My Favourite Drum & Bass CD's

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Introduction

I still collect CD's and I thought I would compile a list of my favourite Drum & Bass CD's which I own. I will do the same for other genres of music.

Makai - Millennium

Dark and hard as Drum & Bass was meant to be. Very much of the techstep / neurofunk style of Drum & Bass.

I cant even say what my favourite track is, but it is between 'Beneath The Mask', 'Rectifier' and 'Northstar [matrix rmx]'

I own the Europeon version of this CD which is different to the Japanese version. The Japanese version contains the 12" version of 'Beneath The Mask' which is quite a bit shorter than the normal version and it also has a video. The Japanese version has a remix of 'Rectifier' which is also pretty good.

I want to get my hands on a Japanese copy of this CD for the extra tunes but they are fairly expensive.

Ed Rush & Optical - Wormhole

This is a classic dark Drum & Bass album, some say it is the beginning of the neurofunk genre of Drum & Bass (others say it's Makai - Millennium).

There are so many great tunes on here but by my favourite is 'Slip Thru' . This tune is so dark and the louder it gets the better it sounds.

'Mystery Machine' is also a favourite of mine with it being so weird, the bass feels like it's pulsating around you.

Moving Shadow 01.1

Unlike the two previous CD's, this is not an album, instead it is a mix CD from Moving Shadow. I first heard *this* CD whilst playing GTA III as a kid, where on MSX FM tunes from this CD would play but the mixes are different.

I put this early introduction to this CD down to why I liked Drum & Bass so much now, so many great tunes feature on this CD but by far my favourite is 'Calyx - Quagmire'.

This tune is the first tune on the GTA III version of the mix and it goes in, nothing like driving around in GTA III with a max wanted level and Quagmire playing.

Moving Shadow 05.2

Usually I am not a fan of Drum & Bass made after about 2002, but this CD is one of the exceptions.

This CD is a mix CD of a lot of the tunes released under Moving Shadow in 2005 and it is DARK

If you have ever listened to the Calyx album "No Turning Back" this mix contains a lot of the tunes from it and largely follows the same vibe.

It is DARK gritty and high energy, perfect for crashing out to!

The mixing is pin point (like all the Moving Shadow mixes) and it is just great!

Origin Unknown - Sound In Motion

This album is a showcase of some of the darkest and most heavy hitting tunes.

It is very much of the techstep / neurofunk style (like everything on this list lol).

The standout tracks for me are "Sound in motion" and "Turbulance".

"Sound in motion" being a dark tune with a heavy bassline to it and "Turbulance" being a bit more upbeat but crazy.

Fun fact: My mum really likes "Turbulance"

There are 2 CD's the first being the compilation album and the second being a mix CD of the tunes and some others.

Dom & Roland - Killabites

This is another mix CD released by Moving Shadow and mixed by Dom & Roland. This CD released at around the same time as the Moving Shadow 01.1 sampler mix CD came out (2000 - 2001) and it is full of techstep.

This brings the same vibe as Moving Shadow 01.1 but with more tunes! Two CD's of the best 00's techstep. So if you like 01.1 you will also like this.

My favourite tunes on here are between 'Skynet & Stakka - Side Effects VIP' and 'Bad Company - Dead Side', although pretty much every tune on here is banging.

Underfire Recordings - Dangerous Drums Volume 1 (and 2)

I had never really heard of the Underfire label until fairly recently, I had heard a few tunes from Skynet & Stakka and Kraken, all this guys put out tunes under Underfire. I bought both these CD's and they have to be one of if the best examples of techstep / neurofunk.

All the CD's contain mixes of tunes put out under Underfire and they are mixed to perfection by Mampi Swift, Kraken, DJ Friction and Dj Skinny. There is only ten tunes per disc but I rock with it because each tune gets played out as much as possible before being mixed.

All of the tunes are high energy techstep / neurofunk tunes and if you like Virus Recordings or some of the later Moving Shadow stuff (Killabites, 01.1, 05.2, Dom & Roland Industry) you will probably really like these CD's.

Underfire seems to me like a lesser known Drum & Bass label and you can pick up both CD's for fairly cheap, I got volume 1 for £9 and volume 2 for £5.

My favourite tunes across both CD's are:

Underfire Recordings - Blazin

This album has some of the best Drum & Bass tunes known to man on it. A whole album full of dark 1999 Drum & Bass bangers on it. I think this Album is relatively unknown, I have not heard many of the tunes in sets , apart from Side Effects. But pretty much every tune is a banger in its own right.

Side Effects of course is the most famous tune on this album, it gets rinsed on a lot of oldskool sets from 99 - 01 sort of time, and it never gets old.

Analogue Spikes is probably my favourite tune on this album, it has a dark booming bassline that will rattle the room, I played this so loud once I blew my amp (RIP). It also has this dark vocal sample saying "it shows you things ... horrible things" love it.

The rest of the tunes are all bangers with booming b-lines and the rest . There is a mix cd which comes with the CD version that has all the tunes mixed nicely by Skynet & Stakka, deffo worth a listen. The CD version of this album is recorded in mono which is strange but it doesnt really take away from it, I have this album on vinyl too and they basically sound the same.

Torque

This album features some dark industrial Drum & Bass tunes that make you feel like you are piloting the Nebuchadnezzar in the Matrix.

I find myself listening to this Album, and similar albums, a lot when programming or writing on this website. I wouldnt say that the tunes are as in your face as some of the other tunes from the CD's on this page, you could just as easily mash up a dancefloor to them as study for an exam to this album. Versitile.

All of the tunes have dark industrial / technical sounds to them, with complex breakbeats and interesting basslines, its a whole vibe.

For more music with a similar vibe, Quantum Mechanics by Renegade Hardware is pretty similar.