What’s your all time favourite summer D&B tune?
This is what we’ve asked the likes of A.M.C, BCee, Chords, Delta Heavy, Fred V & Grafix, Nitri and Xtrah this week to celebrate the release of Drum&BassArena Summer Selection 2014…
For us a summer D&B tune should instantly screams festivals, BBQs, missions, beach parties and everything else this beautiful season is synonymous with. The best ones will complement ever possible scenario: The long drives there, the even longer drives home, chilling, dancing, sunshine or rain….
We’ve all got our favourites. And we’ve tried to squeeze as many as possible into this year’s Summer Selection album. 30 tracks deep, spread across two mixes – one full of dreamy daytime vibes, the other loaded with late night festival chaos – it’s our most extensive seasonal exploration to date. If you’ve yet to grab a copy, here’s where you can. iTunes, Amazon, Drum&BassArena Store
We’re celebrating the release this weekend with our now annual Ministry Of Sound Sunday afternoon courtyard session. Bass, beats, beers and burgers: every one of these parties has been a blinder and – miraculously – we’ve avoided the rain each and every time. We’re doing everything we can to make sure we keep up with this sun-splashed tradition… We’ve prayed to the weather gods, we’ve secured an insane line-up of killer DJs AND it’s free! Surely that’s enough karma to keep the drizzle at bay?
There are one or two remaining tickets left for this Drum&BassArena tradition. Grab ‘em here and we’ll see you Sunday.
In the meantime, we’ve asked some of the artists who feature on Drum&BassArena Summer Selection 2014 for their own definition of a quintessential summer D&B tune. As you’d expect from top ranking selectors such as these guys, they’re turned in some blinders!
A.M.C
“Most people’s response to a summer D&B track would be to talk about the melodic/liquid side of D&B which is spot on. However I like to look at summer tracks in two different ways; summer music and summer festivals!
For me it has to evoke a euphoric feeling of some kind. Whether that is a feeling of tranquillity like a Calibre track (summer music) or of absolute mayhem (summer festivals) like an Audio track. The great thing about D&B is that it can create war or peace in an instant… Especially in the summer!”
My favourite examples are…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loT-Ce_6McA
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv9eUDcYm0M
BCEE
“For me a ‘summer’ D&B track is one that you can blast out of your car while driving along with all the windows open, or even your top down, or no top on and windows open, on a hot summers day and just feel good.
But then it also needs to have that little something that makes you feel like that on the inside when it’s typically pissing it down, your wipers are going full pelt and you daren’t undo the windows. A perfect track that does that for me is the Rene LaVice & Gremlinz Remix of Mutt feat. Kevin King – Conversations. No matter what the weather, this track just lights up the internal sunshine. The vocal is amazing and the spot on jungle breaks that Rene & Gremlinz bring to this track is spot on. I’ve read in many articles that Kevin King is aka Lemon D on the vocals which for ages I just believed. I’m afraid that as good as this track is, having asked Mutt about this, it’s not the same Kevin King!”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l534h6AN1I0
Chords
“A drum and bass summer track needs a big melody, a catchy, relatively soft bass, and a laidback feel. Something about a summer track makes you feel warm when you aren’t and there are so many great examples. One that is a big classic and resonates with me, and I’m sure many others, is High Contrast – Racing Green. Instantly recognisable vocal chops and killer samples. Another personal one for me is Roni Size & DJ Die – It’s A Jazz Thing, Utah Jazz Remix. Beautiful bouncing 808 bassline and vibey samples. It erupts a dancefloor to this day. Immediate summer sound and a nostalgic feeling for me!”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F68UlRwXbFM
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8js56B4h-0E
Delta Heavy
“For us Culture Shock’s Protection optimises what a summer D&B tune should be. Uplifting and vibrant with an amazing groove, a great melody and a nice vocal that anyone can get into. A real feel good track with immaculate production from one of the best producers of drum & bass.
Fred V & Grafix
“A good summer D&B tune is anything that captures that awesome early evening festival vibe. Pretty hard to say what specifically creates this, when we made Forest Fires we really wanted the intro to sound live, like it’s some indie band playing at a festival. I think this, combined with the major chord progression makes it sound pretty summery!
There isn’t a more summery tune then Marky’s LK. One secret weapon in our DJ set is an instrumental of LK which we mix with the acapella from TLC – Scrubs. We played it on a boat party at Hideout festival in Croatia and the reaction was amazing!”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Uyk59wORgQ
(This bootleg is the closest we can find to Fred V & Grafix acapella trickery!)
Nitri
“A summer D&B track should have good percussion that complements the warm climate! It needs to be positive, have a vibe, be exciting, but never lose its identity! For me Silent Runner ticks all those boxes. It’s a big summer track!”
Xtrah
“For a summer vibe it’s got to be rolling and easy listening! Basically I have to be able to imagine it being played on a beach somewhere. And Calibre’s remix of TEED’s Garden ticks all the boxes for me! Bigups to Calibre!”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXdIqKtt7Ic