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.
This is the mix I always said I wouldn’t make, an all Calibre mix. Just about every corner of Calibre’s catalogue has been covered splendidly by others, or by the man himself. So I never really felt the pull to do what has already been done. And then I typed ‘Calibre’ and ‘remix’ into my Serato search field and this came up.
This is every Calibre remix I have and it really does make for interesting listening. Calibre, for the record, doesn’t remix his own tunes. But he is always up for remixing other people’s music from within and out of the D&B genre. And while I love a good Calibre D&B remix, it always seems like the non-D&B remixes are his best work.
London Grammar, Ruti, Pablo Nouvelle, Breach, Badmarsh & Shri, Lady Blackbird — these are the ones that really stick with me. They are almost perfect D&B tunes as they elevate above being just a track and become songs. A little bit pop, a little bit soul, a little bit D&B and a whole heap awesome.
Calib:Remix – 1.5hrs of Calibre Remixes
The Vanguard Project – Stitches (feat. Jemimah Read) (Calibre Remix)
Krust – It’s A Lot (Calibre Remix)
Danny Byrd – Changes (Calibre Remix)
Children of Zeus & Tyler Daley – Small Circles (Calibre Remix)
FD – Ambra (Calibre Remix)
Zero T – Refusal ft. Steo (Calibre Remix)
Alx Perez feat. Peven Everett & SpectraSoul – Forsaken (Calibre Remix)
LSB & DRS – Frozen (Calibre Remb)
London Grammar – If You Wait (Long Enough You’ll Get the Calibre Remix)
SpectraSoul Feat. Tamara Blessa – Away With Me (Calibre Remix)
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – Garden (Calibre Remix)
Blu Mar Ten – Keep It Together (feat. Robert Manos) (Calibre Rel
Ruti – Lungs (Calibre Extended Remix)
Pablo Nouvelle – You Don’t Understand (Calibre Remix)
Nitri & Level 2 Feat. Grimm -Lies (Calibre Remix)
Total Science – Walk The Same Lines ft Riya (Calibre Remix)
SpectraSoul – Burst (eat. Dan Moss) (Calibre Remix)
Breach – Jack (Calibre Remix)
Sati – Forward Thinking (Calibre Remix)
DJ Marky & S.P.Y. – Yellow Shoes (Calibre Remix)
Badmarsh & Shri – Signs (Calibre Remix)
Impish – With You (Calibre Remix)
Dogger & Mindstate feat. Liam Bailey – Broken Home (Calibre Remix)
Total Science – Gravy Girls (Calibre Remix)
Lady Blackbird – Collage (Calibre Remix)
Time to go rock hard once again with a mix of tuff tunes to shake your speakers. LSB kicks things off with an unusually hard flex in the form of Potshot which comes in three different flavours, two of which are found here. Need for Mirrors on Soul in Motion is always going to be a good time as The Chills from his EP of the same name proves. Piranha Food on the Fear Grip EP on Zoltar is a Jonny L inspired joint also from Need for Mirrors.
Kid Drama always knows how to bring the bass, and Nitrosurge created with Garvo is no exception. Also keep an ear out for his track Bulldog later on in the mix. Bungle’s purple patch continues with Current from his Plasticity EP on the aptly named Dirty Hole Music, and the sublime Invisible on Santorin being my pick of the mix.
Granite – 1hr of Tuff D&B Beats
LSB – Potshot (Anile Remix)
LSB – Potshot
Need For Mirrors – The Chills (feat. Sal)
Conrad Subs – Embers
Martyn – Get Down
Last Life – Edena
Kid Drama & Garvo – Nitrosurge
S.P.Y – Alien Bass
Ejer – Fargo
Hymix &. Rly – Know Me Now
Kasra – tunnels
Shinobi – Lost & Found
Ejer – Black Daruma
Subwave – Think (Gest Remix)
T>I – Butane
Need For Mirrors – Piranha Food
Bungle – Current
Bungle – Invisible
Enta – Musing
Kid Drama – Bulldog
Ink & Sin – Infallible Drift (Sinoptic Mix)
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
