- Internet savvy drum'n'bass junkies would know about www.breakbeat.co.uk - it's the home of drum'n'bass on the web - a site which is visited by the big names of the breakbeat fraternity (and sorority for all the lady fans and artists out there!) to host forums, video, audio, pictures and interviews. It has become so popular, Drum'n'bass arena have recently launched drum'n'bass TV to showcase exclusive videos, interviews and (wait for it!) live streaming webcasts only available to users of the site - wicked! To coincide with the launch, Drum'n'Bass arena have enlisted the help of Ram Records head honcho, Andy C to mix their latest Drum'n'Bass Arena compilation.
The mix kicks off with Bad Company's Bullet Time - when you're packing heat like Bad Company for your mix, you know you're in for a rough ride - kicking it off with a cinematic intro, big booming basslines and tough rolling breaks!
Bring It On by Hive & Keaton features a massive bassline which would sound at home on a jiggy hip hop tune with vocal samples lifted from what sounds like M.O.P on vocal duties.
From New Zealand artists like Concord Dawn and MC Tali represent for the mix. Concord Dawn's Ninja leads an all out bassline assault and they get aggressive with Tiki for Don't Tell Me. Tali provides a contrast to Concord Dawn's dark stylings with her vocals on High Hopes (All Over Now).
Nu:Tone offers up a remix of Lenny Fontana presents Black Sun's Spread Love propelling the classic house tune into the world of drum'n'bass. It's a real feel good track with uplifting vocals and melodic bass - it's a real singalong tune which this reviewer personally put on repeat as it is a real pick me up! Following on from that is a remix of DJ Zinc's Ska giving the bassline a little more melody than the original.
EZ Rollers get the crowd rocking with their Crowd Rocker - more tough basslines, aggressive vocal samples and cleverly placed drum fills. Photek is in his drum'n'bass guise here with We Got Heat featuring Choc Ty on rap duties and Chiara on vocals. For those who have heard Kosheen's Demonstrate, will notice a similarity with Chiara's vocals - monotonic, cybernetic and futuristic - while Choc Ty lets loose on the mic with his rap lyrics.
Andy C's mix gets even harder and more aggressive with D Kay's Martians while Andy C mixes in Tiki's vocals on Don't Tell Me before sliding into the full track. Shortly after Andy C brings the mix back down to more soulful vibes with Dillinja's remix of London Elektricity's Different Drum letting the vocals work their magic acapella style before the hard beats kick in again.
Ecco & Sabotage's House Music VIP provides the first variation in tempo in the whole mix, slowing down the beats to around 90 bpms and gradually speeding them back up to drum'n'bass tempo with "house music all night long" constantly repeated throughout. If you can catch Andy C's live video with MC Dynamite on the website, you'll witness Dynamite on the mic repeating "What the fuck is this?" during the beatdown gradually speeding up his vocals to match the tempo while 3 fanatic drum'n'bass heads go crazy jumping and bouncing around in the front row - pure class!
Ed Rush & Optical command the listener to get on the Good Foot with their tune bringing back the storming drum'n'bass beats back to the mix.
To finish it all off Resonant Evil's Troubleshoot commands the listener to stay on the dancefloor with it's vocal sample leaving you feeling somewhat dirty and sticky if you've been dancing and grooving the whole time. What is really nice about Andy C's mix is that he mixes each tune deeply in with the next track to the point where distinguishing when the next tune comes in is somewhat of a challenge.
As a bonus there are 2 unmixed tracks at the end of the CD. Female vocal stabs meet percussive beats on Moving Fusion's Living Daylight - old skool style jungle action and finally HoldTight's Fever offers some of the same vibes as Living Daylight, but on a more soulful R&B Latin fused drum'n'bass tip.
Disc 2 is a DVD featuring snippets from Drum'n'bass Arena's D&B TV area including an interview with Andy C himself, London Elektricity and Reprazent, videos from the site and some history into the Arena itself. Definitely a must have for all drum'n'bass fans!