Welcome to DJ Turner's World of Music

Most people are aware of my love for all things Drum ‘n’ Bass and most of those who are, have been bored by me about it. God knows how many people I’ve showed the videos on my phone of the Nightlife 4 launch party. A colleague's interest in my passion at the Company Update meeting a couple of weeks ago was enough to convince me there might be one of two people who might read this with a bit of interest, so here’s just a few rambling thoughts on what’s going on in ‘the scene’ at the moment.

By DnB standards, there’s been a veritable wealth of mix CDs hitting the shops recently and I’ve picked up the three biggest. The most eagerly anticipated by far has been the latest offering from Andy C (Ram Records boss and all-round bad boy) – ‘Nightlife 4’. The Nightlife series have been the standout and must-own mix collection for any DnB head since the original ‘Nightlife’ came out in 2003, alloying the freshest, up front beats, with arguably the tightest mixing in the land. Andy C is a DJ par excellence. Many actually believe he’s actually a robot, such are his skills behind the decks. The mix itself starts off at a breakneck pace, with Hive’s ‘Neo’ remix and from this firing start, there’s no let up. The tunes are all there to make this the best in the series, ‘Streetlife’, ‘Artisan VIP’ and the huge ‘Timewarp’ (Big up yourself Nihal for the Radio 1 playtime). However, for a beardstroker like me, the mixing seems a little bit dry and unimaginative for someone of Andy’s undoubted calibre. It’s still a stellar effort, but the tracklist promised so much more.

Next up, is the latest in the long line of Drum & Bass Arena mix CDs, ‘Drum & Bass Arena Presents: Friction & Fabio’, a two CD compilation that has been out for a couple of weeks now. The Friction CD has been on heavy rotation in the Polo due in no small part down to the colossal ‘Spartan’ by Dutch bass fanatic, Icicle. If you catch me wandering about with the HD25s on, make sure you ask for a quick listen. It’s absolutely disgusting and well worth a trip to The End next Friday to hear it on a rig that does it justice. It really is that sick and well worth turning ‘up to 11’. Break’s remixes of last year’s classic ‘Talk To Frank’, as well as the seminal ‘Bambaata’, make welcome appearances, but its the efforts from Loxy & Ink, Eveson and Noisia that really stand out. Tight mixing, as you’d expect from Friction, who’s not far behind Andy. The Fabio effort is more on a lighter tip and a bit more accessible for those looking to kickstart their DnB journey. If you’ve caught his Radio 1 show, you know the drill. The soulful delights of Calibre, Commix and Lynx punctuate a perfect summer mix.

The last CD, which I picked up on Monday, is the latest in the ‘Watch The Ride’ series, this time mixed by tagger/producer/DJ/ Walford gangster/Bond villain, Goldie. Clifford has never been known for his skills behind the decks, but his selection is usually bang on, and this is no exception. The ear-shattering ‘Dreamcatcher’, by Russian wunderkind Subwave, gets the VIP treatment and the massive Goldie/D Bridge collab, ‘Mirror’, takes its place among what is essentially a rather impressive showcase of dubs from the Metalheadz camp ahead of the autumn launch of the label’s Platinum long player. The nattily titled ‘Strange Owl Experiment’ by Noisia opens up a can of Goldie’s self-styled ‘Rufige’. A great mix that showcases ‘proper’ drum n bass. Too hot to handle.

That’s about it for now, but I’m sure I’ll see you all next week at Shogun Audio’s two-monthly night at The End. It’s gonna be heavy, heavy, heavy.

DJ Turner’s June Top 10

1) Icicle - Spartan – Shogun Audio dub
2) Loxy - Ancients - Dub
3) Rufige Kru & D Bridge - Mirror – Metalheadz dub
4) Chase & Status - Streetlife – Ram Records - dub
5) Calibre - TV On - Signature
6) System - Near Miss – Digital Sounboy dub
7) Roni Size - It's Jazzy (Nu:Tone remix) – V Recordings dub
8) Icicle - Minus – Shogun Audio
9) Spirit - SHK - Play:Musik dub
10) Commix & Icicle – Ultraclean - Unreleased