Category Archives: Chill Out

All Artist Mix, Chill Out, Liquid D&B, Melodic

Finely Calibrated – Jungletrain Session 166

Leave a comment

Calibre’s finely tuned sense of melody and bass is something that steps him apart from his contemporaries. A master of liquid beats and grooves, very few producers can strip back a tune to just it’s bare elements and still keep the impact that Calibre does.

A prolific producer he drops albums almost bi-annually whilst still releasing strings of singles. He has appeared on just about every liquid label you would ever want to be on including Soul:R, Creative Source, Phuturo, Exit, V, Hospital and many others. His own Signature label releases just Calibre tunes, including the mighty Shelflife I & II and Overflow albums.

I have a lot of time and respect for Calibre. He isn’t the worlds most inovative producer, but he has spent years forging and perfecting his own sound. What he does, he does better than anyone else out there. So strap yourself in and get ready to have your head massaged by the mighty Calibre.

Finely Calibrated – 1hr celebrating the genius of Calibre

Calibre – Crazy
Calibre – Like It Is
Calibre – Bullets featuring Diane Charlemange
Calibre – Deranged
Calibre – Late Night Squeeze
Calibre – Turn Around
Calibre – Drop it Down featuring Singing Fats
Calibre – Things A Re-Arranging
Calibre – Always
Calibre – One Word
Calibre – It’s
Calibre – Film feat. Slarta Jon (Calibre Dub)
Calibre – Time & Space
Calibre & High Contrast – Mr Majestic
Calibre – Inflicted

Chill Out, Melodic, Old Skool, Requested Archive

Drum Anne Bass – Jungletrain Session 181

8 Comments

When I first got Serato I went CD mad. I bought up as many old CD compilations as I could to convert all those sweet tracks I’d missed out on buying at the time of their release. Around this time a friend of mine rang me to say his girlfriend (Anne) was looking to sell off some old CDs and that I might be interested.

What Anne had was the mother load of 1996 intelligent and jazzy D&B compilations. Her taste was impeccable – Artcore 1-4, Jazz & Bass Sessions 1-3, Logical Progression 1-3, Lost in Space – Drum & Bass 1-2 and many more. To top it off she gave them to me cheap, and I mean dirt cheap. So to show my appreciation I said I’d do her a mix.

This is the result.

Drum Anne Bass •• 1hr of 96-97 Remixes and Rarities

Saint Etienne – The Sea (PFM Remix)
Soundman & Don Lloydie Feat. Elizabeth Troy – Greater Love (T-Power Retro Grade ‘N’ Motion Mix)
Omni Trio – Soul Promenade (Nookie Remix)
Statik Sound System – Revolutionary Pilot (Rob Smith Mix)
Link – Amenity (Chameleon Remix)
Adam F – F-Jam Featuring MC Conrad
Omni Trio – Living For The Future (FBD Project VIP Mix)
Omni Trio – Renegade Snares (Rob’s Reconstruction Mix)
Ken Ishii – Stretch (Shogun Remix)
N&G&O – Tekken (Windermere Dub Mix by T. Power)
Rogue Unit – Dance Of The Sarooes
Aladin – We Enter (Deep Forest Dub VIP Mix)
One True Parker – Bubblegum (Ray Keith Remix)
Garbage – Milk (Goldie’s VIP Trash Your Sh*T Mix)

All Label Mix, Chill Out, Deep D&B, Melodic

Back to the Basement – Jungletrain Session 186

2 Comments

Another request this time from my other half who actually asked me to put it on her iPod. But listening back to it I thought it was more than worthy of a re-upping here as well.

Basement Records was one of the original labels that got me into D&B. Running from the very beginning of rave back in 1989, Basement always had a broken beats integrated into their sound which is what drew me to them. They gave Peshay his first big break, along with Photek in his ‘The Sentinel’ guise and Source Direct under the ‘Intensity’ alias. As a label their influence on the early Breakbeat Hardcore and D&B scene can still be felt today even though they almost stopped completely around 1996.

Interestingly they have resurfaced with a dubstep and grime release called the Nu Basement EP. A lot of this set come from their digital re-releases and if you are interested in picking up some of these you can find them as the Classics Series here for download.

Back to the Basement – 1hr of Basement Records classics

Peshay – Endless Thoughts
The Sentinel – Pulse of Life
Ruff with the Smooth – Twisted Girl
The Architex – Blueprint
The Sentinel – Genesis
Peshay – Futurama
Jack N Phil – I Like It
The Sentinel – Awakening
Roger Johnson – Walk of Life
Roger Johnson – Drum N The Bass
Roger Johnson – One By One
Intensity – Intensity
The Sentinel – Heavy Vibes
Intensity – Forbidden Medicine

Chill Out, Ear & Drum Session, Jazz & Bass, Melodic

Finer Things – Ear & Drum Session 26

Leave a comment

Last year I did a mix of old 96 chilled jazzy tracks called The Finest. I guess you could call this a sequel of sorts. There are a few well know tracks amongst this lot, but by in large I’ve tried to pick some of the more obscure tracks from the golden era of D&B.

I’m sending this one out to Haste, Blick and Niddle (Nidal) who never cease to amaze me with their knowledge of old D&B and who’s mixes are always welcome on my iPod any time. Respect fellahs.

Finer Things – 2hrs of jazz & bass classics from 1996

Elisabeth Troy – Let Me Be
DJ Krush – Only the Strong Survive (Dillinja Remix)
Alex Banks – Control
Elementz of Noize – Astral
Natural Mystic – Got to Have You
Foul Play – Artificial Intelligence
Hyper-On Experience – East Coast Vibes
Spring Heel Jack – 60 Seconds Dub
Jonny L – 2 of Us
Wax Doctor – Off Shore Drift
Plug – Snapping Fuss
Tekniq – Awakening 96
JMJ & Flytronix – In Too Deep
EZ Rollers – Believe (Photek Remix)
Q Project – Solar System
Doc Scott – Tokyo Dawn
Wax Doctor – Finer Things
E.R.K. – Still Not Smoking
B.L.I.M. – Jeamland 96
P.F.M. – The Eleventh Hour
P.F.M. – The Mystics

2009, Chill Out, Deep D&B, Ear & Drum Session, Minimal

Stripped Bare – Ear & Drum Session 21

1 Comment

The deep minimalistic sound running through Drum & Bass has been around forever. But this year it seems to have come of age with some seriously big names now playing almost entirely minimal. At it’s best the sound rolls out deep, dark and dubby with a little nod to the good old days of Tech Step. And at it worst it can sound like a half made Drum & Bass track.

With cavernous b-lines intermingling with skippy high end beats as atmospheric pads float in and out of your ears. Artists like Alix Perez, Rockwell, S.P.Y. and Morphy are taking the sound into some seriously deep territory and in the process redefining what people consider Drum & Bass.

This set goes out to Doc Scott for always being there on the edge and peering over the line and D-Bridge for the Autonomic podcasts and pushing things to their limits.

Stripped Bare – 1hr+ of Stripped Beats and Deep B-lines

SPY & Mosus – My World
Morphy – Warren Dub
ASC – Porcelain
SPY – Moving in Circles
Rockwell – Underpass
Alix Perez & Zero T – Suffer in Silence
Spectrasoul – Buried
Alix Perez – Portraits of the Unkown
Redeys – Float in Time
Mr Sizef & Unquote – Hours Have No Reverse Motion
Arp XP – Surfaces
Jubei – Outcast
Morphy – Version (Roff & Ready Original)
Kryptic Minds & Leon Switch – Hide the Tears (Loxy & Resound Remix)
Sunchase – Violet
Data & Cell – Antenna
Mutt, Atmospherix & Eros – Today Halftime
Data – Vice
Breakage feat. Skream – Skreakage

Chill Out, Cross Genre, Deep D&B, Requested Archive

That’s Not Drum & Bass – Jungletrain Session 91

1 Comment

I played this set a few years back as a radio broadcast and had a few people quiz me as to whether this was ‘really’ drum & bass or not. I was surprised at the time because I’d always considered this stuff drum & bass. I’d never really thought too much about where the boundaries blur between half beat, ambient works and abstract drum & bass.

So, just a heads up this isn’t your typical drum & bass set. However, that’s no bad thing when it comes to keeping the music challenging and interesting. If you like standard boom tick boom tick drum & bass then I definitely recommend you have a listen to this just for a refreshing change…

…who knows you might even like it. 😉

 
That’s Not Drum & Bass – 2hrs of ambience, half beat, twisted breaks and abstract D&B

T-Power – Trapezium, Octogon & Triangle
Kid Loops – Liquid Overtow
Spring Heel Jack – 1.60 Seconds Dub
Polar – Innocent
Graphic – 1000
Klute – Lost
Blue – Do You Voodoo?
T-Power – Mutant Jazz
Pressure Drop – Legacy (Paul Daley RMX)
Reel Time – Mine
T-Power – Silver
Rock & Roll – Higher Octave
Banaczech – Ipcress File
2 Player – Extreme Possibilities (Wagon Christ Mix)
Seba – Piemo for B
Lexis – Hypnotise (Autechre RMX)
Exile – Sliiime
Rob & Goldie – Shadow (Process Mix)
DJ Hype – Help Me
Exile – Big Bad Purple Bad Boy
Klute – Jam Tha Box
Hype – Dead A’s
Exile – Muggs Daddo Moth and an Open Mike
Exile – Sure You Did
Exile – Merlin
Amen Andrews – Blomen

Chill Out, Deep D&B, Half Beat, Old Skool

Half Beaten – Phuturefreq Session 13

3 Comments

HELP!

I did this mix a looong time ago back in Jan 2005 and have since lost the track listing. It is a boomer and I listen to it fairly regularly, but I need your help to fill in the blanks in my in-complete tracklist.

It is mainly half-beat and dub paced electronica and I suspect a lot of the missing track are from Ninja Tunes. Stupidly, I do own all the tracks in this mix, but they are lost in my shelves and some of them are so tasty I have to know what they are called so I can resurrect them for future mixes.

If anyone can help then just post up a comment here and I’ll fill in the blanks as track information comes to hand. Thanks in advance.

 

Half Beaten – 2hrs of Half Beat and Dub style Drum & Bass

T-Power – Indigo
???
The Fire This Time – At Least Native American Indians Know Exactly How they Have Been Ficked Around! (Mad Professor Original Mix)
Spring Heel Jack – 60 Seconds Dub
London Electricity – Round the Corner
T-Power & MK Ultra – Horny Mutant Jazz
???
DJ Hype – Dead A’s
???
Ming & FS – The Most Dangerous Drip (D&B Mix)
2 Player – Extreme Possibilities (Wagon Christ Mix)
DJ Hype – Help Me
???
Busta Rhymes – Dangerous (Soul Society Remix)
???
EZ Rollers – You’ll Never Know
???
???
???
Banaczec – Ipcress File
PFM – For All of Us
Blame – The Phoenix
Reprazent – New Forms

Chill Out, Ear & Drum Session, Jazz & Bass, Melodic, Old Skool

The Finest – Ear & Drum Session 11

5 Comments

1996-97 was the era when Drum & Bass was at it’s most popular in the broadest sense. From hardcore Hip-Hoppers to chart topping acts, everyone needed a D&B remix on their 12″ or album. Cafés, bars and restaurants were using it as muzac and every second advert on TV seemed to have a D&B backing track. It also happens to be the era when D&B as a music was at it’s most melodic and intricate, which is why I love the jazzy/intelligent D&B from around this time more than just about any other era.

This was a time when commercial success wasn’t such a dirty word (Sony and others were snapping up artists for their labels) and accessibility to the music didn’t seem like such a bad thing. Artists like Wax Doctor, LTJ Bukem, EZ Rollers, Omni Trio, Aquasky and many others all put delicate floating melodies over tough chopped up Amens and beats to produce a sound that you could play on a dance floor, but also play to your Mum and still have her stay in the room. The best thing about this era is that it still sounds as fresh today as when it first came out. It never seems to age or become disposable like some of the genres that came after it.

So in this mix I’ve tried to put together what was great about the 1996-97 Jazzy D&B genre. Some tracks you will have heard and, hopefully, there are a few obscure surprises in there that you haven’t. Best listened to with a good drink in your hand and your feet up on the couch, I suggest you kick back and enjoy what is not only great D&B, but great music too.

 

The Finest – 1.5hrs of 1996-97 Jazz & Bass

Nuyorcian Soul – I Am the Black Gold of the Sun (4 Hero Remix)
JMJ & Flytronix – In Too Deep
Flytronix – The Rhodes Tune
EZ Rollers – Dropping Science (EZ Remix)
Dr. S. Gachet – Remember the Rollers (The Meaningful Mix)
Omni Trio – Tripping on Broken Beats (Carlito Mix)
Statik Sound System – Revolutionary Pilot (Rob Smith Mix)
EZ Rollers – Sub Tropic
EZ Rollers – Believe
Photek – The Hidden Camera (Static Remix)
Aquasky – Opaque
Olive – You’re Not Alone (Roni Size Remix)
Alex Banks – Control
DJ Krush – Only the Strong Survive (Dillinja Remix)
LTJ Bukem – The James Bond Theme
Intense – Careless Minds
St. Germain – Alabama Blues (Wax Doctor Remix)
Ken Ishii – Stretch (Shogun Remix)
Wax Doctor – Finer Things
Adam F – Aromatherapy

All Artist Mix, Amen, Chill Out, Jazz & Bass, Melodic, Old Skool, Requested Archive

Los Trio Omnios – Phuturefreq Session 7

6 Comments

I’ll be the first to admit that Omni Trio is like no other D&B producer in the game. His sense of melody and gentle touch in production makes his stuff far more than D&B and pushes it into the realms of ‘proper music’.

Ever since he started up with Rob Playford, Omni Trio has consistently released hit after hit and has provided some of THE anthems for the genre. His Albums Volume One – The Deepest Cut, The Haunted Science, Skeleton Keys, Byte Sized Life and Even Angels Cast Shadows are all classics.

I did this mix back in 2004, but still get requests for it today and so I thought it is well overdue for a re-hosting. It doesn’t cover every great track he has ever done, but you never could in just 2 hours. Even though a lot of the stuff in the mix is over 10 years old, I never get sick of listening to it and I hope you don’t either. Mr Robert Haigh, to you I say respect.

 

Los Trios Omnios – 2hrs of Omni Trio  

Through the Vibe (2 on 1 Mix)
Nu Birth Of Cool (Rogue Unit Mix)
The Elemental
Rhythm Methods
Serpent Navigators
Astral Phase 
Who Are You? (Aquasky Remix)
Sanctuary
Twin Town Karaoke (Guardians of Dalience Mix)
Fire Island 
Red Rain
Skeleton Keys
Meltdown
Breakbeat Etiquette
Secret Life (Silent Storm Remix) 
Higher Ground
Nu Birth
Lucid
Higher Ground (Breakbeat Etiquette London Steppas Mix)
Artificial Life (Harp Tune)
First Contact (1.25)
Diffusion Loops
Rogue Satellite (Extended Mix)
Lucid (London Steppers Remix)
Less Than Zero
Who Are You (EZ Rollers RMX)
Renegade Snares (High Contrast Remix)
Thru The Vibe (John B Remix)

2008, Chill Out, Deep D&B, Requested Archive

Depth Perception – Jungletrain Session 190

2 Comments

Another ChaNinja request this one. 🙂

This mix is as deep as they come with incredible tracks from D-Bridge’s – The Gemini Principle and Calibre’s – Overflow LPs. Plus new tracks from Decem, Breakage, DJ Clart and Thetaphi get a rinse.

I really go nuts on D-Bridge here though, so if you are a complete fanboy like myself you’ll love it to the bone.

 

Depth Perception – 1hr of Deep D&B

D-Bridge – Manas Lament
Calibre – Big Bang
D-Bridge – Creatures of Habit
Tetaphi – Etherbird
D-Bridge – Blush Response
Decem – Velvet Horizons
D-Bridge – Mr Malcontent
Calibre – Into the Groove
Dk Clart – So Selfish
D-Bridge – Ponderosa
Sub – Stenanography
D-Bridge – Desire Line
D-Bridge – The Question
D-Bridge – The Yearning
Breakage – Losing Track (VIP)
Panda – Leaving Amsterdam