Shouts out to Anuj over at feedspot.com for recently including The Ear & Drum in their round up of the best Drum & Bass blogs on the internet.
You can check out the full list HERE.
I never really started this blog for any other reason than to give D&B lovers good music to listen too. So this recognition goes out to all of you for coming here and downloading our mixes. Without you the Ear & Drum is nothing.
Respect.
Ambient D&B has always been a favourite of mine, but when it meets with the 165bpm revolution that’s been going on for the last couple of years it really does go to the next level. This was an absolute pleasure to mix, and most of these tunes were sourced from only a handful of releases which means each and every blend is seamless and meaningful.
Kicking things off is the last of the Wardown trilogy, Wardown III which is yet more sci-fi dystopia themed greatness. I don’t think I’ve ever been so sorry to see a project wrap, but it really is the perfect end to an amazing musical concept. Starting with And They Fell, it seemed only fitting to finish out the mix with Perfect Your Memories.
Next up we have Friction from Brendon Moeller’s incredible Further LP which is simply sublime. I also pulled Radiation, Submit and Ghost Dance from the same release. I recently read that Brendon has thanked upping the BPMs to 165-174 for revitalising his love of production and, on Further, it really does show. Skip this release at your own peril.
Oliver Yorke’s first release on Soul In Motion Records, Blue Sunset EP, is as good as you would expect so I had to grab Look Beyond and Kepler for this mix. Saga by Sorse off their Echoes & Wastelands album, was just the start of my pillaging this dreamy and delicious release. You know an LP is top draw when you find tune after tune you have to play, and Corvega ($199,999.99), Vanishing Traces and One-Dimensional all leapt out and begged for an airing.
When Kid Drama, Alix Perez, Calibre and dBridge end up being your filler tracks, you know you’re in for a good time. Enjoy.
Call the Ambience 21: 165bpm – 1hr of 165bpm Ambient D&B
Wardown – And They Fell
Brendon Moeller – Friction
Brendon Moeller – Radiation
Kid Drama – By the shore
Oliver Yorke – Look Beyond
Woken Balance – Midnight Sun (Spinnet Remix)
Oliver Yorke – Kepler
Kid Drama – Hush
Sorse – Saga
dBridge – It Takes Time
Calibre – Living Without Your Love
Wardown – This Frail Engine
Kid Drama – | Remember
Alix Perez – Continual Emotion
3rd Sh4de – Running Time (160 BPM Mix)
Brendon Moeller – Submit
Sorse – Corvega ($199,999.99)
Sorse – Vanishing Traces
Brendon Moeller – Ghost Dance
Sorse – One-Dimensional
Wardown – Perfect Your Memories
A little soulful, lyrical and melodic — this mix will have you singing and swaying your way into your day. Kicking things off with a GLXY cut from the 20th Anniversary Shogun releases is the killer Workforce Remix of She Sings For Me feat. DAS. Also from Workforce we have another moody vocal feat. Tyler Daley on Falling Down.
From Kublai’s very tasty mini-LP For Old Time’s Sake we have Simple Things, From Afar and the Redeye’s collab Starstruck. And from the Anseo & Anois EP I’ve rolled the extremely in form Zero T’s All I See, Fortune Green from his own Off Broadway EP, Keep Talking from NQ State of Mind Vol.4, and on his own label Let Me Know feat. Manny. Last, but not least, we’ve got Satl & Brandy Haze from their LA Fling EP dropping the very tasty Unfortunate, and Satl once again with Esco & Milansangar – Night Out through his own imprint.
If that doesn’t do it for you there is Seba’s – Air, Alix Perez’ – Dark Pulse, and Lemon D returning to form with his latest release Come Down on J Majik’s Infrared. If you think Liquid has lost its way I suggest you give this a listen and think about what you been missin’.
GLXY feat. DAS – She Sings For Me (Workforce Remix)
Kublai – Simple Things
Azotix – Reflections
Kublai – From Afar
Satl &. Brandy Haze – Unfortunate
Workforce – Falling Down (feat. Tyler Daley)
Eijer – Fargo
Zero T, Onj & Steo – All I See
Redeyes – Yesterdays
Satl, Ellis Esco & Milansangar – Night Out
Zero T & Manny – Let Me Know
Lemon D – Come Down
Zero T – Fortune Green
Zero T feat. Isle of Co – Keep Talking
Alix Perez – Dark Pulse
LSB – Give You Up
Kublai – Starstruck (feat. Fedeyes)
Seba – Air
Note & Saint Harmony – What We Talk About…
Ripping the band-aid off for this one as we bring the tough beats and big b-lines. I have to kick of with some Kasra from late last with his absolute smasher tunnels which was just made for Paul T & Edward Oberon’s upbeat blazer Badboy.
Keep an ear out for the eponymous 45 Killer from the EP of the same name, along with Red Ground by Response & Pliskin. And for Enei who’s been on an absolute tear with Count To Ten 2024 feat. DRS, Fear Fire and the Kasra Remix of Cracker, his tune with Eastcolors & Noel on the ridiculously great rmx_series:rmx001 EP on Critical. Tech Itch also released COVERT:FOUR recently, a new LP of diverse and interesting tunes along with the expected smashers. From that I’ve pulled Forbidden Secret and the romantically titled Cold Face Killer.
Rugged – 1hr of Tough D&B Beats
Kasra – tunnels
Paul T & Edward Oberon – Badboy
Rockwell – Estranged (feat. LaMeduza) (Bredren Femix)
SCAR – Shadow & Light
Enei – Count To Ten 2024 feat. DRS
Response & Pliskin – Red Ground
Detbol – Bruk Up
Humanature & Induktiv – Paroxysm
Seba – Horsepower (Mako Remixi
Motive – Tuff Luv
Phase -Eterna
A-Audio – Middlemen
Enei – Fear Fire
Enei, Eastcolors & Noel – Cracker (Kasra Remix)
Acid Lab – Bio Capsule
Response & Pliskin – 45 Killer
Icicle & SP:MC – Dreadnaught (Break Remix)
Tech Itch Recordings – Forbidden Secret
Tech Itch Recordings – Cold Face Killer
SweetpeaFor The Headz
Ella Sopp, Fingers, Philth & Christopher Rahman – Tell U No
Dropping into the soul-side of D&B on this one with a BIG nudge towards the latest Redeyes LP – Slow. featuring the tracks Heads Up, Kusama and Waiting Games. I’ve also slid in the killer Redeyes collab with Whitt, Is it You.
Other soulful bangers worth keeping an ear out for are Elastic Soul from Alix Perez’ recent Entanglements LP, Workforce’s new joint Falling Down (feat. Tyler Daley) and the incredible deep roller Roads from Bungle. Lenzman also features with A.I. on the GLXY re-rub of Drowning and along with Fox on Golly. Plus we have the likes of Calibre, Mohican Sun, Silence Groove, Dan Guidance and Kasra to round it all out.
Redeyes – Head Up (feat. DAS & Fox)
Alix Perez – Elastic Soul
Artificial Intelligence &. Lenzman – Drowning (GLXY Remix)
Children of Zeus & Tyler Daley – Small Circles (Calibre Remix)
Workforce – Falling Down (feat. Tyler Daley)
Phil Tangent & SoulMotion – Only You
Mohican Sun – Vudu
Silence Groove – Same Old
Anile & DRS – Save Love
Mystic Trip – Greyling Way
Archangel – Nobody Else
Redeyes – Kusama (feat. 2b. Frank & Aya Dia)
Bungle – Roads
Dan Guidance – Fuzzy Buzz
Redeyes – Waiting Games (feat. 2b.Frank)
Soul Intent – Forgiveness
Kasra – Close 2 U
Redeyes & Whitt – Is It You
Brainwork &. mnml – Grey
Fox &. Lenzman – Golly
Slipping in one last mix for the year by wrapping things up with an Atmospheric number. It’s been a belter of a year for Atmospheric D&B with labels like Omni Music, Subtle Audio and Spatial blazing a trail of new takes on the classic formula.
Kicking things off is the drum-tastic Enjoy Remix of All Over by Senses on Subtle Audio into the killer Future Retro by good friend of the show Governmentfun. Things take a darker turn with The Macready Tapes (Thing II) by Modular II from his super solid The Golden Ratio EP, as is The Golden Ratio (Omni Mix), and Echo’s of Bass from Modular II’s United Tribes LP both on Omni Music.
Other legends in the mix are Acid Lab, Tech Itch (yes really), Martyn, Adred and Ben Kei with a couple of tracks on the Constellations imprint. That’s it for 2024. It’s been a great year for D&B, but not much else so roll on 2025.
Way Out West – 1hr of Atmospheric D&B
Senses – All Over (Enjoy Remix)
Governmentfun – Future Retro
Greekboy – Sentimental
Acid Lab – Full Moon
Soul Connection – Different State of Mind
Modular II – The Macready Tapes (Thing II)
Technical Itch – See Them Hear Them
Mark System – Chinook
Martyn – Cloud Convention
Flesh vs Spirit – Inner Terrain
Fushara & Ben Kei – Rendezvous
Modular II – The Golden Ratio (Omni Mix)
Alaska – Aerosoul (2025 Remaster)
Modular II – Echo’s in Bass
Woken Balance – Pillars of Creation
Mineral – Transmission
Quartz – Inyeon
Adred – Futile
Flipper – Malaren
Ben Kei – Out Of Reach
It’s summer as of today here in the upside southern hemisphere, so I thought I’d celebrate with an unabashed summer set of Liquid. Hopefully I’ve captured the vibe.
Dan Guidance kicks us off with a few choice cuts from his Instant Connection EP. We’ve got Marky & S.P.Y bringing the Brazilian vibes, along with Need for Mirrors, Submorphics, Dawn Wall, Silence Groove, Nu: Tone and a whole heap more diverse artists and sounds. This ain’t your LiquidCity jamboree, this is proper!
Dan Guidance – Instant Connection
Unknown Artist – Scrubs
Dan Guidance – Find Me
Simulla & Catching Cairo – Melancholy
Yaano – Drained
Dub Head – In My Mind
Need For Mirrors – Sober, Loveless & Polite
Submorphics – Astroglider
Eller – False Dreams
DJ Marky – Star Trippin’
Mystic Trip & MPH & & Jules – Let Me In Siddy
Patience – Not Over Yet
LMX & Kubiks – Crossfire
Monika – Unique Outcomes
Shady Novelle – Cherish
S.P.Y. & Grimm – You And Me (Radio Edit)
Dawn Wall – Sinner (feat. ANNI)
Acuna – Played with Me
Emperor – Jealousy
Lens & Sarah Ikumu – Jungle Diva
Silence Groove – Water World
Halogenix – Reverie
Flaco & Mars – The Connoisseur
Eler – Expansion
Sydney Bryce & QZB – Let You Down
Nu: Tone x Doktor – Fighter
Break feat. Lorna King – Wait For You
A-Audio – You Got It
Motiv – Fidgety
Command Strange & Canon – Flerce
Back on the D&B soul train for this ride and it has been a solid couple of months for the soulful sound. Kicking us off with some killer remixes in the form of the remastered classic Brown Paper Bag (Photek Remix) in
Children of Zeus & Tyler Daley – Small Circles (Calibre Remix). These two sound like they were made for each other.
If you haven’t heard Alix Perez’s latest effort Entanglements I suggest you get on it as the insta-classic Elastic Soul along with In Your Eyes, Dark Pulse and title track Entanglements are all ridiculously great tracks. As are Redeyes & Whitt’s deep cut Is It You? and LSB’s latest EP Home on Footnotes with the title track and Give You Up both doing bits. Extra big shouts to Calibre for his extended remix of Ruti’s Lungs, which could possibly be my tune of the year.
A Little Lost Soul – 1hr+ of Soulful D&B
Roni Size & Reprazent – Brown Paper Bag (Photek Remix)
Children of Zeus & Tyler Daley – Small Circles (Calibre Remix)
Alix Perez – Elastic Soul
Sydney Bryce, McLeod & SC – Clouds
Unknown Face – Yesterday
Sati & Artificial Intelligence feat. Gigi Daal – Stronger
The Sauce – What’s Going Down
Myth – Times Like These
Halogenix – Untitled Emo
Alix Perez – In Your Eyes
Eljer – False Dreams
Sydney Bryce, Zar & Bazil MC – Dreams of Tomorrow
Ruti – Lungs (Calibre Extended Remix)
Kid Drama – For All of Us
Seathasky – Take Away The Pain
Alix Perez – Dark Pulse
Soul Foundation – So Jazz
LSB – Give You Up
Alix Perez – Entanglements
Webs – Automatic
LSB – Home
Redeyes & Whitt – Is It You?
Brainwork & mml – Grey
Motiv – Fidgety
Dropping the pace back to 160bpm for this eclectic mix of mainly atmospheric D&B and jungle with some Dom & Roland deep space bizniz thrown in for good measure.
First up, it was an immense pleasure to kick off this mix with some new Flytronix after 20+ years. From the incredible Night Breedz EP on Over/Shadow we have RT12 and Protocol Roll in collaboration with 2 Bad Mice if you don’t mind. Also from 94′ we have Ed Rush & Nico’s first drop on No U-Turn, Selecta and some re-released and remastered goodness on Dom & Rolland The Darkmaster EP with Whispers and Other Planets.
On the Atmospheric tip we have Law’s Six Below and The Abyss from his very tasty Singularity Point EP along with Jaise taking a more chilled and deeper turn on Dispatch with 2-Way Mirror and Freedom. (Shouts out the Perth massive.) And last but not lease a big up to a dream collab of mine in Mister Shifter – Spiritual Tourist (Mystic State Remix) on Modern Conveniences out of California.
If ever you needed convincing that 160bpm is back and better than ever, this is it.
Cool Rinse – 1hr of 160bpm D&B
Flytronix – RTI2
Mineral – Us
Lunanescence & Astral Haze – Ascension (Trident Remix)
Amy Dabbs & Coco Bryce – Decipher
Law – The Abyss
Jaise – 2-Way Mirror
Mineral – Can’t Remember
Subjects – Mash Up
Ed Rush & Nico – Selecta
The Last Ronin – Run The Track
Acid Lab- Event Horizon
Flytronix – Protocol Roll
Astal Haze – Devil Ether (Data B Remix)
Senses – Cosmic Telemetry
Dom & Roland – Whispers
Law – Six Below
Jaise – Freedom
Mister Shifter – Spiritual Tourist (Mystic State Remix)
Amy Dabbs & Coco Bryce – Lust Issues
Harmony – Transit
Acid Lab – Higher
Dom & Roland – Other Planets
It feels like a 2000s sound revival is just around the corner, so to get ahead of the curve I thought I’d sling together a bunch of OG tracks from back in the day. Depending on who you ask the 2000s aren’t regarded as a peak D&B era, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some diamonds in the ruff from that time.
Fellowship’s Dark Flower Remedy was always an underrated Tru Playaz tune, as was Sonic + Silver’s Longboat, which is still my favourite Renegade Hardware track. Sinthetix’ remix of Black Sun Empire’s Smoke is neuro at it’s absolute finest and Elementz Of Noize hit it out of the park with their 12″ featuring not only Guided By Lights but the momentous Clock. Other sneaky classics to keep an ear out for are DJ Kalm’s cracker Violet, one of Amit’s first tracks Roots, Dieselboy very under-rated The Descent and the incredible rolling Passport by Kiko.
Y2K – 1hr of rolled gold from the 2000s
Fellowship – Dark Flower Remedy
Sonic + Silver – Longboat
Ed Rush & Optical – Rock Tha House2
Ink – Ice Age
The JB – Say What
Black Sun Empire – Smoke (Sinthetix Remix)
Chris.SU – Astrosine
Kraken – Side Effects (Teebee Remix)
Dillinja – Go Dillinja
Elementz Of Noize – Guided By Lights
Technical Itch – The Ruckus (D Kay VIP)
TeeBee – Black Rain
2Ed Rush & Optical – Kerbkrawler
Rawthang – Epilogue Feat. Karl
DJ Kalm – Violet
Amit – Roots
John B – Dream On (2020 Remaster)
Dieselboy – The Descent
Kiko – Passport
Jonny L – Trouble
Total Science – Eastern Promise
Elementz Of Noize – Clock
