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Ram Trilogy - Molten Beats - 01-Oct-09 09:11 AM
For me, the highlight[s] of this album are the initial first few tracks (as is generally the case with many drum and bass artist albums). 'Evolution', 'Gridlock' (both containing, as a rarity, female vocals, albeit somewhat unintelligibly), 'No Reality' and the standout 'Human Future' all lock into the future tech/darkstep/sci-fi niche, yet also have (as do all the twelve tracks on the album) a stone-cold groove about them, giving them a funkiness that isnt immediately apparent on initial exposure.

Renegade - Dark Soldier Part 1 & 2 - 22-Mar-09 06:47 AM
I once read 'Rez' by Underworld being referred to as 'a prick-tease of a record'. A similar accusation could be levied at Ray Keith's 'Dark Soldier'. Sax blasts, juddering/shuddering slices of pulsed bass and haunted house keys dominate the first portion of the track; over half, in fact, before an all-action Amen (finally) bursts forth - not before the listener has been left in a state of anticipation akin to Spanish Inquisition-style water torture. Simple, yet effective from Ray Keith; the hallmark of any great drum & bass track.

Sci-Clone - Red Fever / Everywhere I Go (Remix) - 19-May-08 02:16 PM
A-Sides' Everywhere I Go, recorded under his Sci-Clone guise glides along on crisp-yet-crunching snares, jazzy organ stabs and Nathan Haines' saxophone playing, but, despite these elements, it is far from an 'intelligent' track. The atmospherics and organ notes fluctuate from high to low giving the track elements of euphoria, gravity and soul almost in a rebuke to the increasingly tech-style drum and bass releases of the period. This track was showcased on the Metalheadz compilation Platinum Breakz 03.

T.Power - Turquoise / Mutant Jazz - 19-May-08 01:56 PM
Dance music history is littered with 'seminal' tracks. Instances where producers and musicians have employed something borrowed or something new. In the case of the DJ Trace's remix of T Power's Mutant Jazz, the something borrowed adage is well documented with the added firmament of creating something new. The track starts off as a minimalist rolling tune with chopped up beats, breaks and atmospherics; bass isn't introduced until 1:33. The coup de grace, and the element that gives the track its seminal status is the gargantuan distorted 'Reese' bass sound which kicks in at 2:35, looping in and out of the track from thereon in. The introduction of this component became the yardstick for future techstep releases (it is the backbone of No U-Turn's Torque compilation of 1997) and served to crystallise techstep as a new and important subgenre within drum and bass.

Chameleon, The* - Links - 13-Jul-06 06:11 AM
"I've said it before and I'll say it again. Life moves pretty fast; you don't stop to look around once in a while, you could miss it". A classic sample, taken from Matthew Broderick's end monologue to camera at the end of the 1986 film 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' kicks off Chameleon's 'Links'; a track that was included on Bukem's seminal 'Logical Progression' album. Although described in many quarters as an 'intelligent' track, 'Links' rides along on a bumpy-yet-funky Amen break, interspersed with male vocal 'Woaah' stabs.

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