The first ever published book on drum & bass and jungle culture is to be reissued next April.
State Of Bass was written by Martin James and published in 1997. It was sold out by 1998, has never been reissued and regularly fetches pretty high prices on auction sites. Originally titled State Of Bass – Jungle: The Story So Far, the book saw Martin exploring and tracing the rich cultural roots of the jungle drum & bass movement with comments from the scene’s most influential pioneers such as Roni Size, Goldie, LTJ Bukem, Fabio, Shy FX and many more.
Martin, now a professor at Southampton University among other roles, was one of the most consistent, supportive and thoughtful voices as a music writer during electronic music’s most burgeoning period with regular contributions to key titles such as Melody Maker, Muzik, DJ Mag and Mixmag and has written books on the likes of Fatboy Slim, The Prodigy and Moby. State Of Bass was one of his earliest publications. Cited by FACT as one of the 10 electronic music books everyone must read and Select Magazine as one of the 20 essential music books from the 20th century, the book has enjoyed cult status for the last 20 years.
Reissued for the first time in April 2020, the revised edition will be titled State Of Bass: The Origins Of Jungle Drum & Bass. It will include previously unpublished interview material from the time from some of the movement’s most vital pioneers. It comes courtesy of new publishers Velocity Press and will follow two other forthcoming titles: the Knowledge Magazine 25th Anniversary book and Join The Future, an exploration of bleep techno and the sub bass revolution it inspired in the UK. For more information on all of the titles visit the Velocity website. And pre-order State Of Bass here.