Your Top 5 Drum & Bass Tunes Of All Time

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Quotec

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Hello!

I am pretty sure that a similar discussion/thread has been already made but I am too lazy to search for necroposts and well you gotta admit that favorites tend to change over time. Yeah, I know it´s tough to name your absolute favorites but I am sure you guys love challenges so here we go: name your top 5 dnb tunes of all time and briefly describe why they are so special to you. Below you can find my list:

1)I will kick off with Noisia. I am a person who is really resistant to admiration of people in general but Noisia are the only ones who make me go full fanboy mode. Frankly, Noisia should be a genre on its own. These guys are absolutely genius and never cease to surprise me. So it was obviously tough to choose one favorite tune from Noisia because each new release will be like "oh, this must be the best tune of Noisia". So I put together four most impressive tunes:

Noisia - Dustup (rrrridiculous flow and this is the only track that I can listen for ages and never get tired of)
Noisia & Xtrah - Up To Something (super underrated tune, I like it for being really mysterious, dark and haunting)
Noisia, Mefjus & Hybris - Reptilians (it sounds so damn unique and polished)
Noisia & The Upbeats - Dead Limit (So this one is associated with so many great memories, I remember hearing the little clip in Noisia Radio and when the bass dropped SO FUCKING HARD I was instantly on my feet doing movements that resembled dancing but were more like people on crack in ecstasy or something. Everybody was so hyped for this tune and I was like "damn man, I need to hear that on a big sound system" and so I went to a random dnb party just hoping that somebody will drop this tune. And it did happen. And oh boy, I was raving while other people were just watching me doing weird movements. It felt so fucking strange after the party but at that moment I didn´t care, rave was worth it. Not to mention the fact that I really never dance at clubs, but that one time was an exception haha. But yeah, this tune has absolutely ridiculous mixdown and it sounds so huuuuge.)

2)So the next up in the list is Mind Vortex - Underworld. Man, it´s so underrated but this tune has a special place in my heart (yeah, fucking gay ikr). It´s all about the second drop. This is easily the most high-energy and fullest sounding tune that I´ve ever heard.

3)Alright, next one is monstrous. It´s "Footpath" by Mefjus, The Upbeats & Insideinfo. The dirtiest, evilest and hardest-hitting tune to date. It´s funny that when I first heard it I disliked it but this really did grow on me.

4)Time to shift to more mellow stuff. It´s Fred V & Grafix feat. Reija Lee - Just a Thought. I´ve never heard anything similar to that in my life. It brings chills and smile on my face every time I hear it. Also super nostalgic, yes.

5)We make our final stop at beautiful little piece by Zero T ft. Riya - Truth Hurts. Really underrated stuff but it has been my top tune for years. Don´t know what makes it so special for me though, maybe some sort of nostalgia.

Honorable mentions: DC Breaks - If This Is Love VIP and Insideinfo & Prolix - Transposed.

Let me know what are your favorite dnb tracks!

Cheers!
 
Commander said:
Love the passion in your writeup. Just wondering how long you have been listening to drum & bass?!
Click to expand...
Thanks mate. Yeah, drum&bass is really something that I highly value in my life and I've been hooked ever since my brother introduced me to this genre. I remember I was so amazed by the vibrations of a bass when I was a kid. But I didn't really listen to dnb up until 2008.
 
You asked for "Drum & Bass"
There are way too many... but these 5 never get old...





 
Yeah, i'll give this ago
Always find it really hard to do these sort of lists, tend to really like a tune for a week or a month then oveplay it and forget about it until i find something new. Which sounds awful. But anyway i'll try my best with a current top5 in no order...

Macca - Betrayed
This tune came out on Fokuz 3 years ago and was one of those digital only releases that got rushed out every week by the label. I actually reviewed this on discogs which sums up why I like it so much but i'll comment on it here too. It's one of those tunes (to me) that is musicly very pleasing, aka everything just flows and everything just works. I always play this in my sets regardless of 'style' because I love it so much, it rolls and its easy to mix. A lot of people will hear another boring liquid track but for me, theres something special about it and thats why its on ma list!

Spectrasoul - Peninsula
One from the good old days of Shogun! Released in 2008 i think it was I remember bagging this compilation on vinyl (which i then sold for some reason) and it quickly became one of my favourite tunes. Despite being fairly punchy its mysterious, with a lot of atmosphere thanks to those chanting vocals. Those growls that evolve halfway through never sound forced, and they just add to the darkness and mystery and make it very dancefloor friendly despite the atmosphere.

Benzel - Wasted Love (Spectrasoul Remix)
The Wasted Love remix was actually played to me by a friend when we were mixing at home and its one of those that I just loved instantly. They've remixed a lot of stuff over the years and all of it is extremely good, but half of it is very liquidy and can sound a bit similar. This remix though is a bit harder and is very very well produced, the vocals sit perfectly, and the drop is actually surprisingly weighty (especially when played loud and mixed well)

P.A - Outta Spite
Who'd have thought it, P.A in my (current) top 5. Not much to say about this one, It's punchy, dancefloor friendly, dark and it rolls. Simple but effective and it gets played every mix. (Aesthetics - Night is another one like this if anyones interested)

Seba & Lotek - So Long
An old one this, I got very involved in drum & bass through the atmospheric/intelligent scene back in the early 2000's. Obviously i was too young to really be there when Good Looking was putting out tunes, but the early noughties bought about its own scene from the likes of Covert Operations, 720, Camino Blue, Levitated etc (ah good times)
Anyway So Long was completely unrelated to those labels as it was put out 1996 on Bukem's Looking Good, but I found the tune after digging when i became more involved in the sound. The record, as with most Seba tunes, is an absolute dream. Its perfection, i rate this tune as one of those best dnb tracks ever made and even though im sure this list will change next month this track will defiantly be on it, and will be on it for ever more.


Ask me again next month and my list will be completely different! (except so long)
 
Changes daily.... but

Splash - Babylon
The House Crew - Super Hero
Roni Size & DJ Die - Music Box
Hidden Agenda - Dispatches #1
Remarc - Sound Murderer

Arguably all jungle tracks and not the requested drum and bass but dilligaf?
 
Ed Rush & Optical - Watermelon
Ed Rush, Optical & Fierce - Cutslo (Lokuste Mix)
Dillinja - I Wanna Know
Absolute Zero & Subphonics - The Code (SKC Remix)
Fierce - Carrier

(y)

Agree with Teds this could change depending on mood/day etc.
 
tough one:

for me and personal reasons:

Shy FX - Feelings
Makoto & tak - Voyager
Logistics - Murderation
DJ Zinc - Ready Or not Remixes (the hype 2003 one)
Wilkinson - Tonight
 
These ones spring to mind.... No doubt there's many more tho

Hidden Agenda - Swing Time (Metalheadz) 1995
Kemal - Bleed (Negative) 2000
Breakage - So Vain (Bassbin) 2003
DJ Trax - Lost My Tears (Osiris) 2008
Alaska ft. Robert Manos - Dolorous [Version] (Arctic) 2013
 
I'll have a go, but mine changes day to day, there's always the main culprits in there but one or two change on a regular basis together with the order.

Andy C & Shimon - Nightflight - ****** I regard this as the best 12" ever as Quest is on the A side and any other day would usually make my list, but trying to not look like a RAM fanboy (you could really do a top 5 of just RAM tunes)
Origin Unknown - Valley of the Shadows
moving Fusion - Turbulance
Alex Reece - Pulp Fiction
R-type - jo

So many left out, just too many tunes. I do notice that I don't regard anything in the last 20 years as my favourite tunes.

I still love D&B and there has been some amazing tunes produced over the last 20 years, but I find not even the best of the "modern tunes" can hold a patch to the old stuff. I guess that's because all my amazing raving memories are between 93 to 00 so I hold tunes from that era in a higher regard, a bit like how I think 80's films were better than modern day films. In the 80's I would have been 8yo to 18yo and I guess you are more amazed by stuff when you're younger.

Then I heard Raindance from my bedroom window and the rest is a big blur.....
 
Logistics - Together
MIST - Outerspace
DIE - Slow burn
Dbridge - True romance
Brookes Brothers & Culture shock - Re-work

All due to the fact they are stone cold classics
 
Changes on a daily basis but 5 for me right now are

Die and Break - Tear down (probably my all time favourite dnb tunes, fucking pumps through a big system)
High contrast - everythings different (this one reminds me of when I first started listening to dnb, also love the music video haha)
Audio - nightbreed (riddim is hard as fuck)
Handra - Forget (vocal on this is amazing and this tune gives me dem feels every time)
Rido - They think that (always draw for this tune when mixing, love the vocal then that funky drop)
 
digital - hard ears - function ::: if you are playing records in a venue where the sound system is good enough to make playing this record a serious option then congratulations, you are about to make the whole room shake with one of the deepest thickest basslines ever committed to vinyl. bonus points for being one of less than twenty records since 1994 to have a sample talking about Jah without being awful cringey altogether.

mason & dstar - zerosum breakout - freak ::: reasonably obscure b-side on a label that became more well known for tedious heavy metal techno bullshit shortly afterwards. a shame, because this is a snakey, coiled, tribal and percussive halftime monster of a tune that was a huge part of my sets back in the day and if anything feels even more fresh and relevant in an age of producers like clarity, overlook, loxy and resound, the untouchables etc. I have lost count of the amount of times I have played this out through the years and it still stands out head and shoulders in the right set.

spirit - soul survivor - metalheadz ::: spirits best tune and possibly the best tune on headz in the 00s, this one has everything, muscular rolling drums, punishing sub bass, terrifying reeses, bleeps, dub samples, and all the things you would expect but then this huge, glorious heavenly pad comes in and turns this terrifying monster of a tune into the most uplifting piece of music imaginable.

lemon d - 12.01 - valve ::: if this isn't in your all time top 20 then we probably dont have anything in common and we are probably looking for very different things in this music. good luck with everything you do, but I really feel you are missing out on something very important.

breakage - so vain - bassbin ::: living in Dublin when this was on dub meant hearing it *constantly* and I dont think I ever played any of the versions that came out myself. still, there are not many records I can think of that destroyed every dance I heard them in quite as hard for so long as "so vain" did, and i heard it so often that i have a hard time casting my mind back to that summer of 2003 without hearing snatches of it. for extra bonus points i am pretty sure a version of it was played the night i met my girlfriend at a bassbin night that year too.
 
If I try and take in all of Drum and Bass, I will break my head getting down to five, so I'll give my top 5 Drumfunk tracks:

Pieter-K - Set the Record Straight

I had never heard anything like this before. I had heard Drum and Bass with jazz samples and Drum and Bass and live jazz, but this felt like Drum and Bass as jazz, but sparse, simple and complex at the same time. Plus the intro is a ton of fun to mix with.

Equinox - Roy Ting

I battered this record so many times the intro started to get worn out. The rhythm starts but the bassline waits and then comes through so low and the drum break gets even more choppy.

Polska – Summertare (0=0 Remix)

Maybe I would pick SHT for 0=0, but I never got my hands on that one. The delays on the Amen and the overall intensity yet beautiful vibes.

dgoHn - Vase

I started with Macc & dgoHn - July 39th because of how I connected to the harmonies, but Vase and some of the other Exegene releases with Macc & dgoHn changed Dnb. What ever I was going in Dnb back then, I wasn't doing that anymore once I heard these.

Paradox - I Get a Kick Back

A Drumfunk list must have Paradox on it. Again I started thinking Ghost Notes because of what a unique and inspirational track that was for me. I started thinking some of his bigger tracks or tracks he play live, but I Get a Kick Back is the one where I just clicked with the rhythm. And the bassline is just rude.
 
Jonny L- Piper
Just sublime, simplicity at it's best and dark as fu@@. My fav tune of all time

Ed rush & Optical - Bacteria
Another dark smasher that i loved from the first listen. Love the intro!

Ed rush & Fierce - Locust
The prototype years, fantastic album and this was my highlight. Dark futuristic intro, beats and then the crashing amens and reece. Never gets old

Fortran - The end part 2
Another classic from 31 records. Dark eerie vocals, persistent drums and a low profile bassline are the orderof the day. Love this

Jonny L - Focus
Who else could make a digeridoo sound so dark and dangerous? A classic in my eyes and my fav from the magnetic lp.
 

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