This Week in Drum & Bass: Noisia, Ink, Loxy & Resound

Deeper, Darker: Ink, Loxy & Resound – Channel

I could go on about Loxy and Ink releasing proper hip-hop into the world, but that’s for another place entirely. The beauty of their recent releases for the legendary R&S Records is that they’ve been able to pair a sick hip-hop cut like “Spray Trains of Thought” with “Channel,” which finds the trio doing what they do best: crafting open world experiences in six minutes or less.

“Channel” finds the frequent collaborators cultivating a sound that may best be described as… OK have you seen Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness or ever watched anything where one powered being is drawing a force out of someone else? The bassline on “Channel” sounds like what those waves of energy must feel like. Is that weird? Good. Take that sound and then slice through it with precision-timed breakbeats. Sprinkle a seductive vocal loop over that and you’re somewhere close to the energy pulsating out of “Channel.”

All mixed up: Rupture with Double O, Response & Pliskin

For many budding junglists, a journey through the land of Metalheadz is mandatory. The house that Goldie built, especially during the late ‘90s, was a breeding ground for the next chapter of drum & bass greats, featuring everyone from Dillinja to Ed Rush & Optical. If you get lost in those grooves and want to hear more of that now, we’d highly recommend you checking out Rupture’s Rinse FM program. This week, they let the captivating sounds of Response and Pliskin take over the second hour of the program. If you’ve been keeping up with their output, you know what you’re in for: pure, unabashed breakbeat science. You can blindly throw a Response & Pliskin release on and get whatever junglist desire you have satisfied. File this entire show under Drum And Bass For Your Entire Face.

Curtain Call: Noisia & Black Sun Empire - Caps Lock

The older I get within this thing of ours, its amazing to see acts hitting their 20-year marks. I remember first hearing Noisia dubs while still living at my mother’s home (big up moms). Their ascension through the drum & bass ranks wasn’t shocker; their productions were technically pristine and their evolution outside of the drum & bass BPM has converted many more fans than those of us stuck on forums back in the day.

The trio’s final statement as Noisia, Closer, dropped this week, and amidst previously-released collaborations with The Upbeats, Former, and more were collaborations with Skrillex (“Horizon” is cool, but “Supersonic VIP” may be the one) and their collaboration with another Dutch drum & bass crew, Black Sun Empire. Titled “Caps Lock” (likely for the excited DMs I’d send all my friends upon first hearing this), this banger has everything: anthemic highs, bonecrushing bass, and a heavy dose of neurofunk. It’s a fitting final statement for the collaborative efforts of both crews, separately and together, and should stay at the front of the bin for the rest of the month, at least.