This Week in Drum & Bass / Jungle | New Releases + Mixes
I love it here on Tildes, so I figured It's time to give back to this community in the best way I know how...through my obsessive love of niche electronic music!
SO HERE WE GO!
Kicking off a weekly post series to bring you 10 of the best (note: in my humble opinion and in no particular order) new Drum & Bass + Jungle music from across the scene! Tildes is a great place for discussion and discovery, so I thought hey, why not get the community going myself ;)
Don’t want to read all this stuff? TL;DR - You can find the songs shared here on this Spotify playlist. Follow for new stuff every Monday. Have no clue what Drum & Bass is? Start here!
Hugh Hardie + In:Most & KOJO - RWTS [Soulvent]
Hugh Hardie returns with another sublime slice of jazzy, throwback Drum & Bass that’s equally great for sunny days or hazy nights, with a lovely vocal performance from Kojo that soars over Hardie’s as usually excellent drum work.
Nia Archives + Off Wiv Ya Headz [Island]
Jungle revivalist Nia Archives cracks another one out of the park with her clattering, rattling and oh so addictive ‘Off Wiv Ya Headz’, channeling the ghosts of Remarc and Congo Natty to reformat them for the new millennium.
Basstripper - Left Me Bleeding [Self Released]
DNB Allstars alum Basstripper is on an unstoppable tear lately, with ‘Left Me Bleeding’ keeping it classic with neon bright hardcore flavour and a bouncy bassline that’s definitely got the energy.
Jonth - Even The Stars [Discover]
Firmly flying amongst the stars, this trance-flavoured peak hour tune is overflowing with energy and emotion.
Jam Theives - Disco 45 [Technique]
Listen: SPOTIFY
Jam Theives are back with another deep and dirty little dub on Bassline Smith’s Technique Recordings. Hypnotic and pneumatic in equal measure, this is another itchy little number who’s clipped, metallic soundscape almost forces you to move your body.
Phibes - Bang Bang [Phat Planet]
Phibes are on a roll lately with another uptempo tune on their own Phat Planet imprint. Much like their previous release ‘Bassdrop’, this one’s packing a rapid-fire, wobbly bassline that gets under your skin, paired with a big ol’ breakbeat that propels this one into prime time.
The Sauce - Hypnotic [TSR]
DNB Trio ‘The Sauce’ return with another self-released DJ tool that’s definitely due for some attention with it’s addictive kick-step rhythm and buzzing bassline.
Levela x Eksman - Zone Out VIP [LVL]
Listen: SPOTIFY
Levela bringing the throwback energy on this one, with some classic Renegade Hardware style sirens and a rough and rugged vocal from the legendary Eksman. Definitely not one for the summer picnic.
Toronto Is Broken ft. Natty Lou - Altered States [FiXT]
A nasty little number with an unabashed punk / industrial influence proudly on its sleeve. Great vocal from Natty Lou and some crunchy drums play off TiBs sonic warfare for another big tune from LA’s FiXT camp.
DNMO ft. Wolfy Lights- Bombalaya [UKF]
Rounding out our wrap-up (or wrapping up our round out?) with the short, sweet and oh-so sublime ‘Bombalaya’ from DNMO on the mighty mighty UKF imprint. Pairing jazzy influences with heavy bass, not disimilar to Camo & Krooked’s SMASH ‘Sientelo’, this is another Latin-flavoured Ear Worm that wont live your top tracks all summer long.
SO what are YOU listening to this week? What do you think of the songs above? Share what DNB you're into below and let's keep the vibe alive...
Glad to see the D&B thread appearing already!
Thanks, always love seeing what other people are listening to, so feel free to share too!
First, awesome. I'm on a big DnB kick this week so this is fantastic.
Second, can I suggest the use of https://odesli.co/ (aka song.link) for making links to music? That way people who use services other than Spotify or Apple can easily get to the goodies too. Odesli creates links to as many services as it can, it's super handy.
Here's a terrible example which is a banging mix from 180 Society. Terrible example because it's only on Youtube..
Edit: OK so nothing against Nia Archives or your writeup on her but the Godfather of Jungle, Congo Natty, is no ghost! His latest album is only months old and it's rock solid jungle awesomeness. There's a mixed version on YT
Thanks for the heads up on the song.link tool, will definitely use that next week!
I've never heard of this genre or even really listened to anything resembling EDM before but this is all insanely cool. Thanks! I have a new genre to explore this week.
Also: It seems like both 'Even the Stars' and 'Left Me Bleeding' Apple Music link leads to the RWTS single. Just an FYI!
Jungle and the susbsequent spin off of D&B about a year later are over 30 years old at this stage.
Thanks for catching that, fixed!
If you've got 90min to kill, here's a decent little documentary about a bit of the history and culture of the music. It's been my favourite genre since 2004ish, and it's so diverse there's really something for everyone. From chilled out trippy choppy atmospheric jungle to hardcore in-your-face dancefloor bangers, funky jazzy rollers and everything in between. The jungle is massive! d-_-b
Thanks from a former junglist (and occasional flow arts enjoyer), hope you keep this going!
A few I've been listening to on the liquid side:
Just stopping by to drop a recent favorite of mine (along with the channel, lots of gems on there): Blame - Neptume
This post inspired me to pull up a mix we listened to back in the day (Nicky blackmarket and skibadee in 1998 if you’re curious). I miss mixes. I miss MCs. The problem with streaming music like I mostly do now is that you don’t get these. I don’t want a playlist, I want a proper mixtape - anyone still find these? Where?!
On di.fm there is a rolling feed of "shows" I've listened to a couple DnB sets that way. Unfortunately DnB sets are few and far between, but the schedule looks out a while.
I've always preferred to listen to full, unmixed tracks. I only really want to listen to a mix if I'm out at a show, at home I kinda like hearing the full track as the artist made it, intro to outro. I also generally don't like MCs, I'm in it for the soundscapes and sonic textures that drum and bass is so good at, not bars and verses, though I can make an exception for the greats (RIP Skibba and Fats!)
I do however find some good mixes up on soundcloud and YouTube. I remember Mampi Swift did a really wicked 3 hour lockdown live set a while back. Just gotta do some digging! d-_-b
My intro to dnb was the old cassette packs you used to get, 8 tapes of someone’s club set, so I don’t think I listened to an individual track for several years after getting into the music!
I forgot all about Soundcloud! I use YouTube for the old sets, but I’ve been overwhelmed thinking about trying to find newer djs. Just gotta dedicate some time to it I guess
I listened to the Spotify playlist on my way home, and it was so nice! Thanks for the tunes. I absolutely loved Left Me Bleeding.
Thanks! I'm planning on keeping the last week's tunes on the list so they'll always be 20 in total in frsh rotation for the Tildes massive.
I was hoping I wasn't the only junglist who made it over here! Good to see the scene at a different venue lol.
I've been on a real mid-00s kick lately. That's the era I got into it and it's still my favourite sound. Here's a hidden gem I found on the flipside of an early Noisia release: Pacific - Crippled
ASC's recent release The Depths Of Space is absolutely gorgeous, if you like that classic atmospheric DnB vibe. I've been floating on spacey pads, choppy breaks and subby sub bass all day d-_-b
https://asc77.bandcamp.com/album/the-depths-of-space