1994 was the year that jungle hit the mainstream consciousness with tracks such as Incredible featuring General Levy, and Burial by Leviticus … But 1995 was the year that Drum & Bass came into being. Metalheadz, V Recordings, Photek & Alex Reece all made their mark.
Goldie released the seminal Timeless album. Chart topping acts such as Everything But The Girl & Bjork were being influenced by the genre, bringing in producers such as Dillinja & Spring Heel Jack to engineer for them. The term ‘Intelligent D&B’ was being used to describe the music made by artists like Photek, Source Direct & LTJ Bukem.
Speed, Metalheadz, AWOL, Roast, Jungle Fever, and Labrynth were all dominating the London club scene. It’s hard to believe it was 30 years ago!! We look back on 10 iconic jungle / drum & bass tracks that dropped in 1995…
Tom & Jerry – Maximum Style (Nasty Jungle Remix)
Reinforced Records 4 Hero, under their Tom & Jerry alias, dropped this riddim, remixed by northern connection L Double, AKA Nasty Jungle. Championed by EVERY DJ at the time that knew what’s what!
Alex Reece – Pulp Fiction
Alex Reece proved less is more, stripping back the breaks and rolling out this timeless 2 step monster. Released when Metalheadz were the hottest label about, this track saw a sea change in D&B production, concentrating less on intricately chopped breakbeats to focus more on a hard hitting kick & snare.
Sound Of The Future – The Lighter
ANTHEM ALERT! DJ SS, jungle pioneer from the Midlands, mixed classical melodies with breakbeats & bass-lines to create this big rave classic
Roni Size – It’s A Jazz Thing
Bryan Gee himself described this tune to us when selecting his 5 Infamous V Recordings Tracks saying, “It was the first track that we released and got people talkin and was played by everyone… It was a fresh sound, later to be know as the Bristol sound“
LTJ Bukem – Horizons
LTJ Bukem was on fire around this period, his Good Looking & Looking Good labels were pushing the more melodic sounds for drum & bass, think of them as the Hospital Records of their day.
Urban Shakedown – Some Justice ’95 (Arsonist Dub Mix)
Micky Finn remixed his Some Justice rave anthem in 1995 to dramatic effect. Putting his unmistakable jungle slant on the cut & adding the vocal skills of D.Bo General… Instant reload!
Splash – Babylon
What do we need to say about this tune? Andy C is still dropping this track in his sets to this day! Sadly we lost DAZ / Undercover Agent, the producer behind this track in 2024, but his music will live on forever
Origin Unknown – Truly One
Andy C & Ant Miles had already made waves with the huge ‘Valley Of The Shadows’. This was the long awaited follow up & it didn’t disappoint. Setting Origin Unknown & Ram Records on a upward trajectory for the next 3 decades
Pascal – P Funk Era
When people talk about drum & bass ‘rollers’ this is the tune that I instantly think of. Still sounds as fresh and funky as it did way back when!
DJ Hype & Ganja Max – Rinse Out
Titled ‘Rinse Out’ and that’s exactly what it did each & every time it dropped. DJ Hypes Ganja Records was one of those ‘buy on sight’ labels, you knew it’d be good before you even heard it. Features the vocal talents of the late MC Fats & DJ Daddy
We also can’t forget…
So much great music dropped in 1995 that it’s hard to limit ourselves to selecting just 10 tracks.
We have to mention Metalhedz releases from Asylum, Dillinja, J.Majik, Source Direct, Hidden Agenda & Lemon D, so many releases from Roni Size, Cool Down by Andy C, The Deepest Cut album by Omni Trio, The Western and One & Only by PFM, everything on Philly Blunt Records, Funkindemup by Shy FX and sooooo many more!!
More Music For You
Have a listen to all the freshest drum & bass on our very own LoveThatBass record label. Our music covers the full spectrum of the jungle / dnb genre with tracks from the likes of Kleu, Waypoint, Exile, AKAS, Jaydan, Georgia Phoenix, Dunk & more!
