Review of ‘New York to London Link Up’ Mixed by Liondub
Out on 5th September – Order the album online now
Music Mondays “New York To London Link up” mixed by Lion Dub
Double CD
Wow. Jungle music (and drum and bass) is sounding so fresh at the moment. This is the pinnacle of freshness, the organic straight outta the ground, still covered in mud, jungle business.
If you’re not familiar with Music Monday’s releases of late, time to get familiar. Concept albums based around artists and their style. Be it acid house or jungle, get to know. This time round the mighty Liondub comes straight outta New York, this album is a showcase of international Jungle and Drum and Bass vibes, as the name denotes “New York to London link up”.
The albums comes as two pre mixed discs, first up is “Deep in the Jungle” starting things off with a little intro from Top Cat, moving into Liondub and Marcus visionary. Every tune is massive, the list of artists involved is ridiculous, Liondub, Marcus Visionary, Stevie Hyper D, Nico D, Navigator, Bladerunner, Daddy Freddy, Isaac Maya, Bunny General, DJ Monk a seemingly endless list of amazing Jungle and Reggae artists. Brand new vocals and some old classics, polished but raw Jungle beats, a plethora of exclusive remixes from massive artists. What more could you ask for you if you love jungle old or new!
A few stand out moments from the first disc are:
For dance floor destruction, it’s all about Daddy Freddy and Isaac Maya “Original Jungle Sound”, it’s had a remix by Marcus Visionary. Pure Jungle Gold dust. It’s hard not to love Daddy Freddy and his crazy vocal style (he gained the Guinness world record as fastest rapper back in 89) which gives the tune a nervous energy that takes it to another level . Psychofreud ft Demolition man “High Grade” this time with Liondub on remix duty is another classic with such strong vocals. Code Red’s remix of Navigator’s “Inequity Worker” kills it with Navigators vocals floating over the beats. Bunny General and Marcus Visionary “soundwar vip” is a perfect example of current Jungle, fresh sounding reggae vocals over perfected beats. When’s it done properly the two fuse together beautifully, taking both elements to a new high.
On to disc 2 “Out in the Streets”. I was expecting things to maybe be taken down a notch for disc 2, but no of course not, into Bass mayhem without a breath, courtesy of Hoogs ft Pad Anthony and then Mindstate. Not the usual Jungle amens here though, something a little different. Hard to slap it into a convenient pigeon hole initially, which is always a good thing for listening too and a hard thing to describe. As the mix gets into Sub Killaz and Damage Report’s tracks, the broken beats start to come in and it’s drum and bass killaz from there on in.
The stand out track for me on this disc is Certified Sickness “In Love” a massive track, bound to be getting rewinds on a dancefloor near you soon. Massive stuff, drum and bass at it’s finest!
There are too many next generation potential classics, it’s non stop! Jungle has moved on from it’s roots, evolved into something new and this is at the forefront of that sound. Disc 2 is more for the Drum and Bass heads out there, for us cd 1 is wiping the floor, but we are a jungle site so I guess it was always going to be the case. Both are fantastic though, just the Disc 1 goes a little beyond that. They should offer a money back guarantee on this one, you’ll love it, your friends will love it, your dog will love it, even your gran will love it!
