ARTICLE
2006 10 Favourite Labels

ALBUMS
aMute
Art Ensemble of Chicago
Asphalt Jungle
Joseph Auer
Avia Gardner
Tommi Bass
Caural
Cdatakill
Christ.
Conjoint
Contriva
Cursor Minor
DJ Soul Slinger
DJ Wally/DJ Willie Ross
DoF
Electric Penguins
Encre
Flashbulb
Fuckpony
Funckarma
Cedric Gervais
Eglantine Gouzy
Greater Than One
Greg Haines
François Houle
Housemeister
Jan Jelinek
Eleni Karaindrou
Kode9 + Spaceape
Takagi Masakatsu
Mini
Move D
The New Law
Nuuro
Qwel & Meaty Ogre
Rant
Max Richter
Janek Schaefer
Svarte Greiner
Thighpaulsandra
Unwed Sailor
Geoff White
Wilt
Yellow6
Jesse Zubot

COMPILATIONS/MIXES
4 Women No Cry Vol. 2
Analog for Architecture
Assemblage Sessions
Jimmy Van M
King Unique/Nubreed
Monza Club Ibiza
Pop Ambient 2007
Rub-N-Tug
Thankful
The Rorschach Suite

3"/7"/10"/12"/EPs
Baseheadz
Big Toe
Franco Cangelli
Richard Chartier
Deadbeat/Monolake
Depth Affect
Diebombshelters
DJ Koze
Eltron
Johan Fotmeijer
Hellothisisalex
Mitsuaki Komamura
Múm
Ozka
Seekers Who Are Lovers
Strategy
Tandem 5
Andi Teichmann
The Twilight Sad
Ray Valioso

Asphalt Jungle: Junglization
BHP Music

DJ Soul Slinger: Classics Part 1
BHP Music

“Is Jungle moribund?”—a question one might reasonably ask in 2006. The genre's percussive delirium sounded fresh when it exploded in the early ‘90s but the style has, in the eyes of detractors, ossified more than evolve. Naturally, Jungle acts Asphalt Jungle and DJ Soul Slinger would protest the idea vehemently but perhaps the wisest strategy is to treat their latest albums as a litmus test for gauging the genre's current condition.

Brazilian native DJ Soul Slinger's been pushing drum & bass since establishing NY-based Liquid Sky Music/Jungle Sky Records in the mid-‘90s and has collaborated over the years with Afrika Bambaataa, Elliot Sharp, Bill Laswell, Bernie Worrell, and others. The sixteen cuts on Classics, Part 1 are a mix of old and new with the earliest, 1994's acid-Africa excursion “Ethiopia” countered by the presence of five recent tracks. Despite the album's grab-bag character, it ultimately leaves a reasonably strong impression on account of stylistic breadth. Like the genre itself, Slinger's polyglot style pulls elements of hip-hop, dancehall, Latin, soul, electro, funk, new wave, and even zydeco into its drum & bass orbit. Consequently, we're treated to Christa Morell's soulful vocal turn in “Wild Chipitoulas (When Jungle Had A Soul)” (in a strangely subdued mix, however), a dancehall funk-drum & bass hybrid (“Zulu Transform”), plus a squawking B-52's “Rock Lobster” rehash (“God is a Lobster”).

Give Asphalt Jungle (Brian Tarquin aka Jungleboy and Chris Ingram aka Beatmaster) top marks for energy and enthusiasm, as its third full-length Junglization opens explosively and rarely lets up thereafter. Tarquin and Ingram distance themselves from the competition by mixing throbbing beats, heavy guitar riffs, agitated strings, and jazzy horns into a spacey live mix. As distinctive as that might sound, it's not so distinctive that it prevents a cliché or two from seeping into the album's thirteen tracks. Still, when an Indian chanteuse ululates over broiling breaks in “Karma Sutra,” for example, Asphalt Jungle attacks the material with such gusto one almost overlooks the cliché. Certainly the volcanic breaks of “Sensation” open Junglization promisingly and the update of Bob Marley's “Mr. Brown” roars convincingly. The group colours its tracks with novel touches like muted trumpet soloing (“Ripper”), flute-laden breaks (“Jungle Warfare”), even vocodered singing (“In My Blood”). Most memorably, a colossal beat drops with a crushing oomph halfway through “L Train” while Josh Harris's tenor sax and a singer wail overhead.

So is Jungle ‘dead'? Not if Carlos Slinger, Brian Tarquin, and Chris Ingram have anything to say about it. Still, an influx of revolutionary, or at the very least new, ideas wouldn't be unwelcome at this stage.

December 2006

This review also appears in Signal To Noise, issue 43.