Bass City Rollers: the sounds of Jungle and Drum & Bass

24 July 2021

Music fans of my generation don’t pay this music the attention that it deserves. This is what underground music in the 21st century sounds like. Wake up, people.

I’ve chosen 30 tracks to represent three decades of Jungle and Drum & Bass. In a departure from my usual custom, the playlist is on Spotify. I hope that this works for you.

The artists are all British unless otherwise indicated. The pioneers of this music are nearly all British. The scene today has more of an international character, according though to Lenzman at the same time it’s become less diverse, and he doesn’t see as many black faces as he used to. “Drum & bass started as black music and the audience and artists were extremely diverse when I got into it.”

Origin Unknown – Valley of the Shadows (1993)

English duo Andy C and Ant Miles. This is one of these pieces of music that no one ever expected to be a hit, but has been incredibly successful and hugely influential to this day. Here’s one account of the making of the tune.

Dillinja – Deadly Deep Subs (Remix) (1994)

Dillinja is still going: here’s an interview with him from 2020, along with a very tidy bio.

Top Cat, DJ Rap – Ruffest Gun Ark – DJ Rap Mix (1995)

Top Cat is an English MC who’s delivered a series of knockout reggae and jungle tunes. This is one of jungle’s greatest hits, notable for its macho gangster style lyrics, yet if it hadn’t been for a woman the song would have been long forgotten. What made it such a knockout tune was the remix by Charissa Saverio (DJ Rap), a Britsh producer born in Singapore.

Prizna – Fire (1995)

Great example of the use of ragga vocals in 90s jungle.

Remarc – R.I.P. (1995)

Jungle producer best known for 90s bangers such as this one.

Krust – Set Speed (1995)

A member of Roni Size’s Reprazent collective, and an important artist in his own right.

The Terrorist – The Chopper (Ray Keith Dirty Chopper Remix) (1996)

Terrorist and Renegade were two of Ray Keith’s many aliases

Roni Size & Reprazent – Brown Paper Bag (1997)

From the Mercury Prize winning album New Forms. Until the last 15 years, my knowledge of drum & bass barely extended much beyond this album.

Calibre – Things a Re-Arranging (2001)

Belfast producer, currently based in Berlin, associated with a more melodic ‘liquid’ style. Here’s an interview with him from 2021.

J Majik – Solarize (Optical Remix) (2001)

Innovative producer who first made his name in the 1990s with a string of singles on Goldie’s Metalheadz label.

SHY FX – On The Run (2005)

Most celebrated for his 1994 ragga jungle track Original Nuttah. This is from the album Diary of a Digital Sound Boy which launched his new label Digital Soundboy Recordings.

Sub Focus – Scarecrow (2005)

Maker of hard-edged dancefloor anthems that owe their inspiration as much to rock music as to any form of electronic music.

Logistics – Salvation (2009)

Logistics aka Matt Gresham has two brothers also working as DJs, and like him they’re signed to Hospital Records.

Serial Killaz – Lovely Woman (2012)

Tobie Scopes and Graham Warnock, aka Serial Killaz, are into a range of bass heavy music, some of which can be found on their Serial Killaz label. This was a particularly interesting interview with Tobie Scopes.

Dope Ammo – Warning (Serum Remix) (2012)

“Basically our sounds is a cross between Ragga, Jungle and Jump Up” says Mr Dope Ammo in this interview.

Alix Perez & Skeptical – Room 667 (2016)

Belgian born Alix Perez and UK producer Skeptical are both acknowledged masters of more minimal styles of drum & bass.

Bladerunner – Jungle Jungle VIP (2017)

A member of the Kings Of The Rollers collective, Bladerunner has made a series of high profile remixes for Ray Keith’s Dread Recordings label.

Freestylers & Deekline – OMG (2017)

This is the same Freestylers who released the breakbeat single B-Boy Stance in 1998. This is a much more heavyweight drum & bass production, but good to see that the cheekiness is still there.

Lenzman – In My Mind (feat IAMDDB) (2017)

Dutch producer of soulful drum & bass.

SpectraSoul – Fiction feat SOLAH (2017)

David Kennett and Jack Stevens, aka SpectraSoul, brightened drum & bass music with their deep grooves before splitting up in 2020.

Chase & Status – Original Business (2019)

Will Kennard: “This is one of my favorites. There’s a lot of vocals on the album, and we’re known for working a lot with vocalists and combining vocals with dance music. It’s just really important to have a song that was back-to-bare-bones drum ‘n’ bass with a nice groove, no vocals all over the place.”

Mr Traumatik – Amalgam (2019)

It’s not what the song title refers to, but the Cardiff MC’s music is an amalgam of grime and drum & bass.

Mad Vibes – Soundguy (2019)

German producer and lover of “oldskool” sounds. This is from the impressive compilation album Ghetto Dubz Vol 2.

Vinyl Junkie & Subcriminal – Burn Chalice (2019)

Also from Ghetto Dubz Vol 2. These are two Bristol DJs. Vinyl Junkie cut his musical teeth in the 1990s, and he founded Ghetto Dub Recordings with his partner Rachael EC to champion oldskool sounds. “Just as long as it’s got a phat beat and a heavy bassline, it’s all good.”

Circuits – Wingwalker (2020)

Kasra Mowlavi is the boss of Critical Music, a London based label that he founded in 2002. He’s also never lost his passion for DJing. Here he collaborates with InsideInfo, aka DJ Paul Bondy.

Dub Phizix & Strategy – Deh (2020)

Representing a flourishing Manchester d&b scene, which over the years has taken in A Guy Called Gerald, Da Intalex, Trigga, Bou, and Chimpo. Now I’ve made myself feel bad for not including more from Manchester on this list !

Sam Binga x Redders – Just Here To Bubble (2020)

Binga’s the producer who loves pushing musical boundaries, and Redders the MC whose rapid flow style owes more to garage than to grime.

resound – nonlinear (2021)

I had no idea that there was a Finnish drum & bass scene, but if you want to know more about it, there’s an excellent article on Bandcamp.

Harmony & Tim Reaper – Bruckout (2021)

DJ Harmony and Tim Reaper are two jungle music obsessives, and if you click the linked articles, they’ve each got fascinating stories to tell.

Whiney & Inja – Game Face (Stay Alert) (2021)

The razor sharp lyrics and dark mood are ideally suited to the times in which this track was cut. Whiney is definitely one to watch.