Category Archives: Melodic

Ear & Drum Session: 198 – Four Stroke

First mix of 2021 is is the final in my 2-Step / Tech Step series looking back at 90s D&B Steppers. This one focuses on Jazz Step from the mid to late 90s featuring some amazing tunes from the likes of T.Power, B.L.I.M. and of course Photek.

Jazz Step was an avant-garde take on the 2-step sound, featuring a lot of live instrument samples such as sax, percussion and double-bass. Starting with Alex Reece’s – Pulp Fiction and closing out with Roni Size’s – Brown Paper bag, the style didn’t really survive the turn of the millennium. But that didn’t stop Jazz Step from having some of the most forward thinking and innovative tunes of the 90s.

Four Stroke – 1hr of Classic Jazz Step

Flex Camp – Style Wars
T.Power – Police State (Native Bass Edit)
Unguided Lights – Deep Blue ‘C”
Minx – Take Me To Summer (N Jay Remix)
B.L.I.M. – Their Culture
Hydro – Tha’ Bomb Shit
Elizabeth Troy – Let Me Be (L Double Remix)
N-Jay – Enceptia
N-Jay – Jazz 163
T.Power – Refraction Edit
B.L.I.M. – Jeamland 96
Morf – Spell
Photek – The Rain (Photek Remix)
Hidden Agenda – Dispatches #1
Elementz of Noise – Astral

Ear & Drum Session: 193 – Crazy Times

We’re living in interesting times, and sometimes you need a little something to take your mind off things and just be.

That was the aim with this mix of soulful tunes full of catchy vocals and sweet melodies. It still rolls like a train, but it’s a smooth ride all the way to the station and easy to just stare out the window and enjoy the world passing by.

Crazy Times – 1hr of Smooth D&B

DRS, Dynamite MC & Etherwood
Villem & Leo Wood – We Had a Song
Redeyes – Changes.Illusions (Club Mix)
BCee & Charlotte Haining – The Hills
Duoscience – Lose the Touch
Low:r feat. Sixar – Social Mania
Duoscience – Attempts
PFM – Living Without You
BCee & Charlotte Haining feat. DRS – Love for the Fallen
DRS, Dynamite MC & DJ Marky – A Song for You
Artificial Intelligence feat. Satl – No Choice
Askel & Elere – Shy
Duoscience – Ironic
Patience – Ocean View
Redeyes feat [ K S R ] – A Thousand Times
Artificial Intelligence – Good Times
Phaction & Leo Wood – I Have You (Ill Truth Remix)
Duoscience – Sparta
Motiv – The Woman The Got Away
DRS, Dynamite MC & LSB – Adoration
Motiv – The Woman The Got Away (Tease)

Ear & Drum Session: 191 – Bring the Drums

With Jungle being a hot property in D&B again, it’s easy to forget that Atmospheric D&B has been flying the Amen flag this whole time. With producers like Seba’s Secret Operations label and Eshaton’s Omni Music keeping the sound alive, Atmospheric D&B is better than ever. So much so we’re starting to see older producers like J Majik and ASC who moved away from the sound returning to their roots.

Backed up by established producers such as Bop, Duoscience and Greekboy the sound of rinsing Amens, lush pads and melodies and deep sub-bass is one that never seems to get tired.

Bring the Drums – 1hr of Atmospheric D&B

Blade – Unreleased
Anile – Earth & Mars
Seba – Nostalgia
Jrumhand – Intuition
ASC – Clear Skies
Rainforest – Villalongin
Bop – Memories
Seba – This is Our House
Circa96 – Cave Dweller
J Majik – Serenity
ASC – Moment of Truth
Eschaton & Future Engineers – Ascension
AwakenFM – Atlantis
Antony G – Getting Lost in Prague
Focus 2 – Nova Era (Alex DB Nu Old Skool Age Version)
Duoscience – Good to Be With (Recap)
Greekboy & Okee – Lands of the Unknown

Ear & Drum Session: 190 – Laid Back

Chilled out Drum & Bass has hit another level in 2020 with artists like BCee, LSB, Redeyes and Etherwood blazing the trail. And vocal talents such as KSR, Charlotte Haining and Leo Wood backing them up in fine fashion. Even though these beats are laid back, they still manage to put a spring in your step and work the floor.

Laid Back – 1hr of Laid Back Beats

Redeyes feat. KSR – A Thousand Times
Askel & Elere – Shy
Hyroglifics – Best Of
Muffler – Snowflake VIP
Muffler – Black
Motiv – Overthinking
Mistrust feat. Leo Wood – Trickster
Scape – Spirit World (Soul Intents Spirit of Speed Remix)
Conrad Subs – Go It Alone
Reburf – Falling Apart
Mistrust – Only Ever You
The Upbeats & Shapeshifter – Uncharted (Workforce Remix)
T:Base – When I Fear (CSRV & TS Remix)
Charlotte Haining – Daydreamer (LSB Remix)
Emba, BCee & Philippa Hanna – Galaxy
BCee & Charlotte Haining – The Hills
BCee, Charlotte Haining & Etherwood – Little Bit Higher
Villem & Leo Wood – We Had a Song
Motiv – Reasons
Villem & Leo Wood – We Had a Song (Tease)

Ear & Drum Session: 186 – The Vibe

Harking back to the days of proper Atmospheric D&B this mix is a combination of stone cold, but lesser known, classics and modern day takes on the sound from the likes of Acid_Lab and Scape.

Featuring a lot of the early D&B best Atmospheric production talent such as DJ Pulse, Tango, DJ Harmony and Source Direct, I’ve tried to dig out remixes and different cuts of their classic tunes.

A BIG shout out to Andy Odysee and his imprint Odysee Recordings for keeping this sound alive in 2020 and for all the excellent mixes Andy himself has put together of this kind of stuff. It’s great that it is still being put out there for future generations to discover. Respect.

The Vibe – 1.5hrs of Atmospheric D&B

Tango – Revelations (Essence of Aura Remix)
Nasty Habits – Chillin Out (Deleted Mix)
Jazz Juice – Detroit (DJ Lee ’97 Remix)
DJ Pulse – New York
Sub Sequence – Drummin’ Space
DJ Harmony – Let Me In (Adam F Remix)
Harmony – What A House
Harmony & Xtreme – Watch This (Remix)
Dub Technicians – Icognito (Rollers Mix)
Scape – Spirit World (Soul Intents Spirit of Speed Remix)
Acid_Lab – Guess Who’s Back
Source Direct – Different Groove
The Dominion – Blue (Chapter 2 Remix)
Universal Love – Together (Ryder’s Dream 132 Mix)
Acetate – Ray of Sun
Forme – New Element
Austin – High Speed (Deep Down Mix)
The Dominion – Fusion (Rhyder’s Dream 103 Remix)
Photek – The Rain (Photek Remix)

Ear & Drum Session: 181 – Smells Loud

Back on the Liquid roller tip, this really is a genre that has come into its own. The groove and funk crafted into tunes by the likes of Furney, Workforce, Lenzman and their contemporaries is nothing short of amazing. And it is hard not smile and move when you here these tunes.

Special shout out to the classic combo of A Sides feat. MC Fats who tune Arctic could quite possibly be my pick for tune of the year.

Smells Loud – 1hr of Liquid Rollers

Sunchase – Why We Are Here (I Wannabe Remix)
Larigold – Half a Wonder
Furney – Haze
Senpai – Atlantis 2046
Seba – Lviv
Calibre – Years
Nu:Tone – The Moment feat. Lea Lea
Bop & Unquote – Drifting Away
Seba – Chebourashka
Mako – Holding You
Radical – Without a Word (I Wannabe Remix)
Workforce – In the Throws
Villem, McLeod & MC Fats – Perfect Solution (Black Barrel Remix)
Altitude – Wounded
A Sides feat. MC Fats – Arctic
Calibre – Sense Soirée
GLXY – Falling
Miss Redflower – Conundrum
Senpai – Hypersleep
Lenzman & IAMDDB – In My Mind (Break Remix)
mSdoS – Dissappointments

Ear & Drum Session: 174 – Soul Solution

Liquid D&B is on an absolute roll at the moment with beautiful tunes being dropped week aft6er week by some of the scenes most talented producers. This mix focuses around one of liquid’s brightest, Furney and his new Night Life LP on Soul Deep Exclusives. I first came across Furney back in 2008 when he was collaborating with Utah Jazz and he has gone on to produce an envious catalogue of music at a rate most producers can’t match.

Also in the mix is the sampler for GLXY’s much anticipated Research & Development LP, She Sings for Me with MC of the moment DRS. Plus new drops from Ear & Drum favourites Etherwood, Mitekiss and Nu:Tone.

Soul Solution – 1hr of Fresh Liquid

GLXY – She Sings for Me feat. DRS
Furney – Dreams & Wishes
Furney – West Central Street
The Upbeats & Shapeshifter – Aotea
Toez – The World’s End
Submorphics – Daydreaming feat. Big Brooklyn Red
London Grammar – If You Wait (Long Enough You’ll Get the Calibre Remix)
Furney – Alone
Nu:Tone – The Moment feat. Lea Lea
Levite – Free Bird
DRS & Dynamite MC – Fix It All feat. London Elektricity
Mitekiss – Something Real feat. Ruth Corey
Rowpieces – New Crib (Rough Version)
Soul Connection – Smooth & Groove
Toez – Ecstasy Music
BCee & Leo Wood – Sincerely Yours (Whiney Remix)
Jay Dubs – Lily Lousia
Etherwood – American Fruity
GLXY – She Sings for Me feat. DRS (Tease)

Ear & Drum Session: 172 – Flight Nine Six Two

This is part two of my deep dive into obscure and rarer track from 1996. Last time we looked at Intelligent D&B and this is on a similar tip. While a lot of these tunes could be considered Intelligent, I think of them as even more chilled out.

Artists such as T-Power, B.L.I.M. and Kid Loops had their own take on the Intelligent sound that was less jazz focused and chopped up drum edits and more soulful cruising and laid back. Perfect for a couch session or recovery after the party is over.

Flight Nine Six Two – 1hr of Chilled out D&B from 1996

Gangster Sound feat Mrs B – Paradise (Dangerous Mix)
Lunar Funk – Spacewalk
United Future Organisation – Loud Minority (Alex Reece Remix)
Kid Loops vs Cool Breeze – Shift Then Return
Universal Love – Deeply (Ryder’s Dream 128 Mix)
T-Power – The Inti Raymi (Remix)
B.L.I.M. – Jeamland
Herb E – Light (Darwin Mix)
Jodeci – Feenin’ (LTJ Bukem Remix)
Kid Loops vs Cool Breeze – The Valley
Kid Loops – Digital Breakdown
Kid Loops vs Cool Breeze – Five Seven Five Seven
Dave Wallace – Expressions Part 2
Mr Psyche – The Drop

Ear & Drum Session: 171 – Atmospheric Glow

There’s been a quiet revolution going on in the world of atmospheric D&B. A lot of producers have been putting the modern day D&B sounds aside and returning to the the golden atmospheric era of the mid 90s.

J. Majik released his aptly named Full Circle album chock full of retro sounds from the 90s. Producers such as Total Science, Dave Wallace, Seba and Blu Mar Ten have also gone back to their roots releasing lush, deep atmospheric beats reminiscent of the days of Bukem and Logical Progression.

This collection of atmospheric tracks is an encapsulation of all that is great within the sub-genre and well worth a listen if you enjoy swirling melodies and majestic vocals over repecharge beats and tight amen edits.

Atmospheric Glow – 1hr of Atmospheric D&B

G-Force – Proximity (Furney 2019 Clean Up)
Okee – Earth Sky
Duoscience – Eternity
Total Science – Winds of Change
Dave Wallace – Lose Control
J. Majik – The Lost Tribe
Seba – Ryu-ki
R1C0 – Mission
Kid Drama & Om Unit – Untitled 1
Blu Mar Ten – Sandstorm
Dave Wallace – Echos of Speed
Okee – The Invisible Limits
Kyhu – Time Lapse

Ear & Drum Session: 170 – Flight Nine Six One

Welcome to a new series of mixes based around lesser known tracks from the 1996 golden era of D&B.

Those that know me, know I love ’96 era of music. It was the time when I was first getting into D&B, and I have spent decades collecting D&B and other music from around this era. These tracks are mainly sourced from obscure CD compilations, with the odd recent re-release and original vinyl thrown in for good measure.

The aim of this series is to dig up tracks you’ve never heard before. So I’d love it of people could comment on what tracks are new to them. Mainly I’ve gone for rare and obscure remixes combined with a bunch of B-sides and CD only releases.

Being a series this is only part one of the journey, and if people are feeling it I might look into some other years from back in the day. Again let me know in the comments.

Flight Nine Six One – 1.5hrs of Rare & Obscure D&B from 1996

Drum and Bass – Intelligence (Inst Mix)
Hidden Agenda – Vindication
4 Hero – Universal Love
Cloud Nine – Teach Me To Fly
DJ Pulse – Planet Funk
Just Intelligence – Trip Out (Intelligent Mix)
The Dominion – London Nights (Ryder’s Dream No. 102 Mix)
Jonny L – Sam
Ryders Project 1 – Heidi’s Dream (Ryder’s Dream No. 100 Mix)
Alex Reece – Feel the Sunshine (Pulse Mix)
Dave Wallace – Expressions Part 1
Galliano – Slack Hands (Aquasky Remix)
Frame – Spirit of the Sun (Aquasky Remix)
Gangster Sound – What’s Going On (Jazz Mix)
Aquasky – Sea Monkey
Best Boy Electric – Dawning
David Holmes – Gone (PFM Mix)
Aphrodite – Q-Flutes
Tamsin – Innocence
Cloud Nine – The Ultimate Seduction
Abstract Truth – Get Another Plan (Rob Playford Remix)