Junglism: Sound Of The Underground Vol. 2

Alright, so this still isn't the promised Best Of Jungle-set, but that will be up in the next couple of days. Meanwhile, I give you Junglism: Sounds Of The Underground Vol. 2, released on the S.O.U.R. label in 1995. I wonder how many jungle compilations back then had similear titles, there must at least have been a good dozen.

The first four tracks- a remix of Ini Kamoze's Hot Stepper, Simple Things by Shy FX, Ghetto Youth by Booyaka Crew feat. Sluggy Ranks and Court Case by The Hempaholics with Gunsmoke - are especially great: wicked, ragga-tinged rude bwoy stuff with blazin' sound effects. After that things are starting to veer off towards the chilled out and tastefully jazzy, which isn't so much to my liking. But T-Power's Mutant Jazz is still a great tune and Call Of The Drum by G-Flex is ruffing things up a bit towards the end.

All in all, a pretty decent collection that's worth downloading for the first few tracks and Mutant Jazz alone. I always prefered the first volume though (Original Nuttah! Gangsta Kid!) which was almost exclusively ragga jungle bizniz. But, alas, I don't have that one anymore...

Booyaka! (Dead link)

Bernard Herrmann - The Day The Earth Stood Still

(Click on the picture to download.)

Lucky me! I downloaded this via bit torrent and was quite surprised that there are two bonus tracks which are not on the Arista-release still in print (though a bit hard to come by). So I did a quick research on the net and this is what Soundtrack Collector tells me:

"A 24K Gold CD, part of a limited 2500-copies LaserDisc box, contains additional 18 minutes of alternate Theremin mixes, studio rehersals and outtakes."

So this is obviously a real rarity. The bonus tracks are not really essential, but it's nice to have them anyway when, like me, you are 1. a somewhat anally retarded music geek, 2. a major fan of Bernard Herrmann's film scores and 3. a complete sucker for the theremin. In any case, "The Day The Earth Stood Still" is not only one of the best sci-fi scores ever, it is also simply a great record in its own right. So treat yourself to some theremin-drenched otherworldly eerieness!

Routes From The Jungle

(Click on the picture to download.)

So here we go, kicking things off with one of the best compilations ever. Compiled by the mighty Kodwo Eshun, Routes From The Jungle is a seminal two disc-set documenting the evolution from proto-jungle styles like breakbeat techno, darkside and UK hardcore to jungle proper. The only criticism one could make is that the most overtly hiphop and dancehall influenced end of the spectrum gets left out of the picture. (The Shut Up And Dance crew is only represented by Nicolette's "Waking Up" and there's no Ibiza Rec. or Rebel MC/Congo Natty and none of the countless dancehall remixes.) But the concept was obviously to focus on the post-acid house and rave lineage of jungle's evolution and in this regard Routes From The Jungle really is the definitive collection.

Packed with classics by Doc Scott, Ed Rush, A Guy Called Gerald, 4 Hero, DJ Krust or Boogie Times Tribe this is really all killer no filler. And since it was released in '95, all the later tracks are fantastic peak-period jungle. So grab this incredible two discs of breakbeat mayhem and junglistic madness! Booyaka!