The past couple of years have seen a surge in vinyl sales. 2020 saw vinyl outsell CDs for the first time since the 1980s.
Despite widely publicised issues with backlogs and delays, vinyl record sales in 2021 were the highest they’ve been in 30 years! (Source: NME)
Once the dominant format for the jungle drum & bass genre, the vinyl market dwindled in the mid 2000’s when digital downloads became the DJ’s preferred medium.
The Technics SL 1210 Turntables, that had been a staple in DJ booths across the World since the 80’s, were quickly replaced by the now industry standard Pioneer DJ set ups.
Vinyl Buying Resurgence
While the Covid 19 pandemic kept us locked indoors, many used the time to rediscover their passion for DJing, and along with it an interest buying those rare hard to find slices of vinyl that they’d always wanted to hunt down but didn’t have the time living their day to day 9-5 lifestyles.
Where there’s a demand, there is always an entrepreneurial label ready to supply… For the old skool jungle heads labels such as Deep Jungle, Kniteforce, Vinylfanatiks & OverShadow have been pressing rare music onto vinyl in all the colours under the sun.
Even the mighty Suburban Base, one of the genres original powerhouse labels, have been remastering tracks from their impressive catalogue. Suburban Base in particular have been listening back through mountains of DAT tapes to find previously unreleased gems to press up.
Just check out the tracklist on the Suburban Base 30th Anniversary Box Set to see what I mean!
What Are The Most Expensive Jungle Records?
To ride the coat tails of this vinyl buying resurgence we thought we’d do some digging to see if we could uncover the current most in demand, & as such the most valuable, jungle drum & bass vinyl on the market right now.
While these may not be the biggest drum and bass tracks ever released, it’s their scarcity that gives them value to record buyers.
Pendulum – The Complete Works
While on average this 3 piece collection of Pendulums music on vinyl usually sells for around £250, there is currently a mint condition copy available on Discogs for the bargain price of £5000!!
Aphrodite – Ganja Man / Heat Haz
A rare promo copy of Aphrodite’s ‘Ganja Man’, a single from his 2002 ‘Aftershock’ album which features dancehall artist Deadly Hunta, is currently trading on vinyl reseller sites for a whopping £1250!
DJ Defcore – Dub Play Junglist E.P
One user on Discogs summed this track up perfectly saying that this is “a record that suffers from the discogs scarcity effect that, driven by a fetishistic lust of collectors, overvalues decidedly average records“.
While many will agree, it’s also the case that the average selling price for this EP is around £105 with 258 users wanting to own a copy.
At the time of publishing this article there is a copy on sale for £1274.50!
Studio Pressure – Jump
Jump was released in 1993 by Studio Pressure, better known as Photek, on the Certificate 18 label. While this track is track is a certified classic, and was supported by the likes of LTJ Bukem & Fabio back in the day we’re not sure it’s worth the £650 that some gold digging vinyl sellers are trying to shift it for.
Ram Trilogy – Evolution (M.I.S.T. Remix / Markus RMX)
An extremely rare cut from 2002. While the amazing M.I.S.T. remix of Ram Trilogy’s Evolution came out with catalogue number RAMM 44, this single sided test press copy is stamped with RAMT 37 and marked ‘Markus RMX’.
We can’t be sure whether the £475.89 valuation is down to the mysterious catalogue number, or the fact that Marcus Intalex (one half of M.I.S.T.) is no longer with us.
Apollo Two – Volume 1
Now this is a rare piece of drum and bass vinyl! A test press copy of the ground breaking Atlantis (I Need You) (L.T.J. Bukem Remix) on Good Looking Records! Listed as a white label, totally clean with no writing or marker pen you can be assured that whoever originally owned a test press copy of this track was definitely someone in the know!
With an asking price of £500 plus postage it’s maybe out the price range of many, but to the right person this could be a justifiable investment.
Probably one of biggest drum & bass tunes in the last 10 years, and maybe one of the last big vinyl releases on Playaz? This vinyl release was sold exclusively through the Playaz Recordings website so maybe they didn’t press huge amounts.
Will anyone pay the £400 asking price for this track from 2015? I’ll be keeping my eye on this.
Taking Care Of Your Vinyl
Should you decide you can afford to buy one of these slices of valuable drum & bass vinyl, you have some vinyl you’re looking to sell, or you simply just want to take care of you existing vinyl collection, then you most definitely need a decent record cleaning kit.
Static charge can build up on your records, as well as dust particles that can distort sound.
Check out this fully comprehensive Vinyl Record Cleaning Kit on Amazon which includes not only the solutions, brushes & cloths for cleaning your precious vinyl, but also accessories needed to maintain your turntable & stylus for optimum sound quality and longevity.
Drum & Bass Playlist
We’re always updating our LoveThatBass drum & bass playlist on Spotify with all the freshest D&B music. Hit follow & check back regularly to stay updated with our favourite new releases from across the genre.
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