coming up that you can share with us?

Storm: You can catch me all over, check out my agency’s website, see below.

DOA: In closing, it’s truly a pleasure for us to get some insight from someone such as yourself. Thanks a million for having a chat with us today!

Storm: Thank you very much.

Credits & Words: Inaya for Dogs On Acid, 2008.
Read the whole article on DOA HERE

DJ Storm Mix 2008

Click here to contact DJ Storm

ESP Bookings Agency
For the past 12 years, ESP has build up a name for itself as an international trading drum and bass artist agency, with thousands of bookings all over the globe. We have worked with 100 capacity clubs as well as 60.000 capacity festivals, booked our artist all across the UK and Europe, and as far afield as New Zealand, Honolulu, Korea, Siberia and South Africa, and just about everywhere inbetween.
ESP does not only features a versatile and highly skilled roster, but prides itself a professional and friendly approach toward artist and promoters alike. Within the drum and bass scene we are well knownto work with much attention to detail and often deliver beyond our clients expectations.
Rather then offering up and coming producers with mediocre dj skills, our artist roster is well selected with the priority being put on professionalisme, personality and ability to showcase versatile and flawless performances. Besides our dj’s and mc’s we also book showcases featuring high profile brands such as Metalheadz and Soul:ution (Soul:R).

Knowledge Drum And Bass Magazine on ESP:
“With talent like that onboard it’s small wonder ESP has an excellent reputation on the scene (…). International by name, International by nature”.

Click here to contact ESP-International

New Syncopix Icarus Album!
Hamburg’s uber-producer Syncopix (Hospital / Integral) just finished his long awaited debut solo album on his very own Syncopix label: 13 brand new & exclusive tracks focusing the club-genre around 174bpm – in the bag of different a-list DJs from High Contrast to DJ Marky!

The Hamburger is back: the long awaited debut soloalbum: Icarus finally sees the light of the night. Roland Bogdahn aka Syncopix took 12 months time to give his heart & soul into this piece of music. While touring around Europe Syncopix caught up with all different influences and took his inspirations back into the studio.

The Album CD Icarus includes 13 exclusive productions focusing on the club-genre around 174bpm. The sound of the double German D&B award winner is still outstanding out when heard in the clubs but now also at home, on the road or wherever you are. This concept album reflects the whole bandwidth from 90s rave-school anthems: Nightlistener to the neon sounds of the 80s: Disc Go! or even ProgRock -influenced tracks: Anonymous that have already been smashed by D&B pro-league DJ’s like Logistics, London Electricity, Marky or High Contrast. The sound of Chronos, Embraces & Curses feat.Ruben of Rogue Soul, Blue Fog and Dynamo is hot trademark-liquid-funk that Syncopix has been known for since his releases on labels like Hospital, Liquid V or Integral. Roundingup a beautiful and uncompromising album (…it’s all about Drum&Bass …).

Icarus comes up with great sleeve design by Ricky Trickartt who´s known for his artwork skills and originality for many clients like Hospital, John B, PlayMusik, MedSchool & many more. Try to catch Syncopix playing in a club near your hometown on his tour
throughout Europe & Asia in the next months ….

Contact For Bookings: HERE!
Contact For Syncopix Info: HERE!

Drum And Bass Top50!
Knowledge Magazine kick started a nice new topic; Drum and bass has been around for over 15 years now and there have been hundreds of amazing singles released in that time but what are the best singles of all time?

Plus 10 more unlisted tracks from the past:

To vote for your Top5 best DnB tracks ever click: HERE!
To check Tempo’s Classic Top10’s click: HERE!
Source: Knowledge Magazine

Speed @ Mars Bar!
Back in the day by far the most important club night for conscious breakbeat music, something was needed to create a divide between the weak and tired Drum & Bass that was still being produced by backward thinking producers and the melodic/progressive and innovative music coming from a number of stables. When it first started it was like walking into a producers/dj’s (Photek, Peshay, Source Direct, Fabio, Ltj Bukem, Doc Scott, Alex Reece, Wax Doctor, Adam F, Voyager, Omni Trio, dj Storm, dj Lee a.o.) get together, a who’s who of the intell scene, a place for likeminded producers to share ideas and techniques. It put a lot of noses out of joint but that was needed, a clear separation from the moody drugs fuelled traditional ‘Jungle’. A place where there was no attitude on the door and in the door, a comfortable intimate venue where I never saw any trouble or attitude. For source click: HERE!
“>More Info HERE!

Tempo personal experience:
And yes all the above is true, no attitude’s or drugged up people, just friendly people who came to enjoy music, have a drink and chat about music productions, i remembered chatting with Phil (of Source Direct) about their Science & Certificate 18 releases…just plain fun -Fusion-

Some Speed quotes:

“Each new hour holds new chances for new beginnings, The horizon leans forward, Offering you space to place new steps of change” Maya Angelou. Known for the catch phrase of Ltj Bukem’s - Horizons (LGR001).

“For the last couple of months, Speed (Thursdays at Mars, Sutton Row, W1) has been playing London’s most futuristic, raw, experiential, and sci-fi grooves. Residents Fabio and Bukem spin the latest drum n bass sounds on dubplate for a crowd that regularly includes junglist heads like Goldie, 4 Hero, Nookie, DJ Rap, DJ Ron, DJ Crystl, Deep Blue and A Guy Called Gerald. The sounds are immaculate: divine harmonies and crystalline breaks that float and massage the dancefloor. A few stray hippies and tantric types take the floor for some wildly expressive dancing, while small groups of skinny boys lean against the speakers and solemnly nod to the rhythms. The vibe is relaxed, chemical free and unites musicians, music lovers and dancers for a few hours of sonic bliss. And at times it looks like a scene from William Gibsons imagination as sci-fi skate and B-Boy fashions collide under the sounds of the next millennium” i-D Mag March 95

“Discerning and stylish pure drum n’ bass night Speed at Mars (formerly the Milk Bar) in London, fast becoming the Drum Club of jungle and attracting the scene’s top producers and DJs” Mixmag Jan 95

“An incredible vibe in there most beautiful innovate music anywhere that was the only club in the world that was playing that stuff” Fabio

“Kinda religious” Conrad

“Pioneering club of musical perfection” Essence of Aura

“Speed made DnB an artform” Dev Paradox

“A marriage of the hardcore and the gentle” Björk

“A proper DnB meet and greet every week” Johnny Foul Play

“Smiling faces every week dancing, sweating, totally into the music”Bukem

“Ahhhh Speed Happy Days!” Big Bud

“A blessed time in DnB music history” Basement Phil

“I miss those dayz” Peter Rann

“Dreamy drum & bass to the house massive” Mixmag

“Seminal night for beautiful, jazzy drum & bass. Anything went in that club though; downtempo, either side of a really hard dance track from Photek. The coming together of Fabio and Bukem there from ‘94 to ‘96 really represented a pinnacle for drum & bass cos it signified anything was possible. Musically, anything could go on and since that point we’ve lost that a little bit. ‘96 to ‘97 the darker scene came in, which I’ve got nothing against but it seems everything went like that. It almost didn’t leave room for other variations to co-exist. I like all the flavours of drum & bass but I want them to co-exist rather than one dominating to the exclusion of the others. Speed represented the most open-ended point for drum & bass” Omni Trio

“Like church” Fabio

“We went to Speed and it was one of those magic nights which you have maybe three times in your life” Kruder and Dorfmeister

“Not since the days of the Electric Ballroom have I had such a rush” Gilles Peterson

“Speed was the depth of soul dnb” Subject 13

“A musical experience” Pete Tong

“A nice idea” Bukem

The Legendary Metalheadz Sunday Sessions Are back!
Originally hosted at the Blue Note in Hoxton in the mid 90s, Goldie’s Metalheadz Sunday Sessions shaped the drum and bass scene and turned it into a media phenomenon. Many tracks that defined the scene got their first plays in the sweaty basement, cheered by an open-minded, enthusiastic crowd.

Since the closure of the mythic venue in 1998, Metalheadz have hosted successful nights throughout London and the world (their Hanover Grand nights getting ‘Best Club’ at the first MOBO awards) but never recaptured the unique atmosphere of the original nights.

This time, in the intimate surroundings of Clockwork in Islington!, The new, bi-weekly Sunday sessions are aiming to bring back the pioneering, cutting edge vibe of the original sessions: this won’t be the place to hear the current drum and bass top 10. Instead, DJs will be encouraged to play as they wish and experiment on a lush 7K sound system. Goldie Mix!

……………………………………………………………………………………………….
ARTISTS OF THE MONTH

LTJ Bukem (Goodlooking | Looking Good Records)
It’s a great privilege to have one of DnB greatest Intelligent dj, producer and Goodlooking labelhead mr LTJ Bukem on our website.
Please find below in the DnB Icon section more info on this multi talented artist!

Martyn (Play:Musik | Soul: R | Revolve:R | BassBin)
Real name Martijn Dijkers, hailing from Eindhoven and previously lived in Rotterdam. Martyn currently lives in Washington DC and is working on new material which spans yet more of his widespread influences (Detroit Techno (UR/ Kenny Larkin etc). The new material is both d&b oriented, as well as downtempo, and Martyn’s imaginative use of vocals in tracks is very much in evidence. Check “Wonder Why” and you get amazed by his special production techniques and drum programming but also his love for Quality Detroit Techno can be heard as well. His DJ work has become more frequent & far-reaching, with increasing interest being shown worldwide in recognition of his distinct style of DJing & production. My personal favourite has got to be “Virgo” with it’s luscious vocals and deep emotional Detroit-ish strings. More info!

Aron Jay (Influence Records | 31Records)
Formally known as Switch, Aaron Jay started off DJing in 1997. Taking inspiration from artists such as; Calibre, DJ Shadow, Carl Craig, Fabio, Miles Davis and early rare groove and soul. His early years were spent going to raves in London and attending Goldie’s legendary Metalheadz night at the Blue Note. 2002 saw Aaron Jay playing at Bryan G’s internationally acclaimed mid-weeker Movement. Warming up the bar for two years led to gigs at Herbal for Hospital Records and playing in the up-and-coming talent rooms at One Nation at Brixton Academy. In early 2004, Groove Connection made contact and asked him to play at Swerve at The END. Three years on, Aaron Jay has found his home at Fabio’s night, Swerve, playing every month to the dub hungry punters who like their rhythms soulful and funky. To support this, Aaron Jay joined the books of premier DJ agency Groove Connection, joining an A-List roster that includes Drum and Bass Pioneers and Radio1 DJ’s, Fabio and Grooverider. Regularly throwing in Detroit techno, Dub, Jazz and Rare Groove inspired Drum and Bass, supporting everyone from Bryan G, Influx UK, Die, Grooverider, Flight, Total Science, Bailey, Makoto, Blame, Storm, Commix, Ray Keith, The Insiders and of course Fabio to name but a few. He has also gone on to perform at such legendary venues as Fabric and Heaven. Aaron Jay has recently teamed up in the studio with the mighty Lynx (Creative Source, Soul:r, Bass Bin, Bingo and Digital Soundboy) and have forthcoming releases on various labels. More info!

Furney (Advanced | Goodlooking)
Not much can be said about this talented and upcoming producer/ dj Furney. Already released tracks on the some of the best labels around: Goodlooking | Soundtrax | CIA and many more to follow. Check his top10 to see his style and flavour or even better check him out live at your club real soon! More Info!

Lenzman (Spearhead | Phuzion)
Hailing from Leiden (The Netherlands), Teije van Vliet is an upcoming Drum & Bass deejay/producer, who is better known as Lenzman. The Dutchman first began turning heads during the late 90s with his soulful selection and smooth mixing. Over the years this led to numerous residencies in both Leiden and Amsterdam, gigs at most major Drum & Bass nights in The Netherlands, as well as in various countries throughout Europe and Asia. Through his deejaying Lenzman represents deep, rolling and soulful beats.
Influenced by Hiphop, Soul, Jazz and Funk, Lenzman has started taking production more seriously in the last few years. He has since signed with Drum & Bass legend Nookie’s Phuzion Records and BCee’s Spearhead Records. His music has been supported by the likes of Fabio, LTJ Bukem, Marky, Calibre, Nookie, Nu:Tone, Marcus Intalex, Redeyes, Doc Scott and Makoto to name but a few. More Info!

Brooklyn (Dispatch | Horizons Records)
Lukas has been making music under different guises for a number of years now, and is a household name on the Czech independent music scene. Despite his young age, he has released on labels ranging majors – such as EMI Czech or Warner Music – through local independent labels Quazi Delict or Intellygent Records, to international labels such as Norwegian Subtitles Records or Horizons Music UK. He released an artist album, vinyl singles, a number of remixes, and his music also features on many compilations. His Brooklyn guise is dedicated solely to drum&bass production. Recent Brooklyn releases include “With All My Heart” on Subtitles Records, “11201” on Nookie’s Phuzion Records, “Stages”, remixed by Cambridge’s duo Commix, on UK’s Horizon’s Records, or “Someone” on Dispatch Records UK. More Info!

Nymfo (Renegade Recordings)
For the last 10 years Nymfo was one of the driving forces behind the Red Zone parties in the Netherlands. Red Zone was the leader of the Dutch drum and bass scene. All the big artists in the scene played the Red Zone events.
In 2007 Nymfo transformed to a fresh ICON resident dj.

ICON is the new “drum and bass” concept in Eindhoven – The Netherlands! The whole concept is a new mission.
This events will be held at the rebuild Effenaar in de centre of Eindhoven with a capacity for 1200 headz in the big room and 350 headz in the small room. You only can find the biggest names of the scene at the line up in this venue. If you ever felt the sound system in the big room, you will understand the only thing u can do at ICON is dance.

Besides being a part of the ICON collective, his music outings with Icicle are respected in the worldwide scene. The duo got forthcoming stuff on Critical Recordings, Renegade Recordings and Shogun Audio. Their big hit, Shadows of Tomorrow, have been played weekly at BBC Radio and people like Goldie, Friction, Loxy, Spirit are rinsing it at every party. More Info!

………………………………………………………………………………………………
DRUM AND BASS ICONS

2 Bad Mice (Moving Shadow)
Real Names: Sean O’Keeffe, Simon Colebrooke & Rob Playford formed in 1991, 2 Bad Mice (the name originating from The Tale of 2 Bad Mice by Beatrix Potter) are widely credited as among the first U.K. hardcore acts to begin heavily incorporating breakbeats into the style. Consisting of members Sean O’Keeffe, Simon Colebrooke and producer Rob Playford (who also owns Moving Shadow records), 2 Bad Mice were a staple on the early- to mid-’90s hardcore scene, and were instrumental in the music’s steady mutation into jungle/drum’n'bass. The group’s influential approach to sampled beats — cutting them up into shards of rhythm and rearranging them in novel combinations (first appearing in mature form on the 1992 hit “Bombscare”) — is generally considered the blueprint from which jungle’s characteristic manipulation of breaks was assembled. Although 2 Bad Mice for the most part stopped producing as the hardcore scene began to wane (Playford focusing his energy on Moving Shadow, now one of the largest and most influential jungle labels), a best-of compilation of the group’s work appeared on the American Sm:)e Communications label in 1995. Playford continues to record as a member of Metalheadz (together with namesake label owner Goldie), while O’Keeffe and Colebrooke have recorded sporadically under different names. Aliases: Kaotic Chemistry. More Info!

4Hero (Reinforced)
Formed in 1989 in Dollis Hill, London, United Kingdom. In the place since the early 80’s, they have influenced many styles from Jungle to Drum and Bass, from Hip-Hop to Techno. Capable of releasing high quality music of different genres, they released “Mr. Kirk’s Nightmare” legend, released on Combat Dancin’ EP in 1990 – a tune that literally stood the test of time as a massive hit. As if it wasn’t enough, after the eclectic repertory of In Rough Territory (1992), they released the Long Play reputated among the best Drum n’ Bass albums ever – “Parallel Universe”, at the end of 1994, antecipating a bolder & wilder perspective for the realm of Break Beats, with huge Jazz & Soul influences. While Dollis Hill’s “Desist” Da Black’ was included on Metalheadz special five piece Box Set with an ahead-of-its-time experimental approach for Broken Beats, Jacob’s Optical Stairway brought the upcoming parameters for the Drum n Bass & Break Beat scenes with a futuristic, sophisticated and experimental elements on R & S, constituting one of the Belgian label’s great standards of that period. “Golden Age”, a beautiful Techno tune with clear Detroit influences is another evidence that 4 Hero’s works are absolutely impossible to classify. Nowadays:Broken Beat was virtually created off the back of their album “Two Pages” wich was received with open arms and critically acclaimed one of their best albums to date. They also set up many labels to reflect the scenes they were and continue to be part of and gave many producers the oppertunity to reflect themselves on: Reinforced (Drum and bass), 2000Black (Brokenbeat). 4 Hero Aliases: Cold Mission, Dollis Hill, Jacob’s Optical Stairway, Tom & Jerry, Waterproof. More 4Hero info! More Info !

A Guy Called Gerald
Since the late 80’s, Manchester UK native, A Guy Called Gerald, born Gerald Simpson, has proven to be among the most innovative modern music figures. His influence is international, and through Voodoo Ray, one of his early ‘Rave’/ Jungle / Breakbeat classic anthem on the US Warlock record label (wich launched also Todd Terry’s music career), this versatility he has spawned genres and generations of music culture. From his early experimentation with techno and acid house to his groundbreaking contributions to Jungle / drum & bass music on his legedary Juice Box label, GCG’s art and craft has perpetually evolved regardless of his individual successes in each of those genres. Even today he got some of the freshest new DnB tracks around on his own label called Protechsion (wich releases the more Jugngle/ DnB sounds), just check: Anything can Happen wich is just mindblowing fresh deep ‘n dark DnB! AGCG is again setting the standard in today’s Breakbeat driven music! More Info!

Andy C (Ram Recordings)
Andy C grew up in Esssex and started his musical background with nothing more than a drum kit which he was bought by his parents when he was five years old. Like most things Andy tries, it quickly became an obsession practicing at any given opportunity. Andys fascination with dance music and its culture came about largely thanks to his older sister who was at the heart of its emergence in and around 86/87. One of the first tunes he heard was the legendary Voodoo Ray by A Guy Called Gerald. When I heard that something clicked and that was the start of everything. Andy recalls.
It was in 1993 that the scene started to explode; jungle club nights and raves were packed out every week and Andy saw his bookings soar, and he became part of the drum&bass family; every Thursday he would meet up with Hype and Brockie. They would go to Section 5, Black Market, Unity Records and end up down at the legendary Music House cutting dubs. In parallel to his thriving DJ career, Andy was becoming an excellent producer, teaching himself the basics of computer programming and experimenting with beats. Friend of the family Ant Miles a talented sound engineer heard one of Andys rearrangement of Voodoo Ray and offered help. They quickly became a team: from his relentless Djing Andy knew what music to do, and Ant knew how to make it..
Their first release together was as Desired State. Soon Andy was confident enough to produce on his own and, at 16, his first solo effort the Sour Mash EP became the first release on his label Ram Records, created thanks to a £1,000 loan from his uncle. Ant and Andy went around the shops selling the EP themselves and to their delight, it sold a promising 2,500 copies..!
However, nothing could have prepared them for the consequences of their first track as Origin Unknown, a piece of drum & bass history. Valley Of The Shadows released in 1993 - became an absolute all-time classic. The track was so popular that Andy was even being booked to perform live P.As of the track which he confesses involved nothing more than playing a DAT whilst standing next to unplugged keyboard!

When looking over Andy Cs career to date it quickly becomes clear that he has worked extremely hard to get where he is today. Now known as drum&bass superstar DJ who spends most his time touring the world playing the music that he loves, it is important to note that he has done every menial job there is in this scene just to be part of it. Handing out flyers, selling records, reading instruction manuals, doing night shifts, opening and graveyard slots, Andy has done it Thats why, even widely acknowledged as the ambassador of drum&bass worldwide, Andy is still working hard for the love of the music and the respect of his massive audience all across the globe. In our opinion “Quest and ‘Valley Of The Shadows” (also known as: A Long Dark Tunnel”) are one of Andy C’s best productions up to date! More info! Andy C Kiss FM Presents Ed Rush & Optical Mix

Bryan G & Roni Size & Krust (V Records | Full Cycle)
Bryan G & Jumping Jack frost together set up the V Recordings label and released many classics from Bristol’s native Roni Size (Ryan Williams) wich is one of the U.K. jungle scene’s most respected names. His production credits spanning dozens of labels, projects and releases. Size’s influence as a producer, label owner, and committed underground magnate figured him as one of the emerging sound’s true pioneers. The breakout success of his debut album New Forms finally confirmed his stature and vaulted him to a greater degree of popularity than any drum’n'bass producer.
Born to Jamaican immigrant parents, Roni grew up in the Bristolean suburb of St. Andrews (home to Tricky, Massive Attack, and Smith & Mighty), where he learned the fundamentals of hip-hop through the area’s sounds systems, house parties, and underground clubs. Expelled from school Size started dabbling with house and reggae production in the late’80s. He hooked up with labelmates DJ Krust, Suv, and DJ Die at the 1990 Glastonbury Festival, and the four stayed in contact, eventually forming Size’s longest running musical commitment to date: his own Full Cycle label.

Although hardly popular in the days before ragga (then jump-up) ruled the decks, the crew now counts a number of classics among their credits, including Size’s “It’s a Jazz Thing,” Krust’s “Jazz Note,” and Reprazent’s Reasons for Sharing EP, the crew’s first outing through major label subsidiary Talkin’ Loud. The success of 1997’s New Forms launched Size to the top of the electronica genre, and the Dope Dragon label also continues to rise in the ranks of dubplate hysteria, with tracks from Selector Owoy, Gang Related, and Mask consistently passing muster on most DJ’s decks. After a relatively silent 1998, Size returned in 1999 with a new project — Breakbeat Era, with DJ Die and vocalist Leonie Laws. The trio released Ultra-Obscene in the fall of that year. In 2000, Size returned to the Reprazent project with In the Mode, boasting sit-ins from Method Man and ex-Rage Against the Machine’s Zack De La Rocha. Aliases: Mask, Firefox.

Krust- Real name Keith Thompson and stronly related to Roni Size. Also active under different names such as Gang Related and Glamour Gold. His most popular release was the hit single “Warhead” on V recordings but one of his best releases was the Genetic Manipulation album on Full Cycle in our humble opinion. More Roni Size info + More Krust info!

Crystl (Lucky Spin | Deejay Recordings)
aka Daniel Chapman is arguably one of the best producer drum and bass has ever known.. Despite the fact that his output is spasmodic, this man can lay claim to the fact that his vision helped guide the music that became drum and bass. His quality recordings for Deejay Recordings such as ‘Meditation’ & ‘Let It Roll’ are instant DNB classics wich proved that DNb was here to stay! He will always be relevant throughout the changing times. His music is hypnotic, deep and with a perception of aural depth only rivalled by Photek’s early recordings.

Doc Scott (31 Records)
From the birth of drum n bass to where it is today. From its transitions from rave to hardcore, jungle-techno to tech-step, UK based, to a global scene and industry. Doc scott has seen it all and been there for the entire journey.

“Im a DJ who makes music, always a DJ first.” (doc scott 1996)

The begining - After seeing Grandmaster flash on a news report on TV at the age of 11, coventry born Doc Scott knew what he wanted to do. Having a love affair with music for as long as he could remember, seeing someone controlling music, urban music, live, was fascinating to Scott. A year later aged 12, he bought his first record (Street sounds electro 2) and saw the sci fi classic Bladerunner. His life was changed forever and set him off on a path into 80’s hip hop, electro and film soundtracks. Aged 14 he had his first pair of turtables and started banging out mixtapes for his friends at school. Mash up elctro/hip hop/ mixes to breakdance to, earning him the nickname ‘the doctor’ which has stuck to this day. “People used to say it was like going to the doctors to get a pescription when they used to come to my house for a new tape and it kind of stuck”

Metalheadz / Sunday Sessions - A firm relationship with Goldie now existed and in late 1994 scott realised that goldie was keen to start up his own label, after 3 happy and very inspirational years at reinforced, scott and goldie collaborated on Metalheadz 001 - ‘Unreleased Metal’.
Jungle was dominating the landscape and both Scott & Goldie felt this was the wrong way to go for the drum n bass sound. ‘Vip Drumz & ‘Vip Riders Ghost’ was the first release on metalheadz and was a massive hit. Through club rage, scott and goldie were close friends with the likes of Wax Doctor, Photek, Dillinja, Lemon D, Source Direct, Peshay. They all felt the same way towards the Jungle sound and joined them at Metalheadz to release 12’s “to make a statement”.

In 1995 and in reaction to the dominance of jungle, 2 new club nights appeared, ‘the mMtalheadz Sunday Sessions ‘ and ‘Speed’ with Fabio & LTJ Bukem, Scott played at club Speed, but really found his home at ‘The Sunday Sessions’ at the legendary ‘Blue Note’ in Hoxton, London. “It was through these 2 club nights that i wrote the tracks i did, ‘Drumz 95′ for the Blue nNte, ‘Far Away’ for Speed, thats how it was, it was a lucky position to be in for sure” Lucky maybe, but there was no luck involved in releases like ‘Drumz 95′ (a Metalheadz and tech step anthem) ‘Far Away’ (a firm favourite at club speed) ‘The Unofficial Ghost’ (another Metalheadz anthem that bootlegged Goldies classic with the unforgetable ‘Ghost Face Killa’ vocals) and ‘Tokyo Dawn’ for LTJ Bukems Good Looking Records.

It was also in 1995 that Scotts djing really started to get attention, especially through his sets at the blue note. Becoming dj of the month in every major publication through 95-96 and releasing a DJ mix for the Mixmag Live series. MixMag Live 22 - ‘Breakbeat Experiments’ was a masterclass in the cutting edge sound of drum n bass.

The sunday sessions were now roadblocked and were becoming world famous.
“I can remember the queues being round the block at 10pm, it was crazy, i mean it finished at 12.30 ! I just remember the heat, the sound system, people from all over the world being in the club and the excitement, because the music was so cutting edge, and the crowd wanted it to be that way. Absolutely awesome. I used to get there knackered because it was a sunday, but by the time i got to the decks it was like having an adrenalin boost. ”

31 Records / Shadow Boxing - Though now a fully fledged international dj, scott did not forget about the studio, and in 1996/1997 went into the studio to write a track that would litterally stun the drum n bass world. ‘Shadow Boxing’ under his alias ‘Nasty Habits was quite simply mind blowing. It would also jump start his own label - ‘31 Records’ “I wanted to create that loop that everyone had in their head when they went home” Nothing had been heard like it before, a simple loop that grew into godzilla on a bad day, speckled with kung fu fx, ‘Shadow Boxing’ was Scott’s biggest selling record to date. “It was crazy because i remember doing the track and not thinking that much, i gave it to Rider on plate and then went abroad for about 2-3 weeks to dj, when i got back my phone was full of messages so i knew something was going on, but i had no clue that Shadow Boxing would be that big or that important.” ‘Shadow Boxing’ is a regular on all time top 10’s and was remixed in 1998 by Scott to crate another monster - ‘Shadow Boxing (The Remix)’.

Keen to get his own label more renowned and to look for new talent, doc scotts ‘31 Records’ put out releases by Dom & Roland, Ed Rush & Optical, Calyx & Decoder.

Kingz of the rollers - In 2003, 31 Records started the ‘King Of The Rollerz’ series of EPs, taken form the nickname given to him by Goldie, “Scottys definately the king of the rollers” (Goldie 1997). Amongst the many artists and remixes that appeared on the series were a certain trio from perth, australia. Pendulum ‘Vault’ was quite simply one of those tracks that come along and change everything and was typical of Doc Scott’s timing. “I have been in the right place at the right time on more than one occassion for sure” recalls scott. The tune was a monster and Pendulum are arguably the biggest name in drum n bass today,
“I am very proud that many artists who have recorded for 31 Records early in their careers have gone on to be big names in the scene, Dom & Roland, Ed Rush & Optical, Calyx, Marcus Intalex, Klute, Total Science, Calibre, Pendulum, Artificial Intelligence, Commix, State of Mind..”

Today - (2006) Now in 2006, Doc Scott is a true veteran and ‘hall of famer’ of the drum n bass scene, but is still as excited by it as ever. As a DJ he travels far and wide, making his regular stops around the world on his global dj circuit, to give people “the whole spectrum”.
A term which people who have heard doc scott play will understand. Never one to concentrate on one sound or one style, he plays across the board, just like his production work. Truly giving crowds around the world the A-Z of drum n bass. Now back in the studio after a break after the birth of his first son, get ready for some more inspirational drum n bass. More info!

Fabio (Creative Source)
Real name: Fitzroy Heslop aka Fabio - Being around for over 2 decades, Fabio had acquired legendary status for good reason. Starting his carrer as a Pirate Radio dj in the mid 80’s he has gone through genres such as Dub, Rare Groove, Hip Hop, early House, Jungle and Drum and Bass. Its a credit to him that after all these years hes still at the top of his game. Now known as the liquid funk master. Fabio has single handedly pioneered the Liquid Funk via his Creative Source label into the Drum and Bass scene and has always stayed true to the music he loves…. More info!

Goldie (Metalheadz)
Real name: Clifford Price aka Goldie aka Rufige Kru born December 28, 1965 in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. It all began in 1991 at a club night called Rage at Heaven. The rave scene had emerged from acid house and was building its own identity, with pioneer Djs such as Fabio and Grooverider mixing cutting edge sounds with vintage funk and reggae and playing tracks like Carl Craig’s seminal ‘Bugs In The Attic’ at 45rpm instead of 33. The vibe was explosive, the adrenalin was pumping.

This is where well-travelled Walsall born B boy Goldie – a name he got while customising gold teeth – ended up when just from a few years in New York and Miami, taken by his new girlfriend Kemistry and her flatmate, known as DJ Storm.

Rage puzzled him the first time, blew his mind the second and there was no turning back: Goldie the UK B Boy who was hanging out with Nellee Hooper and 3 D pre Massive Attack, gold teeth maker, respected breakdancer and renowned Grafitti artist (his first brush with fame was taking part in ‘Bombin’, the definite documentary about the 80s grafitti scene) had found his purpose in life. He was going to make music, and his music was going to be played at clubs like Rage.

Soon, Goldie met Mark and Dego – AKA 4 Hero - from Reinforced Records, the reference label of the emerging scene. In exchange of artwork and logo design, he got into their legendary Dollis Hill studio. Under their guidance, Goldie did not only capture the vibe of the music he had heard out, but he added his own touch, inspired by his passion for hip hop, an insatiable musical curiosity. getting the ultimate kick of watching and hearing Grooverider play his first ever track, Goldie grew in confidence and made his first official release for Reinforced, ‘Darkrider’ in 1992, under the Rufige Kru moniker. Thanks to the expertise he had picked up and his meeting with like-minded producers such as Doc Scott, Goldie was finding his own sound.

His passion and determination were rewarded the following year, and his third Reinforced release. With its dark atmosphere, steely breakbeats and restless vibe, ‘Terminator’ introduced what was to become a must in jungle production, timestretching. All the DJs followed the path of Grooverider, who instantly played the track when it was given to him. ‘Terminator’ brought a fresh, darker edge to the scene. Jungle had reached another level.

Through his own Metalheadz imprint set up shortly after, Goldie showcased early releases by some of the most crucial jungle artists; from Doc Scott, Photek and Peshay to Dillinja, J Majik and Optical. The Metalheadz weekly residency at London’s legendary jazz club The Blue Note captured the essence of the music to a packed and enthusiastic audience and became a must.

Goldie landed a contract with PeteTong’s offshoot FFRR, part of London Records, and released the sumptuous Timeless, a twisted hymn to urban Britain. Hailed unanimously, the album sold over 250,000 copies, comforting a charismatic, passionate and inspired Goldie as the spokerperson of the hippest scene of the times.

Fame kept rising beyond music. While turning into a bona fide celebrity with acting in cult and mainstream films, taking part of high profile TV shows, and becoming a fixture in the gossip columns, Goldie never ever lost touch with his jungle roots and was often spotted in the middle of the dancefloor at his own club nights, or paying respects to Grooverider or Randall. Nothing has captured better his attachment to the music than his sporadic return to the ‘Rufige Kru’ moniker for more uncompromising slices of vinyl, such as ‘Beachdrifta’ backed by a ‘Stormtroopaz’ VIP mix for the relaunch of Metalheadz in 2001. for the last few years, Goldie has DJed all over the world, still one of the highest profile ambassador of drum and bass.

For Goldie, turning into ‘Rufige Kru’ is capturing the essence of what makes him so passionate about music: a dark, unsettling, gutsy sound going back to the roots of jungle, made even more potent through state of the art studio production. In 2006, Goldie enrolled young and gifted producer Heist (AKA Strider) to help him deliver his ultimate tribute to the scene that captured his heart and soul over fifteen years ago: a Rufige Kru album, ‘Malice In Wonderland’ the first artist album ever for Metalheadz. Get ready for a treat. More info! Goldie Mix!

Grooverider (Prototype)
Real name Raymond Bingham aka Grooverider - An individual who is undoubtedly synonymous with the birth, growth and rise of UK Dance music particularly Drum N Bass is DJ Grooverider and two words synonymous to him are Pioneer and Icon. Having been integrally involved within the UK underground scene for well over 15 years he has participated in and supervised its evolution to it now being an highly eclectic club culture regarded and revered globally for being one of the most dynamic and developed. Despite being for the most part associated with Drum N bass and regarded by both avid listeners and his fellow artist and peers as being the Godfather of this genre, he himself is quick to publicise his own musical journey charting his other creative influences and exploits prior to the birth of Drum and Bass. Ive listened to black music all my life. Reggae, Hip Hop, R&B, Funk, Disco the whole thing. I started cruising to house then hardcore.Now its drum n bass but house is what I know inside out. Thats what I grew up with, my first love. I know everything about it. Drum n bass is something we formulated out of house. Its this cultured journey which qualifies him for almost unrivalled praise and recognition as clearly his efforts and his contributions have been critical in helping to establish and nurture UK Urban music as we know it today, which is flourishing as one of the most lucrative mainstream genres. As a DJ his credentials are phenomenal and testament to this is the fact that despite the underground club scene having unbelievably calmed since the memorable and tumultuous years of the 80 and 90s rave era, Grooverider is of a select few DJs who continues to play out at numerous events many of which are worldwide. This acclaim and notoriety is a far cry from the so called early days and his time on a sound systems and pirate radio station Ill always be a DJ first. I used to DJ on a sound system years ago then I got on to a radio station It was called Phase 1 I was playing acid house every Sunday morning, like, 8 ’til 10 in the morning some times we would start 3 am and go on ’til the next day The guy who owned the station opened a club after-hours and booked me and Fabio, cause we were both on the station This association with Fabio also considered by many as a forefather to the scene, proved not to be a flash in the pan and the two of them remain close friends, side kicks and business partners and presently co host the weekly radio 1 Drum n Bass show. Among Grooverider lasting legacy will be not that he simply helped establish the genre but also he helped it grow and expand it by exporting this energetic and progressive music to those who traditionally would not have listened to it. Its not just about me and Fabio, its a whole platform for drum n bass. Its about whats happening in drum n bass, taking it on the road and showing people who dont necessarily go to drum n bass parties that this is what we do This aim is clearly something that motivates him and it is clear that his long journey to where he is today had many challenges and struggles but with tenacity and resilience he started also to gain the respect of larger legitimate mainstream radio stations who could no longer ignore the genre or Grooverider eventually he was given a set on Kiss Fm We were on Kiss beforeand when Radio 1 called us in we ran at it. We didnt know what it was going to be like… but we had to take the chance Kiss was changing into a commercial station and Radio 1 was going the other way. I think it was the right time to jump ship. The underground side of Radio 1 was still developing and we were able to add to itIm now in my fourth year on Radio 1. Its been going really well. Radio 1 are happy and weve moved our time forward an hour In closing Grooverider has had a profound influence on UK music in general and in several different capacities as he has successfully assumed the both mantles of being a pioneering DJ and Producer. He is also the recipient of countless underground and global dance awards but perhaps his most reputed achievement was the MOBO best DJ award he won in 2002. As long as he continues to play at massive events, produce great tunes and pursue his Radio 1 shows it is likely that he will receive many more awards yet and each one will be deserved. Aliases: Inta Warriors (on Deejay Recordings, The Limit (on Emotif), Raymond Bingham and Codename John (on Prototype & Metalheadz). More info!

LTJ Bukem (Goodlooking | Looking Good Records)
Real name Daniel Williamson, well-known drum and bass producer, DJ, and head of the Good Looking Organisation of labels and artists. Widely acknowledged to be one of the leading figures in the realm of atmospheric or intelligent jungle. His handle comes from the catchphrase “Book ‘em, Danno” from the TV show Hawaii Five-O, which was popular when he was growing up. Born 1967 in London, started out playing house in the late 80’s and early 90’s before setting up his Good Looking label and releasing seminal jungle tracks like “Demon’s Theme” and “Music”, “Horizons” with the catch phrase “”Each new hour holds new chances for new beginnings, The horizon leans forward, Offering you space to place new steps of change” taken from Maya Angelou. As well as the popular Logical Progression series of compilations wich sold thousands of copies worldwide. Today he is still producing and touring the world. Aliases: The Bookworm, Danny Williamson.
More info!
Contact LTJ Bukem!

Fusion’s favourite Intelligent Records:

Nicky Blackmarket
It’s an honour to have Nicky on our page, he’s been a serious supporter of dnb for such a long time and those that visited the Blackmarket store (nowadays called BM Soho) in London in the past just know they had all the hot records wich where available at that time, his excellent service and knowledge (including the rest of the staff) made this one of the best recordstore’s in the UK.

Aside from business Nicky Blackmarket is one of the original pioneers of drum and bass, and he is still the most faithful soldier for the scene around the world. His early influences came from his mother’s background in the jazz scene, and it is improvisation and variety that characterise his DJ performances throughout his career. At the start of the eighties, Nicky was 14 and playing electro at youth clubs in London. He played with long-time collaborator Clarky and began to mix all forms of dance music, at house parties and on the radio. Friends FM, run by Mad B, gave Nicky a good education and the momentum to start his own shop in London, the legendary Blackmarket Records. In 1992, as the house scene moved towards breakbeat, Nicky created a separate department downstairs to cater for the sound that would eventually be called Drum and Bass. In the mid-nineties Nicky pushed the hardcore scene with a regular show on Pulse FM and performances at the Roller Express. He moved into production, making his first record “Spam EP”, along with various remixes and releases on his label Gyroscope, with artists like Ray Keith. This exposure fuelled his DJ career and Nicky decided to put all his efforts into playing his music around the world. “…first and foremost I am a DJ.” As the jungle scene exploded Nicky formed his legendary partnership with the late Stevie Hyper D. These performances are still regarded as the standard by which all others are judged, and mp3s of those sets will probably be on the internet forever. Blackmarket Records supported the scene as a focus for the community, an essential component in an world without the internet. Nicky started another label “Kartoonz” featuring the anthem “Two Degrees”, confirming his status as a central force in the scene. Unlike many superstars, Nicky still works in his shop and is a promoter of fresh talent and ideas, unafraid to help new artists and organisers push the artform forward. His love of drum and bass keeps him from descending into the mindless repetition and lazy performances characteristic of many in the scene. Nicky invites you to sample his philosophy at the shop in D’Arblay St, London, or at any of his shows around the world.
Contact Nicky Blackmarket

Photek (Photek Productions)
Though Goldie became the first superstar of jungle, the recordings of Rupert Parkes as Code of Practice, Aquarius, Studio Pressure, the Truper and Sentinel, but most famously as Photek made him an easy pick for the style’s most artistic and intelligent producer. Working his way through street-level hardstep (on early productions for Certificate 18 and Street Beats) and airy, sub-aquatic “dolphin” tunes for L.T.J Bukem’s Good Looking label, Parkes finally arrived at a sound that pushed the bounds of drum’n'bass from the dancefloor into the realm of breakbeat headspace; unlike most jungle producers, Parkes has never DJed and rarely goes to clubs. His incredibly intricate rhythm programming often requiring weeks of computer preparation and the unmissable aura of paranoid menace on recordings such as “The Hidden Camera” and “UFO” exerted quite an influence on the return of dark-style drum’n'bass during the late ’90s.

As a teenager, Parkes listened to electro, techno and hip-hop as well as the more free-form side of jazz and fusion. Thanks to a sampler bought with a £2000 loan from the Trust of the Prince of Wales, he began producing tracks and first appeared on Paul Solomon’s Certificate 18 Records with singles as Studio Pressure. He also recorded for Basement (as Sentinel) and Street Beats (The Truper) before initiating a series of 12-inch singles for his own Photek Records, which gave him credentials and led to releases on Goldie’s Metalheadz label and L.T.J. Bukem’s Good Looking, as well as a remix of the Therapy? single “Loose”.

After Parkes had released more than 80 tracks of drum’n'bass on half a dozen labels, he was approached by Virgin and signed to a five-album deal with the label’s Science imprint (provided he was allowed to continue recording for other independent labels as well). Parkes’ first release on Science was The Hidden Camera EP, which appeared in May 1996. The second Science single “Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu” displayed an increasing interest in applying the lessons of martial arts to his programming (the title is Japanese for “two swords, one technique”). Virgin compiled the latter two releases on 1997’s Risc Vs. Reward, then released the debut Photek album Modus Operandi in September 1997. Much-hyped though little-praised, the album was followed by 1998’s Form & Function, a compilation including several original Photek Records tracks plus remixes and new tracks. During the next two years, Parkes focused on his new Photek Productions label, and finally released a second LP, Solaris, in 2000. Photek Aliases: Code of Practice, Phaze 1, Rupert Parkes, The Truper (Truper is an anagram of Rupert), The Sentinel, Studio Pressure, System X, Synthetics, Origination(together with Rob Solomon) and Special Forces.
More info!

Randall (MacII Records, Reinforced Records)
Randall started dj-ing at the age of 17 and soon after London’s Notting Hills Carnaval he was introduced to Acid House. Randall is definitely a natural when it comes to mixing, saying that the basics took him only a week to learn back in the mid 80s. He soon got his first dj sets at some well known Pirate radio slots; Centreforce Radio 88.3 wich gave him loads of airplay in London. Soon after he got introduced to a crew called Orange wich had a venue at the well known club called Rocket on Holloway rd, London where he played alongside; Hype, Grooverider, Fabio and dj Rap. After that he moved on and played dj sets for A.W.O.L. / Worlddance who offered him a residency at club Paradise, Islington, London (amazing club with loads of quality dj’s playing the real jungle/ dnb ; words: Tempo) wich residents also included: Mickey Finn, Kenny Ken, Darren Jay, Gachet and MC GQ. To his own words” History was in the making”.
Randall is simply refelecting what’s going on around him and, even though some might say his sound has got ‘darker’, he inhabits that overlap between ‘jump-up’ jungle and ‘darkside’ drum & bass. He’s always had broad tastes and, as long as those beats are running, there’s easily enough room in his set to contrast a wide range of flavas.

Randall is better known as a DJ than a producer, but all this may change soon if he has his way. He’s no stranger to the studio having co-produced “Sound Control” with Andy C in ‘95, “Flava’s” with Tek 9 on Reinforced’s “Above The Law” album and “Hard Noize” with Tee-Bone on his “Strictly Business” compilation. As you can see, all have been collaborations, but Randall now has all the equipment necessary and has been learning it all so he can do everything himself. However, Randall is in no rush, probably because of everyone’s high expectations through his DJing, and is under no illusions about his position in the production game. “I’m at the starting post of making music, and all I’m getting from people that I know that are well in it, doing albums and what not, is ‘take your time’. If you love it enough, it will come. I might not make a tune that hits top ten, but if I make a tune that satisfies my heart, that will be enough. It’s quality not quantity that counts to me but, at the end of the day, I just want to make good tunes and be out there representing.” More Info! MacII Records label!

Trace (DSCI4)
Trace: born as Duncan Hutchinson, his initial releases: Coffee,By Any Means Neccessary, Miles High and Have You Know on Deejay Recordings & Lucky Spin are one of his best releases ever and became instant classics, absolutely Timeless and in other words brilliant..! Trace changed his sound to dark with the remixes of T-Power’s Mutant Jazz (the first Techstep single?) and became one of the members on the No-U-Turn label wich released the first classic Techstep dnb album Torque. After that many underground classics and remixes where produced on the Prototype and Virus label, Trace paved the way for many Tech Step / Neuro producers (or copycats?) nowadays. Todays it’s set to be rumoured he is producing House on his Shark label, will this bring him the same cult status? More Info!

……………………………………………………………………………………………….
OTHER QUALITY PRODUCERS / DJ’s:
Adam F (Metalheadz / Breakbeat KAOS)
Adam Fenton was born in Liverpool and raised in the center of the burgeoning local Merseyside music scene of the 70s. A self-taught musician, Adam is an accomplished pianist and guitarist. His unstoppable music career began in the early 90s. He cites jazz-fusion and the 80s British electronica that was the foundation of MTV, as his main influences. MTV soon aired several of his music videos. Adam’s praised debut “Colours” featured the Top 20 singles “Circles” and “Music In My Mind” and earned him a British MOBO™ (Music of Black Origin) Award for Best Album (MOBO™ is England’s equivalent to an American Grammy™). After an 18-month tour with a live band in support of his soon to be RIAA-certified Gold record, he was enlisted to demonstrate his turntable skills at major music festivals and top nightclubs around the globe. During his early DJ years he mixed for Goldie, joined the Metalheadz label and as a member of the seminal DJ collective, is featured in their legendary documentary. Adam exploded into the mysterious stratosphere of high-paid, high-profile international superstar DJs, appearing on magazine covers, in print, on television and radio shows worldwide, including his own Saturday night mix show on London’s KISS 100FM.

Adam’s versatility has him collaborating with artists from David Bowie to The Pet Shop Boys, Everything But The Girl and Destiny’s Child to American rappers Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes. His urban soundtrack “KAOS: The Anti-Acoustic Warfare” (EMI/UK) saw Adam producing U.S. hip hop stalwarts De La Soul, LL Cool J, Guru, Noreaga (aka N.O.R.E.), M.O.P. and Redman for whom Adam assembled a 70 piece orchestra and 64 member choir then composed and scored music to create the anthemic hit “Smash Sumthin’” (also featured in EA Games “Def Jam Vendetta”). The supremely successful collaboration with LL Cool J resulted in the #1 Billboard-charted single “The G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time)”, which, in addition to appearing on Adam’s album also served as the title single from LL’s eponymous multi-platinum release. My personal favourite and probably DNB best ever track would be “Circles” but “Metropolis” on the darker side could be considered THE biggest tune of 1996 without doubt! “Metropolis” rocked the place till the roofs came tumbling down and the walls exploded (especially at The End’s massive speakers). This sounded like nothing else at the time, very futuristic and of course it was brought to us by Goldie’s Metalheadz label. The production is sublime, it’s one of the biggest sounding tunes I’ve ever heard and when played out at a club it made people absolutely crazy & out of their minds! More info!

Calibre (Signature | Soul:R)
One of the great newcomers in drum and bass. Great funky tracks on the debut album “Musique Concrete” on Fabio’s Creative Source and tons of singles on various other labels. He’s extremely productive and there must be at least a dozen of great dubplates floating around with this guy at the moment. The quality of production is excellent, however, I believe some of his tracks can get a little too similar. Due to the quantity he produces, there are so many amazing unreleased tunes by this guy that people are still crying for, and it is truly a shame that they will probably never see the light of day; this includes “Turn” wich is an amazing deep rolling dub track. Other Calibre tracks such as “Musique Concrete” was a masterpiece and “Second Sun” also oozed quality but my all time favourite Calibre track would be “Jane’s Twitch”/ “3AM” on Thermal Records, for those that where unlucky at the time, they have just repressed this tune with original label artwork. More info!

Digital & Spirit (Timeless | Inneractive)
Not much can be found about these original DNB producers, just listen to their production skills on their many releases through out the years (as well as their collabs under the name of Phantom Audio) and nuff said! My personal Spirit favourite would be “Axis” ,just listen to the guitar riff, absolutely mind blowing and Digital’s ” Mission Impossible” has both deepness and dancefloor stamina! More Spirit info! + More Digital info!

Dillinja & Lemon D (Valve Recordings)
Dillinja- Real name Karl Francis, Lemon D- real name Kevin King, one of the original Drum and Bass producers and known for their deep subs and harsh beats! Dillinja’s most well known tracks: Deeadly Deep Subs, The Angels Fell both recorded for the Metalheadz label, Lemon D’s well known tracks are: Urban Flava (Metalheadz), Going Gets Tough (Prototype) and I Can’t Stop (Full Cycle). Nowadays both producers travel the world and produce tracks for their own Valve Recordings. More info!

Ed Rush & Optical (Virus)
Ed Rush: born as Ben Settle and founded together with Optical the Virus label in 1998. Well known for his dj-ing around the world and releases such as The Force Is Electric (together with label owner Nico Sykes) Ed Rush became famous releasing the Wormhole album on Virus.
Optical: born as Matt Quinn, brother of Jamie Quinn alias Matrix. (The third brother, Fergus alias Plainclothesmen, designed numerous covers for Virus and Metro, Matrix’s own imprint). Started making music at the age of 17. His first hardcore label was Phat Tunes. Recorded for No U Turn, Prototype and Metalheadz, worked with Goldie on Saturnz Return, engineered Grooverider’s Mysteries Of Funk. Optical’s solo material truly shows the length to which Ed Rush influences his sound. Optical’s solo stuff is not as dark and carries a different vibe but still maintaining the Techy dnb sound. More Virus info!
Andy C Kiss FM Presents Ed Rush & Optical Mix

J Majik (Metalheadz | Infrared)
Real name: Jamie Spratling, though he’s one of the youngest members of the Metalheadz stable, Jamie Spratling debuted back in 1992 with tracks recorded for the Planet Earth label. Similar to the other Metalheadz, Majik’s 12″s are dark affairs, with some of the best drum’n'bass lines around, though he leavens the brew with jazzy flourishes, like the Spanish guitar prevalent on the flip side of his first single for Metalheadz, “Your Sound”. Living in Northwood, England, he began DJing in the early ’90s — while in his early teens — and recorded “6 Million Ways to Die” in 1992 as DJ Dextrous. Two more singles followed for Planet Earth before the real DJ Dextrous became known to him, after which he turned to the alias J. Majik for his 1994 debut on Metalheadz, “Your Sound”. The track was an undeniable classic, and later showed up on the Platinum Breakz compilation. Besides later singles for Metalheadz such as “Jim Kutta” and “Arabian Knights”, but our most personal favourite must be “Shiatsu” and “Light Sabre” wich made J Majik into the hall of fame. Majik recordings for Mo’Wax as well as his own Infra Red label, which released his debut LP, Slow Motion, in mid-1997. Aliases: Dexxtrous, Innervisions. More info!

Klute (Commercial Suicide)
Tom Withers, aka Klute, has been a fixture on the Drum and Bass scene for over ten years, lending his creativity to the likes of Metalheadz, 31 Records, Hospital Records and his early stable Certificate 18, responsible for releasing his first two albums, “Casual Bodies” and “Fear of People”. Fear Of People is a brilliant timeless album on the now defunked Certificate 18 label. Our stand out tracks on Fear Of People are: Three Of Us (pure detroit bliss)! Chicks (we love them)! Angry Woman (we hate them)! Klute is known for his deep emotional synth riffs and beat programming, also inspired by the great Detroit Techno pioneers Juan Atkins and Derrick May plus electronic pioneer Stockhausen but also played in the hardcore skate-punk band called The Stupids in the eighties wich lauded and rebellious electronic career, an apt schooling for a producer with this unique level of eclecticism. In 2001 he started his own Commercial Suicide imprint wich was born out of a necessity on Klute’s part to control his own releases as well as provide a support network for the ever increasing new generation of like minded producers. So far the label has seen releases by Klute himself, Calibre, Total Science, Digital, and D.Kay. More info!

Lee (Atlas | Metalheadz | Advanced)
Lee’s involvement and history in the UK’s underground dance scene dates way back to the late 80’s. Since then, Lee has become a steady name on the circuit, known for his splendid dj sets as well as his involvement in Timeless, Vinyl Distribution and Atlas Recordings fame.

Starting off as a resident at the legendary “Brunel Rooms” in Swindon, Lee played alongside DJ’s such as Doc Scott, Fabio, Grooverider and LTJ Bukem. His impression there was so great that other bookings began to roll in from all over the country. In 94′ Danny Bukem alongside Leo Roche and Sarah Sandy started the groundbreaking night “Speed” at Soho’s Mars club. Along with Fabio they started the first Drum n Bass night in Londons West End with a more mature music policy. They needed a resident that would fit in with the futuristic sounds of Bukem and Fabio along with Doc Scott and Kemistry & Storm. Lee was made resident at what has become such a pivotal event In Drum N Bass history. Lee was also made resident at the legendary “MetalHeadz Sunday Sessions” by Head Honcho Goldie and still plays for them to this day!!!

From here Lee went on to explore the European scene, being booked to play in Germany, Holland, Switzerland and Iceland to name a few followed by numerous tours in the USA, Japan, New Zealand & Australia. As well as playing all over the world Lee was also involved in the Timeless imprint, which has over the years released some of the finest drum n bass tracks to date by artists like Total Science, Digital, Spirit & Cause 4 Concern to name a few. Lee also started his own imprint called Atlas Recordings, which has featured talented musicians from all over the globe, including Austrian D.Kay and Lee himself for Atlas 001!!

Since then the duo have gone on to release tunes on Hospital, 31Records, C.I.A & Metro producing Liquid Anthems such as ‘Touch’, ‘Pipe Dreams’ & ‘Manipulate The Universe’.

2005 was another busy year for Lee after numerous tours of eastern & mainland Europe,the U.S.A & regular visits to his residencies in Vienna, Budapest & Berlin and his home base the long running “Source” in Oxford, UK. He & D-Kay also had best selling releases on Metalheadz with the Summer Hits Waxed (featured on Friction & Zincs mix cds),Eternal Sunset,Tuning and The Rain,Take Some Time on Under Construction (D.O.As Label).

So In 2006 for those that don’t know Lee, as well as being a DJ, is moving into the Premiership of DnB producers with more releases on Advanced(Manipulate The Universe Remix) and Desire on Dkays Brigand Imprint(1Xtra DnB chart No1),also look out for the long awaited comeback of the Atlas Recordings imprint. He is famed for being continually upfront with his selection making him one of the most exciting, & much sought after DJs on the circuit. Lee manages to please the true music connoisseurs as well as the casual ‘good time’ punters which can not be said for many DJs in the upper echelons of the DnB hierachy. More Info!

Lynx (Creative Source | Soul:R)
Soul:R (Marcus Intalex) Creative Source (Fabio), Bingo Beats (Zinc), Digital Soundboy (Shy FX)…just some of the labels which will be releasing a Steve Nobes (aka Lynx) track this summer. When you add this to increasingly frequent airplay and an impressive set of DJ bookings starting in spring, 2007 seems set to be the start of an exciting career for Lynx.
An exciting career but an electrifying new trend in drum and bass sound. D&B has been waiting a long time for a producer who could combine musical diversity with crowd pleasing success, and Lynx has been worth the wait! You will see no better proof than the super clubs of London, where dance floors are ripped up on a weekly basis by Mariachi, Uno, Shaku, B Box Roller, Global Enemies or one of the many other tracks in Lynx’s current repertoire.
Mariachi (Creative Source) must be his critically aclaimed best single up to date and it’s flip-side Uno still receive regular radio and club play, but are today joined by a host of other Lynx tracks including Shaku ‘Exactly the tip I am looking for’ (Grooverider Radio 1) and Global Enemies featuring MC Kemo‘ this track is gonna be big, deep deep stuff’ (Fabio, Radio 1). Fabio has recently featured him on his show as a new talent, and has been quoted to say ‘you should be seeing Lynx collecting awards next year at Radio 1xtra’s Drum and Bass awards’. Marcus Intalex has been so impressed with Lynx’s productions that he is releasing a single and an EP on the groundbreaking Soul: R recordings. Not only that 2007 will see Lynx integrated into the Soul R camp as an official Soul: R artist alongside legends such as Calibre, Marcus Intalex and ST Files. More info!

Marcus Intalex (Soul:R)
Marcus Intalex has been actively involved in the dance music scene since 1998. His djing skills have taken around the globe on many occasions. As a dj he believes in a pushin a mature forward thinkin sounds that has a good energy level but still retaining a touch of soul. This is mirrored in his productions both alone and together with st files as mist and additionally with calibre as mistical. More info!

Omni Trio
Aka Robert Haigh owner of the now defunked Hertford, UK, recordshop and label PM Recordings(Parliament Recordings). His early releases are under the name of Splice. The name Omni Trio first appeared on a release from another of Rob’s labels Candidate Records, this caught the ear of Hertford based trio 2 Bad Mice who were existing Moving Shadow artists who introduced Rob Haigh to label boss Rob Playford. Things started to blow up after Omni’s Mystic Steppers ep with the classic anthem Feel (Feel Good) wich was played by nearly every dj at the time! Soon after the “Renegade Snares” made a huge impact on the so called Jungle scene wich was a proto Drum And Bass classic (alongside The Helicopter Tune), and attracted a whole new age of Intelligent producers. “Nu Birth Of Cool” is another slice of Rob’s solid quality productions and his trademark is defenately “Timeless” as all of these releases are original in it’s own form (& function)! Aliases: London Steppers, Silent Storm, Persons Unknown, Robert Haigh, Sema and Splice. Moe Info can be found here!

Peshay (Cubik Records | Mo Wax | Island)
Real name Paul Pesce, UK drum n bass producer and DJ. Peshay’s rise through the drum’n'bass scene has been nothing short of meteoric. Respected worldwide for his releases on labels such as Metalheadz, Good Looking, Mo Wax and Island to name but a few. His ability to produce at the highest levels and his excellence behind the decks is legendary. When he DJs, 4 minute mixes are the norm and the excitement that he generates describe Peshay perfectly. Always on the go, hyperactive, talkative and passionate.

Whilst growing up, Peshay found himself listening to an assortment of music ranging from opera to electro. His obsession with the new house scene developing in the early 80’s made him decide that as far as making a living was concerned this was the path he wished to follow.
Peshay was made redundant in 1990, so he decided to concentrate full time on his musical career. He bought a pair of Technics and started sending tapes out to promoters which led to his first break at Raveworld in April 92. He also went on to play for Genesis @ Rollers Express, Fascination @ Tasco Warehouse and both Dreamscape & Fantazia. Within a short period of time his DJ’ing ability helped him to secure regular bookings all over the world.
Peshays first recordings came about after hooking up with the infamous Bay B Kane and the “Rough Guidance EP” was made and then Bizzy B with the “2 Dope EP”. Both smashed the rave scene in 1992. As well as hooking up with Dave Charlesworth at ADR and the “Catch It” track was released.

Meeting Goldie one evening led to Peshay meeting Dego and Gus at Reinforced. This led to the “Protege EP” that first brought Peshay into the spotlight. The EP smashed it and this led to an increase in Peshays DJ work.
At a Dreamscape event in 1992 LTJ Bukem introduced himself to Peshay it was this meeting that eventually led to a joint collaboration which produced “19.5″ and Peshays first solo outings, the awesome “Piano & Vocal Tunes”, now all acclaimed classics for the Good Looking imprint.

Then due to an illness Peshay was unable to DJ or produce for nearly three years. His comeback session at Metalheadz bluenote club is still talked about today. It wasn’t long before Peshay had re-established himself both behind the decks and in the recording studio.
After a couple of projects for Basement Records which include “Futurama” and “Roll The Beats”, Peshay produced “Psychosis”, “Predator”, “On The Nile” and “Nocturnal” as well as a host of remixes for Metalheadz. Peshay also contributed to the acclaimed “Logical Pregression” and “Platinum Breaks” albums with FFRR London as well as being chosen to remix both releases from the acclaimed album “Timeless” by Goldie, as well as stinging remixes of Ltj Bukem’s “Music” and Galliano’s “Freefall”.

Peshay was signed by James Lavelle for Mo Wax in late 1995. Peshay then locked himself away in the studio for almost a year until he had finished his debut album. Suddenly everything came to a grinding halt. As merger mania in the record industry came rumbling into Peshays life. By the end of 1998 Peshay finally found himself at Island Records. The critically acclaimed album “Miles From Home” was released in 1999 on Island Blue Records, the label managed by Ross Allen. Peshays remix credits include artists such as Galliano, Jay Dee, John Coltrane, Photek, Carl Craig, Goldie, LTJ Bukem, DJ Shadow and Courtney Pine to name but a few. Always choosing to remix tunes he personally likes has produced an impressive catalogue of quality dance tracks.

Nowadays his tunes are featured on a new double CD compilation “Inside Cubik”, which is available through Caramelle / Zyx Music now. “Inside Cubik” contains 21 tunes in total incl. seven (7) new and unreleased. Plus a couple of new tracks will be released shortly: “Don’t Think About Me / Version” on Black Widow / Infrared Records in some months, probably in October or November. Also “Make Some Noise” (Peshay, DJ SS, Influx UK feat. Kay), “Listen To The Bassline Rumble” (Peshay, Influx UK), “Party Time” (Peshay, DJ SS) - some big time collaborations on Formation Records - aswell to be released later this year. Aliases: Secrets (on Blueprint), 5th Assassin (on Hardleaders). Co-productions with off course Photek on the Island Blue single plus his biggest album Miles From Home wich was received as a groundbreaking jazzy Drum And Bass album at the time. More info!

Physics (Midnight Sun Recordings)
Physics is the production moniker for drum&bass producer/DJ and label
owner Glenn Grip currently recording for Labels such as Metalheadz,
Blindside, Fokuz, Jerona Fruits, Phuzion, Phuturistic Bluez, Planet Funk
and Pivotal Entertainment music. He also runs Finland based label Midnight
Sun Recordings. He started producing late 90`s and it didn`t take long
before his music was snapped up by international labels. Physics music has
been supported by international DJ:s such as LTJ Bukem, Goldie, Nookie,
Marcus Intalex, Marky & XRS, D-Bridge, Bryan Gee, Makoto and many more.
Being a busy DJ aswell , Djing work have taken him across Europe playing
the sounds of the Midnight Sun. More info!

Source Direct (Metalheadz | Certificate 18 | SD recordings)
Real Names: Jim Baker & Phil Aslett who make up Source Direct, first met while still at school in suburban St. Albans at the dawn of the ’90s. Holed up in the attic of Jim’s parents’ house they began to hone their production skills. They debuted with the ‘Trust Me EP’ on Certificate 18 under the moniker Sounds Of Life in 1994 and recorded a further two singles and two remixes for the label over the next year and a half. The money they made was used to bolster their home studio.

The duo’s first release as Source Direct appeared in mid-94 on Odysee, another friend’s label, and by the start of ‘95 they had grown confident enough to initiate their own eponymous imprint to release their music. By the end of that year, Jim and Phil’s talent was recognised and rewarded by an EP on Metalheadz, the genuinely creepy The Cult and Made-Up Sound. A succession of EPs and remixes followed on Metalheadz, Good Looking and Mo Wax before they signed to Virgin’s Science imprint at the end of 1996. An album and then a succession of releases appeared on various labels as well as their own label Source Direct Recordings.
Aliases: Hokusai, Intensity, Mirage, Oblivion, Sounds Of Life, X-Files. Sadly the two seperated and Jim Baker went on producing under the name of Kutta wich resulted in Strike Like A Cobra on Source Direct Recordings in 2002 and Nitty together with Instra mental on Demonic. More info!

Storm (Metalheadz)
The biography of DJ Storm’s career has changed dramatically in the last few years. Tragically her best friend and DJ-ing partner, Kemistry, was suddenly killed in a car accident as they were returning from a gig in April 1999.

The pair were a unique and pioneering element in our scene, as the only female duo in the circuit, each with a strong identity which perfectly complemented eachother’s style. They were even quoted in interviews as saying they felt like one person, and there was not a moment they could imagine working separately.

Having the music beside her, Storm has found a way to carry on as an artist. As what she and Kemi shared, more than anything else, was this undeniable passion for drum’n’bass. So with her dubplates in hand, she continues the journey, with an angel in mind and the bass to keep her moving.

Extended biog:

The Djing career of Kemisty & Storm had progressed gradually over the years. They were first turned onto jungle in the early raving years, at the legendary UK club Rage at Heaven, listening to the inspiring tracks dropped by Fabio and Grooverider. They became obsessed with the music and clubbing lifestyle, and knew they had to be a part of it. Hence a passion was born and the girls were busying themselves, raving, buying tunes, and mixing. The partnership in d’n’b began and the outcome was Kemisty & Storm. At this time the girls also met a young artist by the name of Goldie, who they introduced to this new and futuristic sound. They began a friendship or a ‘trinity’ and built an empire along the way.

The empire began with the label, Metalheadz. Kemistry & Storm were an integral part of the uprising of this most-respected imprint, by recruiting artists, and working on press and promotion for the label. The girls were also residents at the Headz legendary club night at Blue Note in London, which to this day is thought to be the best Metalheadz venue in history. Not only that, but as jungle was evolving into drum’n’bass, the girls were spreading their wings as DJs at Speed, alongside residents Fabio and LTJ Bukem.

The duo became highly respected as DJs through their hard work, determination, respect and kindness, and of course their skills. They were becoming more and more popular in the DJ circuit and regularly played alongside heavy hitters or headlined their own gigs all over the world: from Europe to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, America, and of course the UK. Frequently playing in Germany the girls really felt a connection there. They had a high profile mix-CD released by German label K-7, which showcased their talent and unique mixing abilities and great selection, which in turn propelled their success to the next level. Sadly, soon after the promotional tour for the CD ended, and at the height of their career, the girls were involved in a motorway accident were Kemistry was tragically lost.

Not surprisingly, the best mate of Kemistry was unimaginably devastated. But what was a surprise to all of us was her ability to carry on after such a tragedy. After a couple months, Storm was back out there, for the first time traveling and performing on her own as a DJ. She even flew to Japan to do a couple gigs alongside Cleveland Watkiss, showing the world that she is beyond strong.

Now nearly 8 years after the tragedy, the First Lady of drum’n’bass is still here, not just surviving but rocking the decks worldwide, growing from strength to strength as a DJ and as a person. In addition to her big UK following, she is regularly rocking the decks in Germany, Italy, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, and visiting far reaching places like Spain, Latvia, Bulgaria, Iceland, Russia, Poland, Romania, Croatia and Macedonia. Beyond Europe, she is regularly touring in Australia, New Zealand and Japan, and the US & Canada.

Storm is still involved with her longtime affiliate, Metalheadz. She was also the press officer for Valve a few years back. In addition she has on several occasions lectured at the Red Bull Music Academy, where she was teaching young DJs just what it takes to be a d’n’b artist. The Academy flew her out to Sao Paolo, Brazil as well as Vienna and Zurich to have the lady represent the finest in d’n’b talent.

Recent projects in the last year were DJing for the Metalheadz 10 Year Anniversary Tour, and playing at her residency in London (Metalheadz) as well as her 2 guest residencies in Germany. 2005 has been a busy year, with a full booking diary both locally and abroad, and the ‘Winter of Content’ cd on Metalheadz mixed by DJ Storm and released in October.

2006 has seen Storm’s heavy touring schedule continue. Besides her many European gigs she ventured out of Europe twice. In May 2006 she toured Asia with visits in Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Singapore. In November she returned to Australia and New Zealand to spread the Metalheadz vibe.

2007 will no doubt be another hectic year for Storm. Her diary is filling up nicely including her first ever gig in Seoul, South Korea and an invitation to play DJ Marky’s prestigious ‘Marky and Friends’ night in London.

The First Lady of drum’n’bass may be blowing up the decks in your town soon. More Info!

Total Science (Advanced | C.I.A. Records)
Real names: Jason Greenhalgh (Q Project with glasses) & Paul Smith (Spinback)
The pair first met in 1987, both living in and around the Blackbird Leys estate in Oxford, England and brought together through a mutual love of hip-hop and school girls. Greenhalgh was the first into the studio, with “Freestyle Fanatic” launching his career in 1991. However it was the establishment of the Legend imprint and specifically Greenhalgh’s “Champion Sound”, which really took their profile above and beyond the slew of anonymous white labels that were dominating the music at the time.

In 1994, the pair started recording together under the name Funky Technicians, with “Got to Believe” the first in a series of records which pushed the label away from the fizzling darkside movement and more towards the epic string sections and rolling beats which started to appear on labels like Basement, Lucky Spin and Good Looking.
After six years of recording singles for Legend and others, the pair established the CIA label and changed their name to the now familiar Total Science guise in the closing months of 1997, with the help of Brillo from Timeless. The release of their Silent Reign EP for Goldie’s Metalheadz breathed a new lease of life into the project, and the pair achieved a further boost with a well-timed Bad Company remix of “Champion Sound” which conjured further interest in what they were doing with their own label. Their debut album Advance exposed a further field of interest, with down-tempo experiments logged as a series of “Breaks” on the majority of their early EP’s extended to some superb deep house, this breadth was taken a step further with their Skin Deep imprint which has forged broken beat to considerable acclaim.

The pair’s pioneering of a revival in old-school sounds and arrangements, together with Digital and Reinforced, dominated drum & bass throughout 2001. After this followed releases on high-profile labels such as 31 Records, True Playaz, Reinforced and Soul:r.
2000 saw the founding of CIA’s sister label Advanced, created as a means to keep up with the high level of production output from the duo and their confederates, for which one label was no longer enough. Following from this came the renowned Sektor series on Advanced. Initially created as a way of combining up-and coming artists with those more established, the series was also developed as a means to stress the importance more on the music than the artists. Featuring artists such as Baron, Digital, D.kay, Lee, Juju, Beta 2 and Klute, the Sektor series included seminal tracks such as “Squash”, and the ever popular “Champion Sound” remix.

During 2003 the pair spent a significant part of the year promoting their music to all parts of the world, touring the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Europe & Brazil. During this year CIA and Advanced became more focused on showcasing other artists and nurturing the profile of then-up-and-coming producers such as Beta 2, Zero Tolerance, Friction, Mathematics and Baron-whose remix of Total Science’s Nosher became without a doubt one of the year’s biggest dancefloor stormers, pioneering the jump-up resurgence of 2003.
With a new found musical focus- marked by a new studio setup, 2004 was used to up the output quality alongside re-launching their dormant hip-hop/soul imprint - Skin Deep. In true Total Science fashion of never binding oneself to one particular musical form, they released tracks on Creative Source, Defunked and Metalheadz alongside pushing a string of lucrative 12″s on their own labels: Advanced & C.I.A, of which ‘No 1.Sound’ on C.I.A and ‘Defcon 69′ on Metalheadz achieved anthem status.

2005 was cataclysmic for this pioneering production outfit, after one year of a new studio setup, they were back on top, producing top class music that was desired by everyone. C.I.A and Advanced witnessed the release of an array of tracks from talented producers such as Juju’s ‘Mojohand/Nomad’, Calibre & Zero Tolerance’s ‘Diamonds and Pearls’ and State of Mind’s ‘State of Mind Experience:Chapter 1/2 whilst Q-Project’s ‘Ask Not’ and Total Science’s ‘Greatest thing’ stormed their way through the UK dance charts. Later on in the year, Q-Project signed ‘Bang Out’, ‘Uprising VIP’ and ‘In for a Penny, In for a Pound’ to Creative Source, Liquid V and Bingo, announcements followed by news that Q-project was to sign to Hospital Records marking the start of some interesting solo projects, illustrated in the popular ‘Hello My name is Q-Project’ EP release. The action and buzz surrounding Q-Project and Total Science collectively during 2005 put them in serious demand from promoters worldwide, obtaining them a long list of gigs all over England and Europe, not forgetting to mention the scoring of a prime-time New Years Eve set in New Zealand and a U.S.A tour lasting three weeks.

‘Mars Needs Total Science’, the guys third album, was released mid 2006 and saw instant success with album single ‘Never Had a Dream’ reaching Number 1 in the UK Dance charts and a host of tracks from it being played by the likes of Hype, Fabio, Golde, Zane Lowe, Ronnie herel and Trevor Nelson. Q-Project finally finished his exellent debut solo lp “Renassance Man” which was released on Hospital in late Autumn.
2007 has seen the Oxford duo team up with DJ Marky’s label Innerground to form “CINNA” The last release “2nd Date” featured vocals from Ayah and was a hot favourite, doing the rounds of the D&B circuit and even found it’s way into the record box of superstar House DJ: Pete Tong!! Mid 2007, TS collaborated with fellow Brazilian wonderboy: Bungle on a track entitled “Snake Eyes”. This was one of many popular tracks that featured on Bungle’s debut CIA LP: “Down to Earth.
Collaborations aside, TS have kept themselves busy remixing classic tunes: “Secada” by Zero T & Beta 2 and their remix for the club smasher, crowd pleaser and ol’time favourite jungle/ dnb classic “Dubplate” by Wots My Code, whilst Q Project recently embarked on his own project to set up an imprint focused entirely on showcasing Q Project music: ‘Machine Funk’. 2008 and beyond will bring more new projects, so check them out in the clubs! More Info!

……………………………………………………………………………………………….
Return to shop

Community

News

TRACKS & MIXES & TOP10

TEMPO FAVOURITES