Drums And Bass IV: Back To The Future (Part 2)

You may have noticed that the last post kind of just finished. well that's because I looked at the pile of tracks I was gonna post and realised it wasn't gonna all fit in one. Continuing from where we left off, liquid funk is just about on the horizon. First thing you'll notice about the tracks being produced around this time is they're a lot faster, both in terms of BPM and overall structure. Like in this track, it's only ten seconds before the first drop happens, and there's a breakdown just a little over a minute in, it's not that much shorter than the old school stuff at 5:44, but it's definitely geared more towards speed than jungle was.

Benny Page - Turn Down The Lights [click to download] |HTML5|

Still, even with this new and speedier framework, there are still a few tracks floating around that have elements of the old school in them. This one's probably more famous for the massive Caspa remix, but the original is pretty sweet too. Reminds me just a little bit of some of Calyx's work.

TC - Where's My Money [click to download] |HTML5|

Following suit is Commix, signed to Golide's Metalheadz label, they merge the old and new styles together and the result is pretty spectacular. The opening to their first LP, Call To Mind is nothing shot of amazing, mainly due to that stellar intro and the great sample work, but also because it nails everything I like about liquid funk and old school drum & bass in one track.

Commix - Be True [click to download] |HTML5|


Back to the reason we're here, the newer stuff. Netsky used to be an electro house producer, so he fits in nicely with the melodic slant a lot of liquid funk has, and he does it really really well. There's some absolute gold on his self titled debut, but they've been posted enough already. Instead, here's one of my favourite unsung cuts from the LP

Netsky - Rise And Shine [click to download] |HTML5|

And finally, Chase & Status. They may have gone on a more mainstream approach on their second album, but More Than Alot has some of the best examples I have of liquid funk. I've already posted my all time favourites from this LP, but here's another I really enjoy. It's similar to that one BSOD track in that it narrates itself throughout, those little dashes of humour are great and don't detract from the track like you'd expect.

Chase & Status - Music Club [click to download] |HTML5|

And there we have it, we've come full circle. We've seen new D&B, then the old, then back to new again. There probably won't be anymore of these as I've fallen out of touch with the scene again, regardless, Enjoy!

Can't Get Enough,
-Claude Van Foxbat