Category Archives: Ear & Drum Session

2015, Ambient, Chill Out, Deep D&B, Ear & Drum Session

Call the Ambience 9: Induced Coma – Ear & Drum Session 114

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Drift towards centre with this collection of beautiful tunes and intricate beats. Much respect goes out to Metro and his new LP, Fugue State which is simply stunning as is the re-mastered T.Power classic The Self Evident Truth of an Intuitive Mind. Both get heavy rotation here along with Akuratyde’s Embrace EP.

This is the perfect mix to relax to while you enjoy the holiday break and finish out the year. Cheers to all those who have listened though out 2015 and here’s to more music in the year to come.

Call the Ambience 9: Induce Coma – 1hr+ of Ambience D&B

Metro – Digital Age
T.Power – Indigo
Hyroglifics – Little Hearts feat. Bogus
Metro – Fugue State
Akuratyde – Sway
T.Power – Octagon
Thesis & Anastasia – The Bridge
Electrosoul System – Traffic
Metro – Nimbus
Akuratyde – The Left Behind feat. Eusebeia
London Elektricity – Tenderess (Beatless Mix)
T.Power – Circle
T.Power – Trapezium
T.Power – Silver
T.Power – Amber
T.Power – Triangle
Metro – Words & Ideas
Krone – Micrococmos
Andre Donald – Soft Landing
Andrew Cash – The Sound of Eternity
Akuratyde – Embrace
Akuratyde – Lights in My Eyes
Ill K – Windspiel
T.Power – Square
London Elektricity – Swivel (Beatless Mix)

2015, Amen, Ear & Drum Session, Hard D&B

One Tonne – Ear & Drum Session 113

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One of my rarer forays into hard and heavy D&B these days, this is strictly for the headstrong. You have been warned.

Part of the reason I don’t roll these set so much any more (other than I’m getting too old for this sound) is that it takes me a long time to find quality heavy tracks to make up a set I consider worth playing. That being said, when I finally get enough together for a decent throw down it is usual quality all the way through.

This set kicks off dub wise with Break & MC Fats – Free Your Mind, but doesn’t take long to get serious with tracks like the incredible Bro Safari x UFO! x Beauty Brain’s – No Control (Deiselboy x Mark The Beat Remix) and Digital & Spirit’s – Creeper. From here on it it just rolls out the heavies one after another with notable highlights for me being Total Science & S.P.Y’s – Whoonga (Chroma Remix), Digital & Spirit’s – Mosquito and total unknown Verb’s insanely good Total Control.

Probably not a set you’ll chill out to on the couch I suggest you turn it up load, annoy the neighbours and jump around the lounge room like a mad bastard.

One Tonne – 1hr of Heavy Drum & Bass

Break & MC Fats – Free Your Mind
B-Complex – You Better Run (feat. MC Fava)
Skyway – Moving Like a Train
Bro Safari x UFO! x Beauty Brain – No Control (Deiselboy x Mark The Beat Remix)
Chromatic – Open Your Mind
Digital & Spirit – Creeper
Fanu x Coleco – Triple X
Lenseman – My Tearz feat Steo (Ulterior Motive Remix)
Skeptical – Square Breathing
Total Science & S.P.Y – Whoonga (Chroma Remix)
ArQer & Realtime – Derpetroid
Klute – Westernized
Actuaries – Vision Quest
Digital & Spirit – Mosquito
Randal & DJ Vapour – Angels Warning (C.A.B.L.E. Remix)
Spirit – Dial VIP
Verb – Total Control
Icicle & SP:MC – Dreadnaught (Phace Remix)

2015, Ambient, Chill Out, Deep D&B, Ear & Drum Session, Half Beat, Melodic

Call the Ambience 8: Anesthesia – Ear & Drum Session 112

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Welcome to the eighth edition in the Call the Ambience series. Like those that came before, this is a more relaxed and ambient take on the D&B sound. Not quite float tank material, but if you think D&B is all bang and clang this will get you guessing again about your preconceptions.

In terms of artists featured, I recognise only a handful of the producers in here which is always exciting. New talent means a healthy music scene and hopefully there is a bunch of fresh talent for you to discover.

The flow of the mix is quite anesthetic as we start of with some solid, but laid back, D&B beats that give way to chilled out trip-hop type stuff combined with pure ambient soundscapes. And finally we slowly come back to consciousnesses by shifting into some deep minimal D&B towards the end.

This is perfect Sunday listening, so kick back, turn it up and drift off.

Call the Ambience 8: Anesthesia – 1hr of Ambient D&B

Marso & Gala – Promise
Electrosoul System – Traffic
Silence Groove – Cue
Fanu – Dreamer’s Union
DYL & Blanca – Aft
Asa & Culprate – Heartbeat (Steelan Remix)
Hidden Turn – Dream of Tron
Synkro – Contact
Everything but the Girl – Mirrorball (DJ Jazzy Jeff Sole Full Remix)
George Fitzgerald – About Time (feat. Boxed In)
Instra:Mental & dBridge – White Snares
Remeses B – Arise
Om Unit – Layers
Etherwood – Under the Surface (feat. Ginny Ferraro)
Sinker – Falling
Dan Stezo – Psychonaut (Redeyes 1999 Mix)
Ill K – Windspiel
Acid Lab – Drown
Broken Promise – Catapult (feat. Chet Matuto)

2015, Deep D&B, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B, Melodic

In Deep Water – Ear & Drum Session 111

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Really enjoyed putting this mix together. I’m not sure if it was the fact I haven’t mixed for months, or just the selection of tunes, but it felt right.

Offworld Recordings wunderkind Silence Groove kicks us off and also features later on with Shine Through. Metalheadz is represented via Halogenix who’s All Blue EP harks back to the Blue Note days and gets three tracks dropped in this mix. And the final shout out is for ElectroSoul System, who’s new LP on Med School is everybit as good as I would expect it to be.

So get on it, give it a rinse and as always turn it up.

In Deep Water – 1hr of Deep Liquid D&B

Silence Groove – Cue
Eavesdrop – Past Life feat. MC Fava
Electrosoul System – Traffic
Aux Verba – The Hardest One To Find Is Ourselves
Instra:mental & dBridge – White Snares
Ehterwood – Souvenirs feat. Zara Kershaw (Ulterior Motive Remix)
Two Fingers – Saint Rhythm
Halogenix – All Blue feat. Cleveland Watkiss
A-Sides & Makoto – Night Flight
Silence Groove – Shine Through
Halogenix – Beyond The Bounds
Electrosoul System – Timetraveller
Nummix – Mirrors of Illusion
Liqutek – Aurora
Stray – Dizzy
Enea – Nightwalk
Halogenix – Paper Sword
Electrosoul System – One, Two… Madness

2015, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B, Melodic

Rise Up – Ear & Drum Session 110

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Everything just fell into place with this mix. I didn’t plan or over-think it (or think about it at all), I just loaded up a stack of tracks and had fun mashing my way through them. I hope some of that spontaneity comes across when you listen.

While there are a lot of the regular legendary liquid producers in here, there are more new faces than old. Eavesdrop, Northern Zone, Patience, Fraen, Bios Destruction, Vandera, Mediks, Eugenics Eight and Madface are all new to me and all slam down a mighty good tune. Madface’s ‘In Love’ deserves a particular mention for the lyrics alone, which are both catchy and hilarious in equal measure.

I hope you have as much fun listening as I did slinging this off-the-cuff liquid roller together.

Rise Up – 1.5hrs of Liquid D&B

Actraiser – Forest of Illusion
Eavesdrop – Past Life (feat. MC Fava)
Erick Trodly – Be Around
Northern Zone – Faint
Deskai – Art of Noise
Rowpieces – Seventh Heaven
Electrosoul System – Traffic
Actraiser – Soul Priestess
DFRNT – Dark Blue (Stunner Remix)
Studio Pressure – Presha XIII
Patience – Sunrise
Rowpieces – Life is Not A Game
Decon – Rareties (Flowrain Remix)
Fraen – Feel Free
Physics & Mr Joseph – Higher Than Beofre (feat. Jere Garcia)
Bios Destruction – Crystal
Marvel Cinema – Detroit Insiders
Vandera – Make Believe (feat. Alicia Romero)
Madcap – Real Love
Mediks – Solidarity
Simplification & Translate – Deep
Northern Zone – Abyss
Soul:Motion – Sentiment
DRS – The View (feat. LSB & Tyler Daley)
Eugenics Eight – Concentrate
Madface – In Love
Nelver – Origin Source

2015, Deep D&B, Ear & Drum Session, Minimal

Cuts Deep – Ear & Drum Session 109

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Stripped back drums and arcing sub-bass is the order of the day in this deep rolling set. Om Unit, Alix Perez and Fanu all bring their signature sounds and Calibre and Marcus Intalex help bring a more melodic take on what is one of modern D&B’s most popular sounds.

Cuts Deep – 1hr of Deep D&B

Om Unit – The Hand
Fracture x Chimpo – From Early
Ital Tek – Vector
Fanu – Dreamers’ Union
Alix Perez & Stray – Rip N Dip
Alix Perez – Understand
Hidden Turn – Dream of Tron
Fanu – Sleepwalking
Mark System – Optix
Loxy – Purity
Marcus Intalex – These Days
Skeptical – Square Breathing
House of Black Lanterns – Take Control
Thing – One Million
Om Unit – Grey Skies Over Chicargo
Ivy Lab & Hydro – Make It Clear (feat. Frank Carter III & Lucy Annika)
Calibre – Deep Orca
Skeptical – Offline
Digital & Spirit – Mosquito

2015, Amen, Chill Out, Deep D&B, Ear & Drum Session, Intelligent, Melodic, Old Skool

Signs of Intelligence – Ear & Drum Session 108

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Ah the 90s – electronic music’s golden era and definitely D&B’s original hey-day. Around ’96 D&B was everywhere and everyone wanted a piece, from movie soundtracks to TV advertising to mainstream music labels, they all wanted what D&B had. And what D&B had was some of the planet’s hottest production talent exploring electronic musics most diverse musical genre.

Photek was in his prime, dropping must have tune after must have tune. LTJ Bukem and his label, Good Looking, were killing it with an incredible artist roster including legends such as Blame and PFM. And Jonny L was on the verge of greatness and flexing some seriously beautiful music.

It was a gentler time, when D&B didn’t feel like it had to be dark or underground and it was an era I still love coming back to so I can lay down sets like this.

Signs of Intelligence – 1.5hrs of 90s Intelligent D&B

Photek – Into the 90s
Madalay – Flowers Bloom (Secret Lovers Mix)
Therapy – Loose (Photek Remix)
Fallen Angels – Frequency (Tango Remix)
Big Youth – Jim Screechy (Smith & Mighty Remix)
Everything But The Girl – Before Today (Adam F Remix)
Lil Louis & The Party – Clap Your Hands (PFM Remix)
Arkatuba – Josimar (Fila Brazillia Remix)
JMJ & Ritchie – Universal Horn
Jonny L – This Time (Cool Dub)
LTJ Bukem – Music
Sneaker Pimps – 6 Underground (In The Jungle Mix)
Everything But The Girl – Before Today (Dave Wallace Remix)
Photek – The Rain
Blame – Overhead Projections
PFM – One & Only
Everything But The Girl – Blame (Fabio Remix)
Neil Trix & Danny Mills – Pearls
PFM – Western (Words 2 B Heard Vocal Mix)
Jonny L – Nightlife
LTJ Bukem – Horizons
Eugenix – Sunshine

2015, Deep D&B, Ear & Drum Session

Unfathomable – Ear & Drum Session 107

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A spiritual successor to the Fathoms mix that I did last year, this is deeeeep. Simple beats looped to tick along while rolling bass carries you away. The simplicity of a lot of these tracks belay their complexity.

A big thanks has to got to Doc Scott and his 31 Records imprint for the Future Beats album which features heavily here. Plus Kid Drama, Sulex and Clarity all who I had never come across before but sure am glad I did.

Unfathomable – 1hr of Deep D&B

Ital Tek – Vector
Clarity – Surge
Kid Drama – Azure Pt.1
Kid Drama – Crimson (Don’t Look Down)
Marcus Intalex – These Days
nClear – If This Then That
Kiat – Feeder
DFRNT – Dark Blue
High COntrast – Racing Green (Modu’s Rework)
Seba – Inside Yourself
Skeptical – Imperial
Dub Motion – Azure
MAV – Skylines (Inertia Remix)
Moresounds – Rahstok
Bios Destruction – Crystal
Klute – you Won’t Like It
Atlantic COnnection – Geppetto feat. Tunde Olianiran
Clarity – Cyclone (with Indigo)
Skeptical – Offline
Sulex – Root
Calibre – The Wash

2015, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B, Melodic

Twilight’s Song – Ear & Drum Session 106

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More of a vocal inspired than straight up D&B mix. Most of these are just great songs beautifully sung that happen to have a breakbeat behind them.

Calibre features heavily, as does Atlantic Connection, Intelligent Manners and Nelver. Plus a whole host of weird and wonderful who have been flying well below the radar.

If you are looking for something a little different, you have found it.

Twilight’s Song – 1hr of Vocal D&B

Nelver – Impressions
Spenda C vs Alison Wonderland – I Want You (Spenda C Remix)
Atlantic Connection – Without You feat. Rose Hart
Intelligent Manners – Numb
SpectraSoul feat. Terri Walker – Light In The Dark (Etherwood Remix)
Alix Perez feat. Peven Everette & SpectraSoul – Forsaken (Calibre Remix)
Mobility – Fully Interlocking
Al Pack – Come Correct (Kalum Remix)
DFRNT – Dark Blue (Stunna Remix)
Intelligent Manners – Everyday Is The Same
Furney – Missing Her Missing Me
Nelver & Steeotype – Spring Inspiration
Artificial Intelligence & dBridge – Better Days
Will Miles – Moon Rising
Hydro, Frank Carter III & Ivy Lab – Make It Clear
Atlantic Connection feat. Tunde Olaniran – Geppetto
Calibre – The Wash
BCee – Typical Description (Calibre Remix)

2015, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B, Melodic

Liquid(n)ation – Ear & Drum Session 104

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Liquid [lik-wid]
adjective
1. having the consistency of a liquid.
2. (of a sound) clear, pure, and flowing; harmonious.
noun
1. A subgenre of drum and bass. While it uses similar basslines and bar layouts to other styles, it contains fewer bar-oriented samples and more instrumental layers (both synthesized and natural), harmonies, melodies and ambiance, producing a sentimental atmosphere directed at home listeners as well as nightclub and rave audiences. Music genres such as jazz, soul and sometimes blues have a pivotal influence on liquid funk.

Liquid(n)ation – 1hr+ of Liquid D&B
Calibre – Make Me Feel Alright
T Base – Digital Future
Silence Groove – Bass Police
Karma – Silhouettes
Billion feat. Maxine Ashley – Special (Nu:Tone Remix)
S.P.Y – Perth Sunset
CLS – Baltic Air
Nelver – Nightwalker VIP
Will Miles – Dream to Be
Unreal – Just One Night
Intelligent Manners – Everyday is the Same
dRamatic – Diamond in the Rough
Nelver – Black & White
Nelver & Camargo – Aurora
Calibre – Sagan
Soul Cube & Rowpieces – Wake Up
PLK – Her Side
Nelver – Nibiru
Cern – Those Left Behind feat. Hydro
Semi Sense – Fast Days
Silence Groove – Northern Groove
Neo – All the Love (Chris SU Remix)
Mindstorm – Think of the Future
ActRaiser – Full Moon
Nelver – Shadows
Parhelia – The End of the Introduction
Avizura – Blue Sky