Despite drum n bass, like most people my age, being my real introduction into bass music, nowadays i have little time for the genre or efforts by its producers. Being a dubstep enthusiast for the best part of the last decade, i have witnessed the huge influence of drum n bass timbres upon the sound i love; as dubstep gradually becomes more mainstream. However there are individuals who stand alone from the mass crowd, and are exciting my ears with their explorations in the fringe of music genres. None of these here are on an explicit dubstep tip, but it is the reference to sounds and techniques used in the genre which i can’t get enough of.

Instra:mental were getting love everywhere in 2009. But, i realised, everywhere except on Pejhy. So although this is not new material, it remains fresh, and expresses what i really love in music today. The duo are riding sound waves which uncurl from a liquidy drum n bass root and roll continuously through soundscapes ranging from dubstep to deep house. Pure Bliss!

The next artist featured here is Consequence hailing from Melbourne. This track is lifted from his album Live for Never which dropped towards the end of 2009, and features artisits such as Instra:mental and dBridge. “What marks it out—and to a degree which, in the recent history of drum & bass, only dBridge’s The Gemini Principle equals—is its refusal to make concessions in the name of sales, airplay, MC compatibility and such like. There are no “big tunes,” no crushing breaks, no epic drops and, most pleasingly in a genre blighted by trite samples, no vocals. It’s simply one man’s vision of dark, futuristic bass music, and a powerful articulation—indeed, the most powerful one yet—of the Autonomic sound. Music that those outside the scene can, and really should, look to.” -- RA (full review)