Drums And Bass?

As you may have seen, a few weeks ago I got on a bit of a drum 'n bass kick, and decided I didn't have enough. Cue me trawling all over the place to find something similar to what I liked, which if you don't know much about D&B is quite a task but I eventually found some stuff I dug. And that's what I'm here to share with you today! First up is Commix, a duo hailing from Cambridge that I found through Goldie's legendary Metalheadz label. Their first album, Call To Mind, is much more "traditional" than the other tracks I'll be posting, but it's quite accessible, you don't have to be a hardcore D&B Junkie to enjoy it. Take Emily's Smile for example a very smooth track with swooping synths and speedy breaks, it's the epitome of Metalheadz.



The same applies to another track that caught my ear, the intro to Strictly is nothing short of amazing, and it soon gives way to some heavy waves of bass, with fleeting fragments of the smooth intro returning now and then. Headphones or a decent speaker setup recommended for this one.



The next artist that held my attention was Netsky, Belgian electro producer turned onto D&B by labelmate High Contrast. Netsky brings a unique combination to the table due to his electro background, as you will hear on tracks such as Iron Heart and Pirate Bay.



His self-titled debut also has some fairly chilled out tracks, it was a difficult choice to make between Moving With You and this track, in the end Endless Search won because it sounds like the soulful late 90's underground Garage and House I used to listen to way back when, and it's a nice change to the usual D&B sound.





Stenchman is a producer I've been meaning to post about for a while, his unique brand of dubstep is the only kind I can listen to nowadays. Stenchman doesn't just do dubstep however, he sometimes puts out Drum & Bass tracks that often combine elements of both, take this track: Antimatter.

Stenchman - Antimatter

This track was given out for free last Christmas by Stenchman himself, creatively titled Stenchamn's Christmas Album this is another fairly smooth track that I really enjoy, it's just a shame that it's so short.

Stenchman - The Cosmological Constant

And playing us out, the first proper (IE: not Squarepusher) Drum & Bass Album I bought, Chase & Status' More Than Alot, which I picked up after seeing them live, the album is pretty great all the way through, starting with Can't Get Enough.



My absolute favourite from the album however is Take Me Away, I can always come back to it no matter what, and it will still be as good as I remember it, demanding at least a couple of listens before I move on.



There's an awful lot of Drum & Bass out there, take this as my beginner's guide for the person who doesn't know a lot about D&B and is looking for a place to start, these tracks worked for me, and hopefully will for you as well!. All I Ever, -Claude Van Foxbat