Drum & Bass today exists in a myriad of styles, which range from the aggressive screeches of Jump Up to the chilled out sound of Liquid.
But although Jungle still exists today, there really is no school like the old school. The basslines were deeper and slower, samples were used with gleeful abandon, and the drums were nearly all composed of chopped up and frantically reassembled breakbeats.
The resulting feel is more organic feeling than much of today’s stuff, and although it can be obvious that the equipment and techniques of the time were significantly less sophisticated, the sounds produced still sound futuristic.
“Burial” is something of a classic. Produced by Leviticus (aka Jumping Jack Frost), it features the “Think About It” break from Lyn Collins in 1972 as the driving force behind the drums.
The female vocals are from Jill Francis’s ’93 R’n’B tune “Make Love To Me”, and the Ragga vocals are from the same year on “My Sound A Murder” by Jigsy King and Tony Curtis.
The lighthearted “Doo doo!” vocals are from 1978, a funk number called “Foxy” by Mademoiselle.
It might sound like he’s just ripped off a load of people, but it’s like hip hip; the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. Dillinja was the studio engineer incidentally; no wonder it’s such a banger…
“Burial” was released in 1994, but this would still tear up a dance floor today!