August: 10 drum 'n' bass releases you need to hear this month

Various 'Hospitality In The Park' (Hospital Records)

At last: a ‘summer slammers’ compilation that’s different. A whole lot different, in fact: a release that spotlights the UK’s first actual d’n’b-only festival, in the heart of London, which was unlike anything we’ve ever seen before and is now back for its second year. The sole purpose of these two full-length mixes, including 30 exclusives and spanning the full spectrum from Hospital’s liquid-soul roots to party-wanging jump-up, hard-bitten neuro-funk and half-time stealth bombs, is to rev ravers’ engines ahead of September’s seven-stage bash. Such was the success of last year’s 10,000-strong jamboree that Hospital seems to have created an instant, unmissable tradition. See you at the front.

9/10

DRS & LSB 'Angels Fall' (Soul:R)

Few pieces of music have carried as much weight as this in many years. Released by Marcus Intalex’s friends MC DRS and LSB to raise funds following his passing, this is a stop-the-dancefloor moment for an entire tribe. DRS’s proud voice; the angel sample sending shivers; the background bleeps that hint at Intalex’s ‘Celestial Navigation’. And that defiant, throat-catching, old-skool jungle finale. Coming correct. Digging deep. Going out strong. Forever Marcus.

10/10

Ulterior Motive '001' EP (Guidance)

The sharpest tech-funk duo in the game go it alone with the launch of their own Guidance label, and what an opening salvo. ‘The Wobbler’, featuring some electrifying SP:MC bars, will bring joy for both head-nodders and jump-uppers, its icy snares framing a squelching synth that’d sit happily in a DJ Hazard set. It’s both fun and a crushing club nugget at the same time. Elsewhere, along with more experimental, minimalist tech robotics, ‘Anode’ feat Icicle is another show of force: a chugging, buzzing tech stealth-roller, viciously stripped back to its elements as a see-sawing synth whine ghosts across the soundscape.

9/10

Lynx feat Radzta 'Loopy Sue' (Detail)

Lynx’s decision to relaunch his Detail Recordings last year was excellent news for those of us who’ve been screwing up our faces to the Portsmouth studio whiz for over a decade. Still a master of organic bass nodes that buck and clip to form ear-bewitching riddims, A-side ‘Shadows’ riffs on his classic track ‘Disco Dodo’, while Master X brings an unusually emo-electro vibe on top. But stealing the show is ‘Loopy Sue’, a taut and minimalist workout with an arcing, ascending bassline that veers acrobatically skywards, recalling Andy C’s classic ‘Nightflight’ in its perpetual rise.

8/10

Survival 'Original Silencer 2017/Catalyst' (Dispatch Recordings)

Any other month, and this bags top spot. Steve Kielty is on top of his game, and we’re not just talking about his culinary prowess. The Masterchef 2017 finalist is not only dropping fresh material as part of Metalheadz duo SCAR this month, but also his first LP since his debut on Exit in 2009 – and what a way to kick it off. ‘Original Silencer 2017’ revisits the samples and kicks from one of his first ever releases, creating a stepping, cut-up, growling future-jungle masterpiece, while the Break-featuring flip ratchets up a gear, throwing down a slugging tech heatseeker that jolts and sizzles amid intricate break trickery.

9/10

Djinn 'Dark Reference' EP (Foundation X)

Turning heads and screwing up faces as she goes, FDX’s Mancunian powerhouse Djinn is making waves with her uncompromising jungle arias. There are four knotty, intricate, sledgehammer-tough slices here, on her first full EP for Skitty’s label. ‘Nine Grounds’ is a relentless hornets’ nest of fury, while the clean, spacious lines of ‘Destructive Consequence’ are reminiscent of ‘Valley Of The Shadows’. The title track, meanwhile, is a meditative, deep-end exploration coated in brooding layers of mentasms.

8/10

Dabs & Disprove/Was A Be & Dabs 'Thor (Breaks Remix) /Jitters' (Avantgarde)

Dabs and Grotesque’s Avantgarde label has been on its game since 2011, here notching an absolute pearler of a 12” as Break zips into tech skanker ‘Thor’ with some trademark groove and sizzle. It’s a track pushing an enormous number of buttons, but still keeps the space intact – much like flip ‘Jitters’, which finds Fabio from new Shogun signings Was A Be grabbing some studio time with Dabs, resulting in a thunderous jungle fling-down that pits old-skool snare acrobatics against hoovering, low-end tech murder. Two devastating dancefloor breezeblocks.

8/10

SPY 'Coldwave' (Hospital)

Instead of a new album, prolific Brazilian SPY has opted for a triple salvo of ‘Alone In The Dark’ mini-releases that includes this beauty from the second of the three EPs. Euphoric trails staircase their way to a cutaway drop, where that dubbed-out, detuned head-nodder of a bassline takes over, raided incessantly by synth implosions. But it’s only just begun, as the morphing bassline trickery finds new sonic pollinations as it rolls. SPY is an absolute ace behind the decks, and a cut above the usual producer pack.: if he’s on a festival line-up, don’t miss it.

8/10

Concealed Identity 'Hermetica' (Narratives)

Expansive, luxurious and dreamy breakbeat voyages are Narratives’ signature, even with the label in its relative infancy. Here, Concealed Identity picks up where previous release ‘Levanter’ left off, dropping down a gear and enveloping us in another subterranean mosaic of clicks, ghosting horns and slender harmonics, although less riddled with drum switches and fills.

8/10

Bladerunner 'Jungle Jungle' (Get Hype Records)

Three-note bassline guru Bladerunner is a true master of luxurious and euphoric dancefloor jungle cuts, taking bassline warmth and agile snare energy and coating it in luxurious pads. This is all polished up to a sheen that’s like silk to the ears.: you’ll be earwormed by that shivery “My head is a jungle…” vocal all day, as the breaks step crisply through and you realise there really is nothing better than 3am jungle euphoria.

8/10