Music
10 timeless ‘90s drum ’n’ bass tracks selected by Jonny L
The d’n’b veteran behind 1997 classic Sawtooth picks his favourites from the era when the sound went cold, hard and minimal.
Drum’n’bass emerged from the UK’s club and pirate radio scene in the mid-1990s, taking the breakbeats and bass of jungle and smoothing them into a sleeker, more technical form. Come 1997, d’n’b had fully broken into the mainstream. Amen breaks could be heard on TV adverts, figures like David Bowie were drawing on the sound (see his jungle-influenced LP Earthling) and most obviously, Roni Size & Reprazent scooped the Mercury Music Prize with their debut LP New Forms.
On the margins of the scene, though, a ragtag band of producers were hard at work making sounds that pushed the music into more challenging territory. One such producer was Jonny L, whose 1997 album Sawtooth, released on XL Recordings, debuted a pared-down, mechanical take on d’n’b dynamics – thrilling to some, horrible noise to others. “Sawtooth is a mix of sounds I was into at that time,” he says. “I wasn’t completely sure what I was doing. I knew how I wanted it to sound, so it was a matter of putting that into reality as best I could. I wasn’t trying to make a statement. I was interested in topics like life and space, and using those themes in the music.”
I was interested in topics like life and space, and using those themes in the music.
Listening back now, Sawtooth feels like a bit of a watershed moment in the history of drum’n’bass, a recommitment of its identity as an underground sound. “1997 d’n’b has been called the heyday of d’n’b by some,” he says. “It was a time full of forward-thinking producers and artists influencing each other, bouncing ideas from track to track. The analogue technology was maybe peaking at this time too, so it was about using that combo of man and machine and trying to find new ways to further the sound.”
Read on as Jonny L picks 10 tracks that defined the era.
1. Renegade – Terrorist
"Every time I tuned into the London pirate radio stations in the mid '90s I would hear this track. I wanted to stop whatever i was doing and start dancing."
2. Splash – Babylon
"It sounded heavy and militant, the way they locked the bass line to the drums. The production was laying foundations for future d'n'b sounds."
3. Nasty Habits – Shadow Boxing
"A masterpiece. Me and my friends tried to touch the ceiling of the club when this came on."
4. Source Direct – Black Rose
"This kept the d'n'b movement exciting and fresh. I remember thinking 'What is this?!'"
5. DJ Krust – Soul In Motion
"A complete roller – I first heard it at Blue Note. Inspirational tune."
6. Dillinja – Threshold
"For me this was a lesson in 'Every rule can be broken'. The sound was pushed hard and loud and it worked."
7. Ed Rush & Optical – Sick Note
"The feel was evolving again – this is digital funk at its best."
8. Photek – Complex
"Super tight, reminiscent of '88 house music. This struck a chord with me."
9. Bukem & The Peshay – 19.5
"I had just fitted the sub tube in the boot of my Renault 5 Turbo, and this was a favourite driving tune."
10. Jonny L – Piper (Grooverider remix)
"A minimal style arrangement that makes way for the big hypnotic bass that carries the tune in perfect rhythm. Classic remix."
Listen to Ed Rush + Optical live from Movement Detroit on Red Bull Radio in the player below.
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