The State of DNB

After listening to stellar Drum and Bass Arena podcasts dedicated to the past decade of Dnb, I started thinking. Has this era of throwaway pop music "infected" the arena of dance music as well? Now there have always been bollocks tunes here and there, but there were a ton of classics coming out as well. Tunes so distinctive, that even though I wasn't a dj or even allowed to go out and hear this music on the dancefloor, I still managed to collect amazing vinyl and mixtapes not knowing what was "in". As a true, everyday junglist, I love all styles of drum and bass/jungle, some more than others, but I have room for Size, Goldie, Bukem, Aphrodite, Source Direct, Dieselboy, Fabio, Alix Perez, Photek, M.I.S.T., Dillinja, UK Apache, Bad Company and many others in my heart. Either I'm not too picky, or I can appreciate beautiful music whether it be elegant, grimey, childlike, or intellectual. That being said, I haven't been loving as many recent tunes as I did once. It may be that I'm getting old and critical, but I believe it may be related to the proliferation of production software. Maybe guys that are pretty good djs, don't always make great producers, or everyone using the same programs leads to the same sounds. Producers are also biting each other sounds, there was a time when style was the trademark, basslines as badges. Perhaps the internet has so connected the worldwide massive that traveling djs no longer act as filters and tastemakers. Maybe because my local scene, New York, has a smaller dnb community and I'm a bitter, jealous h8ter. Still in my quest to hear every jungle or dnb mix and tune ever made, I do run across some beauties like Taxman's "Too Bad" or "Itzalot" by Crystal Clear (w/Cabbie & Stapleton)-its dnb not dubstep, I don't care what you say), and I like Spor's "Way of the Samurai" because it sounds like a sample from "V-the miniseries" is in there. What are your thoughts has the golden age of drum and bass passed? Will junglists defect en masse to dubstep? Has the production scene been taken over by wanker faux rock and overuse of wobble bass? Am I just a bitter old jungle slag?

Jungle on di Net

I am sitting up late doing exactly what I'm not supposed to be doing...playing on the computer. My tendency to stumble around the internets like a lost drunkard pays off sometimes. I spent a few minutes searching for Sound in Motion by Origin Unknown (Andy C and Ant Miles) and ended up stumbling on this kid http://www.djrolley.co.uk/. The site is awesome. More drum and bass for me...I love this guys taste in toons, not just toons, but seriously rugged mixes. Some are his, others are remixes of other mixes, all floor smashers. I dunno about you, but I like my drum and bass to have drum and BASSSSS. Electro and indie rock influences are all well and good, but influence not takeover. Its called drum and bass, stands to reason that would be your primary sounds. You can't just throw a breakbeat under a nouveau faux punk track and call it drum and bass.

Follow @djrolley on the twitter.

Music is the Answer....

Isn't it though? Think about how much music has been a part of your life. For me, its always been there and every significant event in my life has a soundtrack. Sometimes I even planned it that way. The theme music for my "first time", A New High in Drum and Bass. While the event itself wasn't truly planned, the music had to be and was...ambient jungle. Yes my friends, I am a junglist. I'm also a determined extrovert so I've ended up in musical places all over the aural map. What events do you playback with a song, mix, or album in mind?