(12.05.05.) One of my first reviews here on Igloo was about Dom and Roland’s Chronology, and at that time I wished to cover regularly some drum’n bass albums. During these months several d’nb LP’s have been released, but none of these convinced me to write a line. The main cause is that everyone in drum’n bass nowadays is settled into a sub-subcategory, from liquid to second wave neurofunk, from wobbly (also called new jump up or mockingly clownstep) to intelligent (but as Klute said, “intelligent? you don’t know the meaning”). There have been nice records, Klute, TeeBee and High Contrast made great albums, nonetheless they were overshadowed by their predecessors and you knew exactly how they would sound like before the first drum kicked in. Influx UK and Nu:Tone also did a great job but again it wasn’t enough.
So, apart from Virus Vaults (by Ed Rush & Optical) which is mainly a retrospective, the big news came from Planet Mu with the mighty return of Bizzy B and this absolutely stunning Pro Agonist by Exile. Which is not only a d’nb album, but it has its root deep down in the jungle. Exile started some years ago doing average drum’n bass tracks on Moving Shadow and Renegade Hardware that didn’t impress me much, but since I heard he was doing wicked live sets mashing up jungle hits with hip hop and pop tunes, processed and reconstructed with handmade software patches, I knew something had changed. The first releases that showed to the world what this guy was capable of were the twisted d’nb of “Broken Language remix” on Planet Mu and “Hanzo Steel Cuts” on Mosquito, that was creative techno at its best.
I was obviously eagerly awaiting for Pro Agonist to come out, and it’s a record that will be remembered for seriously kicking drum’n bass’ butts. Exile tunes are the most effective and fresh I’ve heard in a long time, he takes inspiration from breakcore, processing and mangling beats while retaining a drum’n bass texture. “The Forever Endeavour,” “Broken Language remix,” “Big Bad Purple Bad Boy” and “The Devil’s Chimney” are well above the average d’nb material, they will blast any club without the harshness of breakcore. Exile’s music is not mere exercise of technicalities nor plain repetition of drumloops, but it’s evolving and surprising with layers and layers of sound, explosive breakdowns and produced with a surgical attention to details. This is especially evident in those track more focused on sound design, like “Sure You Did,” “Spring Cum Air,” “Rage Is The Beautiful Light That Struck Her,” “Sliime” and “Merlin,” that mix abstract compositions that remind me of Leafcutter John with flashes of breaks and bizarre vocal samples. There are even a couple of tracks that are a hybrid between the dancefloor and the experimental material: “Mushroom Santa” is a joyful and uplifting piece of upbeat electronica while “Silicon Chop” is a sort of reveler dubstep, crafted with the help of Sub Focus. Sub Focus is another guy I rely on when I think of the future of drum’n bass, he will allegedly release an album soon on Ram Records, so that I will hopefully be back with some d’nb review before another year goes by.
Pro Agonist is out now on Planet-Mu.
