ISO50

Used to listen to this when drivin around all the time when I lived in Uk…actually come to think of it, its still in the car now! In original dubbed tape form of course :)

Hospital records offshoot ‘Med School’ is really the only label pushing creativity and originality within the genre.

http://www.hospitalrecords.com/medschool/

I’m glad you posted this. Newforms was the first album I ever purchased on my own, introducing me to the entire culture of electronic music and influencing a good portion of what I’ve listened to up to this day. It’s funny because I purchased it solely on the album cover, knowing nothing about who Roni Size was. I don’t even think I knew what it sounded like. So this album marks the beginning of both my love for electronic music and album package design. So it’s pretty important to me…

I echo those pointing to hospital records.

London Elektricity’s ‘Billion Dollar Gravy’ is definitely worth a listen and even more so impressive because they toured the album playing the tracks live.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIbjUfJRaeM

YES!! Scott, I’m so happy you posted this!

I’m listening to Progression Sessions 2 (Blame & DRS, not LTJ & MC Conrad interestingly) right now as a matter of fact– LTJ Bukem and MC Conrad have produced some of the most poignant and timeless Drum n Bass I’ve ever heard…I’m sure I’ll be listening to this stuff on my deathbed. I find the sounds of atmospheric jungle (as defined by ishkur) to be perfect for doing design work, and the sound has influenced my own style, which I am still discovering and sharpening.

I disagree with you on it backsliding however, I think it kind of split off into different areas and not much has been made just yet to advance the genre much further since that split…I see DnB as a sound for the youth 50 yrs from now, way ahead of its time. But if you look at what happened to DnB between the mid 90’s up until around late 2001, and then what’s come out since then, there was definately a bubble of creativity that burst into a variety of sounds– a spectrum from dark and growling to ethereal and radiant. I think DnB was discovered to be much more diverse than had been thought before…

I guess it varies by artist, the more I think about it…it’s definately an arguable claim that it’s backslided in recent years. I’d be interested to hear any specific examples you can think of.

I think people like Dieselboy’s material has gone downhill since the 6ixth Session, and I hear what you’re saying about the dance floor-fodder, cookie cutter noise-fest in that case. But then I think others, like Klute and 4hero have continued to move things forward, even tho 4hero kind of went off in a completely different direction with Play With the Changes.

I will always hold a special place in my heart for that peak period tho.

Great post dude B-)

Roni Size and Goldie were all I listened to in 1996. Check out some old Photek and U-Ziq. Great stuff

New Forms was also my first introduction to DNB, I’ve been a fan of Roni Size and Full Cycle ever since.

This album dropped in a pivotal moment in my life and a transitional time for music altogether. I agree, it remains an important album still today.

Nice post ISO.

“Alex / HeadUp” summed up everything I wanted to say. Well put Alex.

I would like to add a few labels/ links for people to check out. They still drop quality tracks on a monthly basis. You just have to know where to look for em’. Most importantly though, they still drop em on WAX.

Fokuz Records
http://www.discogs.com/label/Fokuz+Recordings

Jerona Fruits Records
http://www.discogs.com/label/Jerona+Fruits+Recordings

Signature Records
http://www.discogs.com/label/Signature+Records