10 tracks that inspired Nectax’s high-octane debut album

Newcastle-hailing DJ and producer Nectax has just released his debut album ‘A State Of Play’. Exploring styles such as jungle, footwork, breaks, garage, techno and liquid d’n’b, there’s a wormhole of variety across its 10 tracks. Often crackling with dynamism and sharp rhythms, at other points drifting through soul-affirming atmospheres, the fifth LP to be released on Over/Shadow Music slots perfectly into the imprint’s revered catalogue.

“In the past few years I've come to better embrace my habit of always making different styles/genres, and I thought having the album as a bit of a celebration and showcase of that would be meaningful to me and hopefully encourage more creative freedom in others too,” he says of the approach. 

The tracklist takes a “reverse chronology” form, starting with his newest evolutions of his production and culminating in his earliest inspirations, with mutant footwork barrelling into smoked jungle and closing out with his first love of deep d ‘n’ b.

The landmark release marks the pinnacle of a standout few years from Nectax, who helmed the relaunch of  DJ Flight’s play:musik label last year and has become a linchpin of Newcastle’s thriving DIY scene with the STEREO 45 party he runs with RENOK9000 and Sketchy Rida. Together they’re shifting the city’s clubbing landscape, pushing their hybrid, high-octane interests and bringing the likes of Sully, Flowdan, DJ Flight, LTJ Bukem and Ehua to the North East. 

In the playlist below, Nectax dives into the lore and talks us through 10 influential tracks that inspired each cut of his debut album, with insightful reflections and fond memories (which jungle hero plays chess at the afters? Read on to find out.)

I probably could have picked any number of Sully tracks to reference here. As well as being a top bloke with an extensive, inspirational back catalogue, he has a very idiosyncratic way of processing drums, which has always resonated with me (and others). ‘5ives’ is a great example of this, and it was also released on Over/Shadow. In ‘Soundboy Gambit’ I used a slightly different technique to get the melodic feel to the breaks, I automated in a few different instances of FL’s stock Vocoder plugin ‘Vocodex’, plugging-in some F# minor chords i’d come across via a YouTube video of someone recreating an Aphex Twin track on a piano. To tie it all together: we booked Sully once in Newcastle for Stereo 45, and someone snapped a photo of him playing Chess at the afters, and once posted to Insta, someone left a comment ‘The Soundboy Gambit’. I thought that was the icing on the cake.

Ivy Lab are, and pretty much always have been, very ahead of the curve. Stray’s tracks from this era (2013) hit a perfect sweet spot of experimentation while keeping one foot in the traditional 170 BPM drum ‘n’ bass mainframe. ‘Akina’ in particular has heavy nods to footwork, but at the time it was released, it would have been perceived more as half-time drum ‘n’ bass. I love the brazen yet fully informed attitude this track takes to hybridising different genres together. Stray’s production has had a notable influence on me in general, which in turn I think indirectly seeped into tracks like ‘Swarm Behaviour’ on the album. Big love & respect to DJ Flight for her support on this track, and the album on the whole. 

I absolutely love this Rashad track. The rolled-out sample at the start, the emotiveness of the vocal chops, the fact it works just as well in the club as it does listening on a walk home from work. The drum programming in footwork speaks to me in a similar way to which amen-break choppage does in jungle. There’s a genre-specific cadence to the drums, it’s a nuanced language. Within those respective genres, the drums are often the most defining instrumental input to the overall vibe of the track & I think growing up playing drums myself and not having any sophisticated music theory background to my own production, makes me feel at home within them. RIP DJ Rashad!

With Over/Shadow being somewhat of an evolution of Moving Shadow (one of the iconic breakbeat record labels from the '90s), I thought I had to get something in about it. We booked Fracture for Stereo 45 in Newcastle back in 2022, and during the first half of his set he was going in on a distinct hardcore tip, he played this track and someone got a video of all of us dancing to it in / around the booth. It felt like one of the closest moments I'll get to experiencing what it would have been like back in the golden era. Timeless track. Big up John (Foul Play) for doing a wicked set at the album launch night too.

One of my close mates Euan (Sketchy Rida) has been an avid UK garage listener throughout the years of our friendship, specifically into the late-'90s / early-2000s stuff, and I think it’s definitely rubbed off on me a bit. I really enjoy the step and space in a lot of garage tunes. I strangely feel like stylistically it has a lot of parallels with atmospheric jungle. ‘Missing You’ is a stellar modern example of this. Steezy laidback flow, warm synths, complemented by hits of soulful vocals. I aimed to tap into some of these garage hallmarks in ‘Always You’, with a slightly more clubby rollout overall.

I think for myself and many others of my generation, Dillinja was our first introduction to jungle music. This track in particular was one of the first of the genre I had a copy of. I was born too late to experience the hustle and bustle of buying vinyl down the record shop, but just in time to spend hours exploring the beauty that is the YouTube jungle algorithm. ‘Sovereign Melody’ has this heavenly balance of musicality and straight up bassweight. A quintessential jungle track in my opinion. Dillinja pioneered many a mixdown technique, and was light years ahead with the robustness of his productions. On ‘Edgeways’ I wanted a low-end that packed that familiar punch, and wasn’t compromising on any of the soul.

The playful sampling, the choice drum break, the slap bass. There’s no end to elements of ‘Atmospheric Funk’ which bleed class and style. I love the pace and lack of rush which Wax Doctor’s tracks often possess. It’s music which has equal parts functionality in the living room as it does on the dancefloor, and I love the fact that in many ways it’s quite accessible to people who aren’t so familiar with jungle; sampling jazz and funk records, completely doing them justice. ‘Atlantic Drift’, along with the second half of the album, are essentially a homage to the styles of jungle / drum ‘n’ bass which were notably formative to me as a music listener, and in turn a producer. I would love to see a reembracement to these easy-going, sample-led, but inherently melodic tracks in the wider music scene.

Out of all the labels I’ve connected with at a personal level over the years, LTJ Bukem’s Good Looking Records might take the top spot. They curated a specific strand of atmospheric jungle that was deeply emotive, and reflective. PFM’s music was one of the staples of the label, with their signature drawn out but intentional track arrangements, often saving some of the most pivotal melodic elements of the track to five minutes into the rollout. ‘The Western’ is a true timeless masterclass of this style of music, and is something which is well worthy of being put into a time capsule and sent off the furthest reaches of the known universe. I’ve done a handful of PFM-inspired tracks in the past, but ‘Palindrome’ felt right for the album, and I hope it touches on some similar emotive nodes for old and new listeners alike.

Originally released on Lucky Spin Recordings back in 1993, there’s something about the moodiness of the pads in this track which I’ve just never gotten over. When I was at uni there was this Ray Keith Rinse FM show I listened back to countless times, he was playing an all vinyl retrospective mix of old-skool jungle tunes from back in the day, mentioning which DJs used to play the tracks and at what clubs. It was equally as educational as it was enjoyable. This track always stood out to me. There’s sections of the arrangement in ‘Futigive’ where I leave the pad drawn out over the amen & just let them breathe together, a subtle nod to ‘Lost Entity’. Big up DJ Trace.

Another absolute stone cold classic. There’s probably not much I can say about this track which hasn't been said before! I think ‘True Romance’ is truly a genre-defining track. I was relistening to it a couple of years back, and the drum break sample selection and layering caught my ear, and I used that as a basis to start ‘Passing Rain’. A closing tribute I wanted to make with this last track on the album was to liquid drum ‘n’ bass, as that was the initial style which hooked me as an avid 16 year old budding music fan, and laid the foundations for all the fun which has followed.

'A State Of Play' is out now via Over/Shadow Music, buy the vinyl here and digital here

Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Editor & Digital Director, follow him on Twitter