Category Archives: Hard D&B

2017, Ear & Drum Session, Hard D&B

Concrete – Ear & Drum Session 134

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It always takes me around 6-12 months to collect enough heavy D&B to pull together a good hard D&B mix. The good thing about me being fussy around this style is you know that what you are getting is carefully curated and every tune brings something different and interesting to the mix.

In this case we have tracks like the UFO Mix of Ed Rush & Optical’s classic roller Pacman which was never released and only ever popped up as a dub plate on some 2002 mixes coming out of the US. Or Rockwell’s excellent nod to rave in the cheekily named Please Please Please (Play This on the Radio). Digital and Spirit feature heavily too, which is never a bad thing.

For those about to rock, we salute you.

Concrete – 1hr of Hard D&B

Total Science, Digital & Spirit – Fall Down
Skynet – Underground –
Apostroph’ – Tolerate
Ed Rush & Optical – Pacman (UFO VIP)
Future Cut – Horns (Gremlinz & Overlook 2015 Remix)
Keen x Krakota – Reality
BCee & S.P.Y – Is Anybody Out There (The Vanguard Project Remix)
Clart – Team Playa
Ray Keith – Virus
Gremlinz – Tactical Rail
Mefjus – Dissuade (Emperor Remix)
Signal – Descent
Rockwell – Please Please Please (Play This on the Radio)
Ulterior Motive – Tech2
Rockwell feat. Sam Binga – itsok2behapp-e
Digital feat. LJC – In the Lurch
Mecca – Analysis
Spirit – International
Survival & Script – Sahara
Vicious Circle & Nocturnal – Welcome to Shanktown

2017, Ear & Drum Session, Hard D&B, Minimal

London Sound – Ear & Drum Session 126

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Grime is totally distinctively – part ragga jungle, part dubstep, part hip-hop and entirely London in sound. In terms of D&B the first Grime inspired track I remember back in 2011 was Dub Phizix & Skeptical’s – Marka. It was heavy, but stripped back and raw and I loved it instantly.

Since then Dub Phizix has been joined by Chimpo, Sam Binga and others in turning the BPM up on the Grime sound to create a unique niche D&B genre. I haven’t heard a whole heap of tracks like these, but when I do the hairs always stand up on the back of my neck at the thought of them in a mix because they just creep on up and slam every time.

Here’s to London for keeping it underground, real and always cutting edge.

London Sound – 1hr of Grime inspired D&B

Sam Binga – Badman Skin (Feat. Redders)
Fracture x Chimpo – From Early
Dub Phizix – Contact (Feat. Skeptical)
Sam Binga & Chimpo – Sassy Riddim
Dub Phizix – Do One (Feat. DRS)
Dub Phizix – Bounce
Dub Phizix – Jus’ a Nuvver Divvy (Feat. Strategy)
Dub Phizix – Bugs
Sam Binga & Chimpo – For Those That Like It Sweet
Sam Binga & Chimpo – Selection Dark
Chimpo – Bedsprings Riddim
Rockwell Feat. Sam Binga & Hyroglifics – Itsok2behapp-e
Chimpo – Haymaker
Chimpo – Bun It (Feat. Fixate)
Dub Phizix – Gaana
Sam Binga (Feat. Redders) – AYO (Ivy Lab Remix)
Dub Phizix & Skeptical – Marka (Feat. Strategy)
Chimpo – War Tanker
Sam Binga – Run The Dance (Feat. Slick Don)
Sam Binga – Greatest Distance (Feat. Romaine)

2016, Ear & Drum Session, Hard D&B

Eats the Soul – Ear & Drum Session 120

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I’ve been missing in action.

For those wondering where the new mixes are I’ve been rudely interrupted by real life matters such as organising a wedding, getting married and work. But I am back and after the longest break from mixing since I took to the decks back in 96′ I’m glad to say I have an absolute belter for you.

This is a mixture of old and new thanks some my favourite producers, Rawtekk, ASC and TeeBee, remastering and re-releasing some of their classic old and unreleased tracks. But that’s not to say there isn’t some future classics in here either such as Deadcode’s infectious Ratatata, Tech Itch’s epic Souls of Impatience and the hard hitting Favela from a producer who is new to me Lavance.

I hope you dig the vibes and you won’t need to wait 4 months until the next mix. 😛

Eats the Soul – 1hr of Hard D&B

TeeBee – Let Go
Nasty Habits – Shadow Boxing (Om Unit VIP)
John B – Evolve (Alternative Intro Mix)
Gremlinz – Tactical Rail
Deadcode – Ratatata
Scar – Temptation (feat. Orkyd)
Paperclip – Afterdreamer
Technical Itch – Souls of Impatience
TeeBee – Snake Funk
Rawtekk – Inside Tekk (Reloaded)
Ed:it – Babylon Step
Scar – I’m Gone (feat. Naomi Prior – 3am Intro Mix)
Lavance – Favela
Mako – The Gap (feat. Fields)
TeeBee – Deceive
Digital & Spirit – Mosquito
DJ Krust – Cloaking Device (Fracture Remix)
Jay Drop – Insight
ASC – Automaton
Technimatic – Trigger Warning
Technimatic – The Stage (Interlude)

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)

2014, Ear & Drum Session, Hard D&B, Minimal

Unbreakable – Ear & Drum Session 93

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Been quite awhile since I’ve brought the tough stuff and this mix has some absolute rippers. Gridlock’s Westbank has a Messiah type feel to it, dBridge & Skeptical’s Move Way was one of last years perfect minimal moments and Jubei’s Rufige11 is an ode to the classic Metalheadz sounds of yore.

Combine all this with BIG comebacks from the likes of Total Science, Sub Focus and the mighty Klute and you have a mix that has plenty of flex and is ripe for working over the sub-woofers. There’s only one break that breaks the unbreakable, and that break is right here.

Unbreakable – 1hr Deep Hard D&B Beats

Calyx, Teebee & Polar – Pensile Dreamer Part.1
Gridlock – Westbank
Lung – Starving Artisite
Sub Focus – Original
Nitri feat. Grimm & Level 2 – Secrets
dBridge & Skeptical – Move Way
Mutated Forms – Blop
Total Science feat. Riya – Suspicious (Alix Perez Remix)
DJ Fresh vs. Diplo feat. Dominique Young Unique – Earthquake
Jubei – Rufige11
Klute – Turnaround
Klute – Give It All
Sub Focus feat. Alpines – Tidal Wave
Michinedrum – Rise N Fall
Naibu – Just Like You (Fracture Remix)
dBridge – Death of a Drum Machine
Friske – Venture
Machinedrum – Gunshotta
Om Unit – Grey Skies Over Chicago
Frederic Robinson feat. Stray – Bloom
Blocks & Escher – Slow Wave
Sango – Frutiful (Maliyah’s Theme)
Sub Focus feat. Kele – Turn It Around

2013, Ear & Drum Session, Hard D&B, Minimal

Begin Again – Ear & Drum Session 90

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So I slammed this mix together real quick. One of those rapid fire, don’t think too hard about it mash ups that just worked. Except for the last track which I don’t think quite fits and I don’t really like that much. How did it even end up in my crate?

Anyway, other than that I’m really happy with the result. Fast and heavy with loads of energy – if your looking for a work out mix is a good one to load up on the MP3 player.

Begin Again – 1hr+ of Heavy Minimal D&B

Seathasky & Nelver – Contact
Dose – What Lies Within
House of Black Laterns – Truth & Loss (Fractures Astrophonica Remix)
Lenzman – Empty Promise
Defo – Culture
dBridge & Skeptikal – Move Way
Calibre – Start Again feat. Chimpo
Actraiser – Tomahawk
Paramount – Hustler
Caravar & Clock – Miskatonik
The Insiders – Meltdown feat. Ayah
Mineral – Living The Dream (ESC & Subsense Remix)
Paperclip – Double Domination
Soulware – Images (ISM Remix)
Actraiser – Take You There
Arp XP – My Place
Emufucka – Urza’s Rage
Soul Intent – Some With Me
Paperclip – Structure 15
Out of Fuel – Sneaky
Organikismness – Dark Times (ISM Remix)
Marcus Intalex
T-Power & John Rolodex – That Jungle Vibe feat. Khadija

2012, Ear & Drum Session, Hard D&B

Burn It Down – Ear & Drum Session 82

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Those that follow the blog will know by now that big smashers aren’t really my cuppa. But once a year or so I do like to collect up the hard and the heavy tunes that do light my fire and mash them down. I big chunk of this mix is dedicated to S.P.Y’s new album What The Future Holds, which holds up very well considering it has come out on Hospital. Also featured are some classic big, bad producers from back in the day like Dom & Roland, Chris SU & Falcon and Black Sun Empire.

If you only download one heavy D&B mix by me this year. This is it. 😛

Burn It Down – 1hr of Hard Edged D&B

Dementia, Regula & Cain Mos – Imprint
Level 2 – Conquest VIP
S.P.Y – Analogue Dreams
S.P.Y – Hammer in My Heart
Black Sun Empire – Dawn of Dark Day (feat. Foreign Beggars)
Dom & Roland – Strobe
Rido feat. Thomas Oliver – Twisted VIP
S.P.Y – See the Light
Stray – Timbre VIP
Chris SU & Falkon – Studio 54
Telmo A – Between Two Worlds (Phil Tangent Remix)
MC Fats, HLZ & Chef – True Born Souljah
BC – Captured in Time (Chris SU Remix)
Cyantific – Walking Away
S.P.Y – Adrift

2012, Ear & Drum Session, Hard D&B

Tough Break – Ear & Drum Session 71

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This is a quick mix of some recent tunes from the tougher edge of the D&B spectrum. We kick off with the epic Metalheadz 100th release Freedom by Goldie, roll into a classic remix of Klute’s We R the Ones by Ulterior Motive and finish up with the huge Muffler & Cat Knight collaboration Put Me Down. Special thanks to Fanu for the free track Desert Jubie for his generosity on The Take.

Tough Break – 1hr of Tough Beats

Goldie – Freedom
Fanu – Desert
Klute – We R The Ones (Ulterior Motive Remix)
Soul Culture – Stronger
Amit – Manic Miner
Commix – Tracking You
Enie & MC DRS – Obsession (Foreign Concept Remix)
Gridlock – Enemies of the State
Madcap – Our Love
Jubei – The Take
Die & Break – Grand Funk Hustle
Krusha – Need Your Loving
Break & Mikal – Just a Game
Muffler & Cat Knight – Put Me Down

Ear & Drum Session, Hard D&B, Old Skool, Tech Step

Roll Playing – Ear & Drum Session 69

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Everyone loves a roller, and no era did rollers quite like the start of the millennium. Stakka, Ed Rush & Optical, Matrix, and J Majik were smashing out big funky b-lines with those rolling techy beats that sent the floor crazy. Metro Recordings were one of the BIG labels in the game at that time and to celebrate the re-releasing of their classic tunes onto digital I thought I’d put together a mix that, for me, summed up the times and that awesome rolling sound.

If you are looking for the Metro back catalog you’ll find it here – The Metro Collection.

Roll Playing – 1hr from the Golden Age of Rollers

Optical – The Shining
Klute – Unwind Yourself
Ed Rush & Optical – Fastlane
Stakka & Skynet – So Confused feat. K.Tee
Matrix & Danny J – Paradiso
Matrix & Danny J – Vertigo
Ed Rush & Optical – Reach Out
J Majik – Solarize (Optical Remix)
Ed Rush & Optical – Kerbcrawler
John B – Up All Night (Epic Remix)
High Contrast – Music Is Everything (Influx Datum Remix)
Matrix Vs. Goldtrix – It’s Love (Trippin’)
Pressure Rise – Focus
Hatrias vs J Majik – Spaced Invader

2012, Deep D&B, Ear & Drum Session, Hard D&B

Fluctuations – Ear & Drum Session 67

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Coming in deep and hard on this mix of new tunes for 2012. Whilst not everyone has loved the minimal revolution, there is no doubt it’s influence has been felt across most genres and no more so than the harder end of D&B. Tracks like Dub Phizix & Skeptical – Marka have shown just how devastating the minimal sound can be when mixed in with some tough beats and a good vocal.

This stripped back sound has played right into the hands of producers like Loxy, & Ink and Jubei who already had quite a deep and minimal sound. Plus, it has allowed a few of the more chilled out minimalists such as June Miller and Need for Mirrors to step up and have a go at producing some harder edged music.

As the boundaries begin to blur across the D&B genres it’s the music that profits as people focus less on what the music is called and concentrate more on what it sounds like. Which means 2012 is looking like being a sweet year for D&B.

Fluctuations – 1hr of Hard & Deep D&B

Dabs & Amoss – Still There
Phobia – Clean Break
Mr Foul – Land of Look Behind
War – Rafale
Dom & Roland – Enforced VIP
Skeptical – Cold One (Jubei Remix)
Need for Mirrors – Columbia
Jubei – The Path
Subwave – Wheel of Time
Sunchase & Nickbee – Dawn Time
Dub Phizix & Skeptical – Marka (feat. Strategy)
June Miller – Walls of Jericho
Krakota – Tunnel Vision
NC-17 & Time Reaper – Burial Ground