RMS and Dublic bring the jungle fiya on today’s exclusive! Dubwise guitar chords and old school chopped breaks all the way on this one…watch out for Inna Dub dropping alongside a selection of other RMS collabs on Inner City Dance’s Stereo One imprint, coming Mar 9thy at all good digital stores.
Fokuz continue their 15 year anniversary celebrations with another three 12″ releases of crisp, rolling D&B. Plate one sees Spearhead boss BCee delivering two beautiful slices of his trademark uplifiting liquid funk, with Praying Man ticking all the lush melodic boxes while Magic Mirror goes in deeper with blues guitar on the intro and a slightly more muted tone.
Scott Allen graces the second single with a rolling slice of dubwize, replete with horns, reggae vocals and warm sub bass vibrations. Soligen & Type-2 provide the flip, showing their appreciation for classic hip-hop style loops on the intro before dropping into a hefty combination of jungle-style breaks and big gnarly bass hits. Danger!
Last but by no means least, the third piece of wax sees Lynx getting his remix on, turning in a jazzy relick of Enei & Intelligent Manners’ Midnight Runaway. The sheer funk and groove on show here is impressive to say the least, and as ever Lynx pushes the boundaries of what drum & bass can be. Finally Amaning & Dramatic turn in a disarmingly simple blend of rolling breaks, sub bass modulations and piano riffs to close out the triple pack.
As with part one Fokuz have truly outdone themselves both in terms of quality and originality. Check out the clips below and watch out for the 12″s dropping each week starting June 30th. There’ll also be a full CD and digital release dropping June 7th. Don’t sleep!
Basswerk return with some old school Jungle vibes on the Green Lights EP. Bouncy dubwise and jungle vibes abound on the Jungle versions of Junglist Soldier and Johnny 2 Bad, though for me the highlight of the release is TGM’s moody, dubbed out half-time remix of Junglist Soldier.
Elsewhere there’s more rolling sunshine Jungle and even a cheeky bit of mellow Dubstep at the end in the form of A Greater Hood. Check out the tunes below and grab yourself a copy now via the Basswerk Bandcamp.
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=3463406917 size=medium bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 artwork=false]
Chopstick Dubplate (aka Jacky Murda and Aries) return with a full length selection of Jungle & Dubwize cuts in the form of Wanted – Murda We Charge For. Featuring the vocal talents of Top Cat, D Brown and Mr. Williamz, the tunes blend Jungle, Dancehall, Dub and Reggae to produce an infectious, high tempo and intrinsically Jamaican sound.
While the lyrics are sometimes a bit bizarre (Worldwide Traveller seems to be a rasta ode to Ryan Air…) and sometimes just formulaic, it’s difficult to argue with the uplifting vibe of the tunes and Jungle is always sure to get a room skanking. Feelgood beats, ya man! Checkout a mini mix of the album below and watch out for the release dropping September 30th.
Glasgow based Ragga Jungle beatsmith J Bostron delivers another nice little freebie with a package of 5 tracks delivering upbeat jungle and dubwize vibes. His refixes of Cutty Ranks’ Fully Blast and Popcaan’s Ravin deliver sunshine drenched reggae vibes, and elsewhere the EP brings some slightly heavier jungle beats on the remix of Serum & Northern Lights Don’t Let Go. Check out a couple of the tracks below and grab yourself a free download here!
Those with a taste for cheery Dubwize D&B (or who know the owners from their other work in the Breaks world) may still have overlooked Jungle Cakes. The label has a pretty low profile, existing as an outlet for Deekline and Ed Solo‘s explorations into bouncy, jungle influenced tunes, but they’ve racked up a tidy selection of 12″s over the last few years and anyone who has seen Parker or Serial Killaz throw down will likely have heard at least a few of the tunes.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Uem9MWW1bs]
Early releases like 2009’s No No No (You Don’t Love Me) and Ragga Tip (Walk and Skank) shamelessly mined well known reggae vocals to great effect, layering dub and reggae style guitar and piano melody with up front rolling breakbeats and warm, simple basslines to produce grooves that are simply too infectious to argue with! This tradition continued well into 2011 with the likes of Sensi ripping up the dancefloors at D&B and reggae nights alike.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEbKVclFeuE]
More recently the label has started fielding releases from a wider range of artists both well known and obscure, with lower tempo jungle breaks from The Freestylers on Entertainer, slightly tougher amen rollers from JFB with Tequila Sunrise and Five On It and soulful dubwize rollers from Cain & Wakcutt with Night Nurse.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpTs3KWSFAw]
So if you yearn for the days of ragga jungle or just love an infectious groove and some reggae influenced beats, check out the Jungle Cakes back catalogue!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-ilLxzDkak]