Best Drum & Bass LP

That Plug album is sweet

No Kemet Crew? No Shy FX? No A Guy Called Gerald? No Congo Natty? No Foul Play?

i guess i was think those were mainly JUNGLE albums, i dunno, i see your point

i also left out things like TORQUE and Renegade Hardware's ARMAGEDDON because they were comps

Of what remains here, it isn't even really close Parallel Universe (despite the meh opening track) is a much much stronger record than anything else on here. You could make a better single disc record out of Timeless, I guess, but unfortunately the single disc version that got released isn't that record and the double disc one is way too long and filler-filled.

Haha I like that Plug is included but NO Squarepusher.

:D

Top Five Single Artist Non-Comp Jungle/Drum-N-Bass LPs

A Guy Called Gerald Black Secret Technology
Blackstar Tribute To Haile Selassie I
Kemet Crew Champion Jungle Sound
Panacea Low Profile Darkness

3-Way-Tie For Five:
4-Hero Parallel Universe
Shy FX Just An Example
Foul Play Suspected

i like panacea in the middle of that early 90s stuff, sticking out like a an angry german's sore thumb. what makes you choose LPD over other heavy dnb albums of that period?

Because it's a LOT better than the rest of the single artist techstep albums from that period (might not be better than Torque or Techsteppin' comps, I guess.)

It's one of the few post-1996 DNB records that I can listen to all the way through.

I LOVE Roni Size / Reprazent, but have never delved into anything else on here except for Timeless, which was just OK to me. Is there something even better than 'New Forms' for a 'New Forms' lover? That would be exciting.

low profile darkness might have held up for me better than torque at this point

techsteppin' is still pretty good for getting weeded

shotgun aimin' at yr chestpiece

Shy FX Just An Example

^^^ ultimate example of creative recycling

it's like dude only owned two movies and a couple yard tapes

V-I-P DUBPLATE SPECIAL TEN INCH PRESS

Definitely start with 4 Hero - Parallel Universe, it's a prototype for New Forms. Also try Lamb - Self Titled, Kosheen - Resist, Paradox & Nucleus - Esoteric Funk. None of which sound like New Forms exactly but they have similar elements.

(xpost)HAHAHA you mean you can't tell the difference between 'Original Gangsta', 'Gangsta II', 'Gangsta Kid' and 'Gangsta II: The Final Chapter"!

Definitely start with 4 Hero - Parallel Universe, it's a prototype for New Forms. Also try Lamb - Self Titled, Kosheen - Resist, Paradox & Nucleus - Esoteric Funk. None of which sound like New Forms exactly but they have similar elements.

Thanks for the recs! I do indeed like Lamb, but I didn't see it on the list.

yeah, it's neither the best nor d&b. it is a LP, tho ;)

Well that would explain it then! :P

I've only heard a handful of these in full. never been totally satisfied with any dnb album i guess (more so than with techno LPs). Thought 'Modus Operandi' was a bit boring. I'd probably vote 'Timeless' because it meant the most (to me) as lame as that may sound now. I loved Adam F's 'Colours' for the most part, ditto 'New Forms' and 'Balance Of The Force'.

Alex Reece 'So Far' should've been included.

Panacea would have won this in a heartbeat for me.

I fucking hate that Omni Trio album so much.

C/D the shameful feeling of leaving viable choices out of polls

curse you, gods of nu-ilx, for not giving us edit poll powers!

I heard a new High Contrast track ft. Diane Charlemagne on Radio 1 last night and it sounded alright but as usual NO BIG BASS

xpost - Macallan, it's a good poll and if you edited the choices now it would just piss off the early responders.

If you disagree with my choice: vote for the artist and let us know which album you prefer and why.

(If I were voting strictly on albums in the list, it would be a tough choice between:

//Universe (brilliant, but some of the spoken-word clips get tiresome on repeated hearings)

Timeless (the three-part title track is god-like, and there are other strong tracks, but I agree with Alex in SF that the weaker tracks drag it down)

Plug (I suppose it's noodle-y and not "real" DnB, whatever that means, but hey, I love it)

Roni Size (which I haven't listened to in YEARS -- but it must be a good sign that I can still remember "Brown Paper Bag" so vividly)

If we were talking EPs, I'd go with the Japanese issue of Photek's Hidden Camera. And if the contest were open to compilations, Omni Trio's Next Millenium/Deepest Cut would take the prize.

...and VOTED for Klute...

the only track I don't like much on Timeless (double CD) is 'You And Me'. 'State Of Mind' is as good if not better than anything 4 Hero did in that vein.

I voted for Photek, because it's one of the few dnb lps that I can listen to in big chunks (also the Venetian Snares + strings record). I haven't heard a lot of these, though. :(

another gem that should be up there: Makai - Millenium

The Boymerang LP gets my vote out of that list. Seconding the Alex Reece inclusion, adding Cleveland Watkiss' Project 23 LP & Souljah's Urbanology... and of course Shut Up And Dance's Death Is Not The End!

Also hafta mention Max Rebo Band's Ghost In The Shell for those who (don't) know. Wanted to include some Danny Breaks too but From Beyond Infinity only really has a couple of killer tracks ("Earth Shaker", "Space Maidens") and Dislocated Sounds really goes off the deep end of d&b/breaks. And then after 2001 I'm pretty clueless wrt all of d&b :/

And it's nice to see the German contingent getting some deserved love here

Thought 'Modus Operandi' was a bit boring

Surely not? It's a near masterpiece to me. There does seem to be a general theme on ilx that Photek somehow corrupted jungle's "street" sensibility in favour of a more "intelligent" leaning but I've never agreed with that. Plus has anyone tried listening to the Kemet Crew album from start to finish recently? The passage of time has not been kind.

Timeless is bloated ( although Angel remains a monumental piece of work)but the recent "Malice in Wonderland" as Rufige Kru is a much more succint exercise in danceflor destruction.

Eib, Calibre and Digital are great singles artists (does anyone know 4 Days by Eib?) but I have found their albums dull.

There's something not quite right about Klute to me, I can't put my finger on it and his albums are a little one dimensional. He did, however, produce the magical "Splendour" on Metalheadz and recently had a track with the lovely title of "Most People are Dicks".

I though the Source Direct album was called "Exorcise the Demons" unless it was called something else outwith the UK.

As stated previously in other threads, J Majik's fall from consistent genius to unlistenable bollocks rmains one of the biggest falls from grace by any artist in any genre ever...

Personally, I really like the Flytronix "Archive" LP from 1998: a wee bit conceptual but it features some really nice downtempo stuff and the mighty "Rhode Tune". The recent Makoto album is a lovely summery listen as well.

LTJ Bukem's album and the Big Bud albums on Good looking are also lovely but may be a bit saccharine for some.

But all in all, the genre doesn't suit artist albums - its best moments are found on mix CDs and individual singles.

After all that, I voted for "Parallel Universe" beacuse it changed my whole perception of music - "Power to Move the Very Stars" still makes me tingle...

"Plus has anyone tried listening to the Kemet Crew album from start to finish recently?"

Yeah a probably a year or two ago. Still sounded great to me.

And if the contest were open to compilations, Omni Trio's Next Millenium/Deepest Cut would take the prize.

YES YES YES YES YES YES (except for probably I'd still vote for Panacea but WOW is Deepest Cut about a bazillion orders of magnitude better than the aural shit sandwich that is Haunted Science)

Foul Play for me. It has held up so well.

xxxpost

There were two Source Direct albums, Controlled Developments released in 1997 and Exorcise the Demons in 1999. Both mine similar territory and CD wins (in my mind) for the final two tracks "Two Masks" and "Capital D" alone

Yay, thanks for putting Haunted Science there, instead of Deepest Cut. I fucking love that album, the way it's so minimalist and moody and deep. I probably wouldn't dance to it, but since we're talking about albums here, that one gets my vote.

Though I might've voted for that Aquasky double album, had than been included. And where's T Power?

Tuomas, why are you voting for a drum-n-bass album that has the emotional content of bland pasta?

Spring Heel Jack, peeps?!

Tuomas, why are you voting for a drum-n-bass album that has the emotional content of bland pasta?

Because to me "emotional content" isn't necessarily the same as "in your face"... But if you fail to see any emotion in Haunted Science I guess it's pointless to argue about it.

xpost-
Nah, I'd even mention US drum&weird before them, like Subtropic's Homebrew

where's T-Power?
well, precisely.

Though, to be honest, in my opinion the "bland pasta" metaphor fits Timeless much better. I think Haunted Science cuts it down to minimum amount needed to tug one's strings, whereas Timeless is just water-colour athmospherics and jazz noodling.

Timeless's some week colourless shit, I do agree with that.

Tuomas you haven't listened to Timeless in a while have you? Sure it's got some crap on it, but anything with "Kemistry", "Angel", "This Is A Bad" on it is far from bland.

where's T-Power?

I'm on record in ILM for being a fearless zealot for Self Evident Truth.. and I love Waveforms as well but I just didn't see them standing up to Timeless or New Forms. Too far off the path and zero club play (at least the clubs and parties I went to)

Surprised how little repping Wormholes has received so far, tbqh!

i know everyone says BST but its just too samey really, good as it is. i dont think D&B is really an albums genre though.

Brown Paper Bag!

and pretty much all the remixes on the 12s from new forms were great too!

shame that 2nd album was so awful.

i dont think D&B is really an albums genre though

SUGGEST BAN

I will pick Modus Operandi over New Forms each and every time.

No way.

I don't think I could narrow down "best" but for me it's between:

Omni Trio - The Deepest Cut
A Guy Called Gerald - Black Secret Technology
Roni Size/Reprazent - New Forms Disc 2 (not Disc 1!!!)
Dom & Roland - Industry

It wasn't intentional, but I like how the above four offer a reasonable spectrum of the genre (bar ragga and jump-up, which were even less albums-oriented than usual for jungle).

My top four is still the same as above.

Although I forgot about The Deepest Cut up there. That's clearly #5.

I noticed that Steve said this upthread re Black Secret Technology:

"there was an old thread where i basically said in not quite so much detail: BST: good concept, radical alien sound signature exciting on paper. radical alien sound signature frustrating in practice generally sounds so strained and distant and kinda cheap, like radio signals in space - but i would prefer it if he'd been able to combine that with better actual drum and esp. bass sounds, would've been even more powerful imo."

If anything the remastered version goes too far in the other direction - on "Finlay's Rainbow" for example the bass is so loud that it totally swamps the beats. The cleanness of the remastered sound reveals what was obscured on the earlier versions by the crappy production, which is that Gerald evidently never really intended for the beats to be danced to, more to be admired.

I do love the bass sound on the record though, that boomy system-failure bassdrop sound i always associate with Back 2 Basics' "Horns For '94".

(I would take Source Direct over both btw and Panacea's Low Profile Darkness is still my #1.)

(lol obv I wasn't feeling Source Direct as strongly when this poll came up!)

i listened to wormholes on the strength of vahid's endorsement somewhere. nicely written, vahid. yep. *whistles*

― tremendoid, Wednesday, June 27, 2007 10:35 PM

this is long in the past now but i am pretty sure i never endorsed this album. i like it OK but it also just sounds like dinosaurs growling at each other.

^^^ haha ouch.

In fairness, that made me want to hear the album!

ram trilogy - molten beats

i always trip on the fact that mike paradinas said this was his favorite d&b LP of all time. i mean ... really?!?

apparently this poll was in the middle of a 2 or 3 week ilx break for me but if i had voted i probably would've voted for either "timeless" or j majik's "slow motion"

"i like it OK but it also just sounds like dinosaurs growling at each other."

In fairness it was rather forward-thinking: perhaps the first drum & bass album to use the exact same beat on every single track.

Hahaha progress.

Spring Heel Jack - There Are Strings + 68 Million Shades are both fantastic DnB LP's.

Sonic Boom on 15th in Seattle has a copy of There Are Strings used right now. it's not that easy to find these days. i've got a 2nd copy too if someone wants to trade.

I had no idea any of their records were rare. There used to be a crazy # of used copies of 68 Million Shades at least at Amoeba.

i browse used cd shops 3-5 times a week and this is the 2nd copy of There Are Strings i've seen used in the last 5 or 6 years. i don't think it would be very expensive online but There Are Strings is much harder to find than 68 Million Shades which, as you say, can be found in crazy #s.

If anything the remastered version goes too far in the other direction - on "Finlay's Rainbow" for example the bass is so loud that it totally swamps the beats. The cleanness of the remastered sound reveals what was obscured on the earlier versions by the crappy production, which is that Gerald evidently never really intended for the beats to be danced to, more to be admired.

Are you talking about the (awful) 1996 remastered version (the one with "Hekkle and Koch" and "Touch Me" as bonus tracks) or the brand new 2008 remaster?

x-post
the Suspensions EP and Versions are also very good. i was a big fan of SHJ until Busy, Curious, Thirsty.
http://www.discogs.com/release/71332
http://www.discogs.com/release/66092

mr snrub, can you confirm that the new remaster is much better than the 96 remaster?

I'm talking about the 2008 version.

The 2008 version is definitely better than the 1996 version, though the difference has been a little overrated in some quarters. Anyone who expects this to suddenly sound like the great lost D&B dancefloor smasher is gonna be disappointed - it's still a surprisingly quiet LP.

I'd say that on the 2008 version the sound quality is a lot better than the 1995 version, but conversely it sounds a lot fuller than the 1996 version.

does dillinja's my sound count? i would have forked over some dough for a comp of the test tracks back in the day.

I'd agree with Tim F regarding the 2008 re-master of BST. Compared to previous editions it is cleaner and the bass is a hell of a lot more pronounced. To be honest, the original copy I had was almost unlistenable to my ears - at least with the new one I can get through it all in one sitting.

Re. Best Drum & Bass LP, I'd have to say Modus Operandi being that it's a permanent fixture on my walkman. As an album it maybe supremely clinical but there's some soul in those beats (somewhere).

What's the difference between the 95 and 97 versions of BST (other than the tracklist)?

it's "remastered"

i've done an A/B with my copies of each (CD) and as far as i can tell it basically just sounds louder

So let me see if I've got this right:

1995 version sounds crappy and quiet
1997 version sounds crappy and slightly louder
2008 version still sounds crappy, but the bass is louder.

the new BST sounds a bit 'punchier' but in that way that a lot of modern remasters sound punchier, as though its been remastered for mp3. not deep or aquatic how it should be sounding.

basically it still sounds a bit 'small'.

I found J Majik's 'Slow Motion' album from 1997. A little bit patchy, but the first two tracks "Subway" and "Gemini" are magnificent: widescreen hyperintricate Source Direct meets Hidden Agenda business.

question for the experts

in 1998 or so I remember seeing DJ Spooky in concert with a live band. overall the music did not come together very well, but I'm still thinking about the drummer. He was basically playing amen breaks live on a regular drum kit, just nailing the grid to the wall -- it didn't swing, he didn't deviate, he was ruthless, and I just basically assumed that within a year everyone would know his name

and probably most people do by now, but I don't! and my googling skills are not up to speed so I thought I'd bring the question here in a wider form -- can anyone on this board recommend recordings of human drummers, unedited, who've basically learned to play drum and bass live? much obliged if so.

ps -- the 1998 drummer, pretty sure it wasn't Karsh Kale -- he had no indian percussion whatsoever, just a straight western trap

likeliest candidate: jojo mayer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh4iK8ZOgDM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf3fpULe6Ig

btw this stuff is all over youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b98BJ36K1wo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V-BMhsgNSM

amazing

yeah, pretty much got to be Mayer. I remember moving in as close as I could just to confirm that it really was all coming from him, and seeing how focused and limited his overall bodily movement was, no showboating whatsoever, all the energy was going straight into the focus. but the other players are like that too, it's like you don't have room to move that far if you're going to play -that fast-

thanks jordan!

totally. this is from his dvd, which is pretty much the definitive document on different stick techniques/grips/etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psScSXzqgy0

love that ed rush + optical album so much

at some point I was gonna do a poll of best wormhole 12" and then

sorry to break up the jojo mayer love but

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtcYtmBbBAY

btw mayer's nerve band never came out with a record when i was checking for one (early '00s when it was still cool to play live d&b). now it looks like they have a couple of dubstep eps out, of course.

mayer reminding me of greg fox from liturgy, dude does blastbeats on a single bass/snare kit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ywPnWF-eDU

The new Klute LP sounds good thus far.

http://soundcloud.com/esppromo/sets/klute-music-for-prophet-lp

I recently realized that my favourite d'n'b LP of all time is this compilation. I have no idea who most of the artists on it are, but the track selection is bloody immaculate!

man I had forgotten that pretty much everything on Drum n Bass for Papa is so hot

just lined up 198 classic era d-n-b tracks to be played in random order with fade in/out to kickstart the weekends excess :

goldie/metalheadz platinum compilations/photek/alex reece/roni size/krust/breakbeat era/grooverider/jonny l/omni trio

i reckon a lot of this stuff still sounds fantastic.

not seen this thread before, so going to check that list out and see what i can pick up from musicmagpie ..

ooh forgot i had that Plug album that ninjatune released of newly discovered old d-n-b tracks which was amazing, and the shy fx album.
237 tracks in the playlist now.