Drum & Bass Selection 3

(Jungle’s Ruffest Rydims!) blared the pasted-on subtitle when this landmark 1994 set was released in America, where nobody and I mean nobody who wasn’t a party initiate even know what the hell jungle was. No matter—we were enthralled by the intricate beat patterns, the spooky synth pads and the spookier bass drops, the reconfigured R&B sax breaks and the Jamaican patois echoing into the fifth dimension through a heavy blunted fog, the sheer digital momentum. By consensus—meaning of a handful of people I trust—this is the greatest jungle mix ever. It’s like Kind of Blue—maybe you can do better, but you actually can’t do better.