Breakbeat/DnB I like
Submitted by karan129 on Sat, 10/11/2008 - 12:58
Tags:
- The tracks listed here are fast, hard hitting tracks for the most part.
- "Psystep" is used for want of a better word. Though I'd love give it a really expressive name, expressive the way 'neurofunk' is. Preferably something with 'Trip' in it. Or "Doofstep","Trippercore"...
- I haven't yet checked out Nuskool Breakz and IDB.
- Albums
- Chemical Brothers - Single 93-03 (Big Beat)
- Counterstrike - Draco (algo003) (Hardstep)
- Deviant Electronics - Blunt Instruments (Psystep)
- Dieselboy - The Dungeon Masters Guide (DnB)
- Dieselboy - The Human Resource (DnB)
- This release has the absolutely crazy Upbeats remix of Styles of Beyond - Subculture. Its a must hear.
- Evol Intent - Era of Diversion (DnB)
- This album is mind blowing, it transcends the boundaries of DnB. If you can appreciate good music, you can appreciate this.
- Pendulum - Hold Your Colour (Breakbeats/DnB)
- This is one of those rare albums which will appeal of anyone and is still very good.
- Prodigy - Music for the Jilted Generation (Big Beat)
- Prodigy - Fat of the Land (Big Beat)
- Sibilant - Proper Filth (Drumfunk with a dash of psy)
- This is what I imagine drumfunk would sound like, its a bit experimental in parts such that it sometimes sounds like techno, for example the last track.
- Soundmurderer - Toned Down EP (Jungle)
- Squarepusher - Hard Normal Daddy (Jazz/IDM Breakcore)
- Stakka & Skynet - Clockwork (Techstep)
- This albums has its ups and downs but overall the good more than cancels out the bad and its clear that they tried to do something different.
- The Flashbulb - Kirlian Selections (Ambient Breakcore)
- Venetian Snares - My Downfall (Original Soundtrack) (Classical Breakcore)
- Tracks
- Acidrockers - Inside (Psystep)
- Bad Company - Fill Me In (DnB)
- Black Sun Empire - Arrakis (DnB)
- Black Sun Empire - Breach (DnB)
- This is my favourite DnB track, it has melodies and rhythms which will leave you humming all day and drumloops which perfectly complement the rhythms.
- Chemical Brothers - Loops of Fury (Big Beat)
- Chemical Brothers - Leave Home (Big Beat)
- Counterstrike - Maniac (Techstep)
- Counterstrike - Draco (DnB)
- Cubanate - Hinterland (Industrial)
- Digitalis - Loop Garou (Psy Breaks)
- Digitalis - Yab-Yum Soul (Psy Breaks)
- Dom & Roland - Thunder (Techstep)
- Dom & Roland - City (Techstep)
- Fatboy Slim - Acid 8000 (Acid)
- Fracture & Neptune - Time Will Tell (IDB)
- Imminent Starvation - Ire (Industrial Noise)
- Konflict - System Bleed (Techstep)
- Mahisha - Mahisha-Empire (Acid DnB)
- Mahisha - Cyber Guru (Acid DnB)
- Mahisha - Dishoom (Goastep)
- Muffler - Embrace (DnB - Trancestep)
- Nam Shub of Enki meets Kiki.ILL - _Clickher (Psystep)
- Noisia - End Game (DnB - Darkstep)
- Noisia - Stigma (DnB)
- Overseer - Supermoves (Big Beat)
- Orbital - Technologique (Big Beat)
- Prodigy - Voodoo People (Big Beat)
- Raiden - Fallin (Trancestep)
- Raserblade - Scorpion (Jump Up)
- Skynet - Catherine Wheel (DnB)
- Sub Focus - Scarecrow (DnB)
- Spor - Supernova (Neurofunk)
- Spor - Haywire (Neurofunk)
- Sloz n Crone - Pow (Jungle)
- Technical Itch - Contaminate (DnB)
- Technical Itch - The Legend (Evol Intent Remix) (Acid DnB)
- Telemetrik - RUR (Neurofunk)
- The Qemists - Stompbox (Spor Mix) (DnB)
- The Militia - You and I know (DnB)
- The Upbeats feat. Evol Intent and Ewun - Smash (DnB)
- The Upbeats and State of Mind - Earth (DnB)
- Unknown Error - The Yearning (Trancestep)
- Unknown Error - Shadows (Trancestep)
- I found a fairly enlightening guide to D'n'B here, which I'm copy-pasting...
- Liquid funk:
- Description:
- This describes that light, summery side on dnb. Typically will be heavily influenced by jazz elements, hip hop elements, and perhaps infused with flavors from Jump Up and dub. Chances are if it makes you smile, or the vocals sound happy or upbeat, you'll find it here.
- Labels:
- Hospital
- Soul:R
- Liquid V
- Good Looking
- Signature
- Artists:
- High Contrast
- London Elektricity
- Calibre
- Marcus Intalex
- DJ Marky
- Nu:Tone
- Logistics
- Key Tracks:
- Calibre - Drop It Down
- DJ Marky and XRS - LK
- Marcus Intalex and High Contrast - 3am
- Jump up:
- Description:
- Makes you want to throw your arms around or start raving. Can often include cheesy vocals that are filtered with effects to lead into a drop that helps those pill heads go higher. Common features include a wobbling bass line, extreme build up for the drop, and in some cases a short synth. Generally defined as blatantly dancefloor friendly.
- Labels:
- Aphrodite
- Back 2 Basics
- Ram Records
- Breakbeat Kaos
- Ganja
- Full Cycle
- Bingo
- Artists:
- Aphrodite
- Pendulum
- Sub Focus
- Baron
- Dillinja
- Adam F
- DJ SS
- Key Tracks:
- Sub Focus - Swamp Thing
- Dillinja - Twist Em Out
- Ray Keith - Chopper (Shy FX remix)
- Hard Step / Dark / Evil:
- Description:
- Open the Floodgates and wait for the hounds of hell to take your soul.... Defined by the blazing amounts of drum edits with a low heavy bassline.... Often vocals and heavy, distorted effects. The all out evil side of drum and bass.
- Labels:
- Renegade Hardware
- Barcode
- Freak
- Tech Itch (Technical Freaks LP )
- Penetration
- Obscene
- Violence
- Human Imprint
- Producers:
- Dylan
- Tech Itch
- Kryptic Minds & Leon Switch
- Limewax
- Raiden
- Eye-D
- Loxy + Ink
- Keaton
- Evol Intent
- Hive
- Unknown Error
- Key Tracks:
- Dylan & B-Key - Slave To Life
- Tech Itch - Pressure Drop
- Pish Posh - Corrupt Cops (Evol Intent remix)
- Limewax - 1/2 lb
- Neuro Funk / Future Beat:
- Deep rolling basslines with a more minimal approach to the breaks & synths. Probably the most mature sound of drum n bass. A very refined style, usually featuring a dark or deep feeling to the music, but also with an edge of funk. Typically features heavy sampling and many layered drum hits. Very technical production.
- Labels:
- No U-Turn
- Metalheadz
- Dsci4
- Subtitles
- Violence
- Shadow Law
- Lifted Music
- Artists:
- Ed Rush & Optical
- Ryme Tyme
- Dom & Rolan
Check out Venetian Snares: Rossz Csillag Alatt Született
My personal fav. Breakbeat album. Let me know if you like it at all :).
Nice album :) I've been looking for something like this ever since I heard Orbital - Technologique. Those furious drum loops and deep, massive orchestral lines certainly combine well. The classical sounds mean I can get my non-electroniccy friends to hear this too :)
If you liked Rossz, be sure to also check out its follow up called My Downfall (Original Soundtrack). It's even more oriented on classical music. Huge Chrome Cylinder Box Unfolding could be my favourite "true breakcore" album by him, though.
Another fine artist that combines breakcore and classical music (and more often jazz) very well is The Flashbulb. He's also ultra prolific, just like VSnares, and it's a bit hard to choose his essential releases, but I'd say you can't go wrong with Red Extensions Of Me, Kirlian Selections and Reunion.
Wow! My Downfall is simply stunning. It takes what he's accomplished in Rossz to an entirely new level, so much so that I replaced Rossz with it. Rossz is great, but imo this is better :)
I'll check out The Flashbulb in a few days, I have exams going on :( So much music, so little time.
Glad you liked Rossz! I didn't even know that album existed, and by the feedback my curiosity is piqued! I know what you mean by "So much music..." lol. Hope life is treating you well!
Kirlian Selections is beautiful, mellow and warm with jazzy overtones - very interesting music. Its sounds very mature, if I had to call it something I would call it ambient breakcore. Added! Red Extensions of Me seems more experimental and darker in parts, I need to give it a few listens but I think I like Kirlian Selections better. Still to hear Reunion.
Yeah, maturity is also the first word that came to my mind after listening to it. I've been following The Flashbulb for quite some time, and it was interesting to observe how he developed from a guy who was clearly too much influenced by Squarepusher and Aphex Twin at the beginning of his career to an accomplished musician in the truest sense of that word that he is today. His latest album Soundtrack To A Vacant Life is another proof of that, and I highly recommend it even though you won't be able to put it to this list (since it's not breakcore).
By the way if you want to know where are his roots (and Venetian Snares' too) definitely check out already mentioned Squarepusher. He was a great influence to the whole this breakcore and jazzy IDM scene. Ultravisitor, Hello Everything and Hard Normal Daddy are especially good, although everything he had released is pretty awesome (with the exception of Just A Souvenir and some parts of Go Plastic).
Squarepusher was the first to mix jazz/IDM elements with breakcore? If he was, he had great vision. I'm really enjoying Hard Normal Daddy.
Hey, nice list. This is the only DnB list that I've found on here, but you got many of my favorites.
You should check out Unknown Error. I recently discovered them, and they just might get into my top 3 artists (which is currently BSE, Noisia, and Spor). Some of my favorite tracks are Shadows and The Yearning. Shadows is a remix of that LotR song Requiem for a Tower, and it's a damn good one.
Shadows is beautiful and I'd have put it on this list for sure, with the wicked mix of orchestra and broken bass but first listen to the track "Juice" by "Growling Mad Scientists" and you'll realise those orchestral lines are lifted straight from it. "Requiem for a Tower" is probably taken from "Requiem for a Dream" because "Juice" is based off the "Requiem for a Dream" Soundtrack too if I remember correctly. Still, I think I'll add it anyway.
The Yearning is good stuff :) Added. The female choir reminds of me Noisia - Endgame and Raiden - Fallin. Any other good stuff by Unknown Error? Since BSE, Noisia and Spor are really great, I love Spor's Resistance EP. What about Evol Intent? I'd put Evol Intent's Era of Diversion even ahead of BSE's Driving Insane.
Sorry for the late reply btw, I've been occupied lately and haven't heard any music.
Requiem for a Tower is a remix of one of the Requiem of a Dream soundtrack songs, and bunch of other songs are remixes of that.
I've only gone through my Unknown Error collection once, so nothing else really stood out besides those 2 tracks. I'm sure I'll find more that I like when I listen to them again. More suggestions:
Apex - By the Way (Apex is half of Unknown Error)
Apex ft. Ayah - Space Between
Counterstrike - Misfit
Concord Dawn - Morning Light
Limewax - Changing Crisis
Stakka & Skynet - Clockwork
I don't really like hip-hop in DnB, so I don't really like Evol Intent's stuff. But I'll give his album a listen.
Also, Orbital - Technologique is a good song, but it should be Orbital - Technologique Park.
Yeah thats true, its just that I've heard Juice a million times because its such a great track that Shadows was just too reminiscent of it initially. Added it now :)
Apex - By the Way (Apex is half of Unknown Error)
Nice track, I'll give it a couple of listens. Imo Morning Light is a similar but better track so that would be going on first.
Apex ft. Ayah - Space Between
Too pop-ish for me.
Counterstrike - Misfit
This one has an odd childish rhythm in it, I don't know if that was the intent but it sounded 'off'? to me.
Concord Dawn - Morning Light
Yup, I've heard this one several times, its good but I'm still unsure if its good enough for the list, on the repetitive side.
Limewax - Changing Crisis
It was ok, but I think the track needs more to differentiate it from the usual DnB track.
Stakka & Skynet - Clockwork
Found it a bit repetitive, it wasn't engaging. I guess it was a little too tech-ish for me. It could have a bit more going on.
To characterise Era of Diversion as DnB + HipHop is really inaccurate. Era of Diversion encompasses a wide variety of styles from downtempo to breakcore to techstep. Its more like Rap than Hiphop which imo goes better with Techstep/Neurofunk than singing does. Besides if the track writers want to get a message across they need vocals. Try South London, The Curtain Falls, and The Awkward Rhythm of Dance among others. They really surprised me. I knew the album was good, but this good? This is intelligent DnB, not just engineered for dancefloor mayhem but something you can listen at home too.
Thanks for pointing that out, I'll change it :)
I was wrong about Era of Diversion, it really is a diverse album. I guess I must have only heard the songs with rap. I like The Curtain Falls and South London, and the others will probably grow on me.
A few more albums to check out:
High Contrast - True Colors
Dom & Roland - Industry
Industry might be a little too techy for you though :/.
You're right, Industry was a bit techy, but I liked some parts and added two tracks from it :) Instead I found that True Colours didn't live up to its billing. It was like house with a snare drum under it. Perhaps things will change after a few listens but I'm not so sure.
And...when you recommended Clockwork I thought you meant the track which I didn't like enough to add, but when I listened to Clockword the album it was pretty good overall so I added it. Thanks for that one :)