This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Album Reviews
Album Review: Various Artists – Kings Of Drum And Bass: Compiled by 4hero and DJ Marky (BBE Records)
By Paul Vig | Published on Friday 5 February 2010
After a brief hiatus, BBE re-instigates the ‘Kings Of…’ series, and here they have appointed 4hero and Marky for the job.
After two decades of producing, remixing and DJing, whether it be as Tek 9, Cold Mission, DKD, Omniverse or, of course, 4hero, breakbeat/junglist pioneers Marc Clair and Dego MacFarlane open the show with an excellent mix that’s rarely left my CD player for the last week.
The Dollis Hill duo take us on a historic trip from proto jungle to current drum n bass, and it is pretty much all good. Starting with their own lush jazz-tinged ‘Universal Love’ they start as they mean to go on. There’s a bit of a singalong with London Electricity’s ‘My Dreams’, featuring crooning from Robert Owens, and then Lenny Fontana’s ‘Spread Love’, remixed by Nu:Tone, which is good, but the real fun begins with ‘Inside Out’ by Manix (aka Clair himself), which really strips things down. The great raga-influenced funky roller of 4hero as Tom & Jerry with ‘Maximum Style’ follows, and then there’s Nookie’s ‘Give A Little Love’ – is it rave or is it jungle? Whatever you call it, awesome is the word. Closing a diverse mix that features some real gems, they drop the tempo with A Guy Called Gerald’s take on Roy Ayres’ ‘Sunshine’.
The Brazilian DJ Marky, known for his pacey, funky upbeat sets, steps in for the second disc, and doesn’t take us as far down memory lane as 4hero, altering between some harder cuts and his usual fare. Starting with the lush ‘Waterlogged’ by Random Movement and Calibre’s chilled ‘Let Me Hold You’, it gets a bit tougher with his own ‘Tonight’, which bashes along well, and then a bit harder with ‘Temperance’ by Marcus Intalex. Marky’s collaborations with SPY lie on different sides of the spectrum, with the hardish ‘Riff Raff’ and more relaxed ‘Days Go Slow’, which has vocals from Miri. But the best cut is saved for last – ‘Back in Time’ by Stunna – which is beatsy electronic soul. All in all good outing from the man from Sao Paulo.
BBE have delivered again here, creating a great compo using two very different artists, and this adds to this series’ strength. Recommended. PV
Buy from iTunes
Buy from Amazon
