#4 - Cause 4 Concern - Soul (2001)

CLIP

Wow, getting close to the top spot now. This tune's probably one of the most well known C4C tunes out there. This beauty of this one lies in its simplicity and when this one drops, it just explodes... you'd be able to see the crowd moving up and down. This one would just keep my nodding up and down.

I was really waiting for this one to release when I first heard this one in first year and when it finally did, it became one of the best releases of that year "Soul/Eurotrash". Anyway, I got a hold of this tune in Christmas and I had this in my mind along with the memory of Nerdfest 2001.

#5 - Konflict - Messiah (2000)

CLIP

No introduction needed for this one. Probably the hardest tech d'n'b tune ever made. This was the first tune I heard from Konflict back in the day when I didn't know much. Needless to say this left me speechless and I went on digging for all their tunes.

I think this tune really kick started the whole "techno" influenced d'n'b side of things, and all the European and American guys started to come out with all that techy stuff. I mean, what else do you want from this tune, the jawdropping drop, the reese bass, the tight break, the ridiculous transition with those funky stabs. Everything about it it's good, I think most people have this one as a top 10 on their all time list as well.

#6 - Bad Company - Breathe (2000)

CLIP

This is another HUGE tune from Bad Company, on their 2nd LP "Digital Nation". The funny thing is that I first heard a clip of this one for the first time when I was in Singapore, in my cousins house. I remember going "shit... I need to get this ASAP once it's released", nuff said.

I think I had this tune in my car mixed in with C4C's Skewer back in the day. Had this on regular rotation back in my OAC days.

#7 - Calibre + High Contrast - Mr Majestik (2004)

CLIP

This is a fantastic collaboration effort by 2 big name producers. Maybe my favourite "chillout" tune of 2004. Some dubby flavours in this one as well. Many people think this was one of the tunes of the year in 2004, and I agree with them.

I don't know what it is, but this one brought back a ton of memories of the period before christmas (exam time, when we all just got WOW). Just listen to this one, sweet bassline, backed up with a tight break, and some really well put in "flute" and vocals.

#8 - Pendulum - Back To You (2004)

CLIP

The first time I heard this one from a Psidream radio show in 2003, I went absolutely bonkers. I remember I got a clip of it and played it nonstop over and over. This was one of THE tunes of my 2B term.

Just listen to this drop, killer reece bass, ridiculous beat and then the transition into a completely different vibe and then back again. It's the first Pendulum tune that made me go "holy crap wtf" and made me put Pendulum into the list of top producers.

#9 - Cause 4 Concern - Strange Nature (2001)

CLIP

Cause 4 Concern has probably made some of the best funky techno influenced d'n'b. They've always been one of my favourite producers. I decided to choose an "amen" tune up at the #9 spot... amen tune by C4C!? Yes, they made a tune called Strange Nature and was released by Timeless in 2001.

This one's got the same funk in all of C4C tunes out there, but the chords and stabs just work beautifully in this one. This one was another one of those really underrated tunes which I highly rate over many of their other stuff.

#10 - Bad Company - Mindgames (2001)

CLIP

Mindgames was one of the most memorable tunes for me in 2001 and reminded me a lot about the fun times I had at first year res. Odd but true, I think I heard Jason play this in his car before too. The thing with this tune really is the catchy intro that completely drops into a nice little roller. Complement that with some vocal bits and you have together a good tune.

I know this tune really isn't rated very high normally with the other Bad Company tunes out there, but in any case, this tune is extremely underrated and probably the best tune on the Book of the Bad series.

#11 - Klute - Saviour (2004)

CLIP

If you don't know much about d'n'b, Klute's definitely one of the first artists you need to check out. He definitely has his own style, mainly very trancey and his "breaks" sounding drums.

Saviour is a very deep and melodic tune and one of Klute's best in my opinion. This tune was one of those tunes which had it stuck in my head while playing WoW, leveling Selekta the first few times with everyone. Normally I wouldn't do it, but the clip has the first breakdown and the 2nd drop (not the 1st), in my opinion the 2nd drop is where it's at, so yeah, enjoy.

#12 - London Elektricity - Fast Soul Music (2003)

CLIP

Here's London Elektricity's 2nd tune to appear on the top 25. This one's an absolute chillout tune and I listened to this and the whole Billion Dollar Gravy LP a lot during the 2003 summer term.

Like I said before, I'd love to catch London Elektricit live once.

#13 - Ed Rush & Optical - Splinter (1998)

CLIP

This is one of the tunes where everyone of us SHOULD know.

In all honestly, I don't know why we cared about this tune other than the fact that it's one of the tracks in the legendary "Wormhole LP" by Ed Rush & Optical. It's the tune that got the eerie piano sample and some twisted bassline. I wonder if Randy still has the tape with this tune on his car?? I'm pretty sure it's stashed up somewhere?

It's probably one of the best dark dnb tunes out there, and this was the LP that made me look no further and jump onto the dnb bandwagon back in my high school days. So here it is, Splinter, everyone. DOOODODOOO

#14 - Amit - Changes (2004)

CLIP

Amit's probably the best "dubby" drum and bass producer nowadays. I've always been huge over his stuff because it's just so different from everything everyone makes, and his stuff has really made me start to appreciate "dubby" stuff in general.

So without any more introduction, this one, Changes, is one of those dubby tunes. I decided to put this one up here, instead of a few other ones since this one's got the most hummable lead, and probably one of those car tunes again if you were with me in Waterloo in the last couple of terms.

Oh yeah, this one's got the OS project written all over it.

#15 - London Elektricity - Remember The Future (2006)

CLIP

No introduction needed for this one.

"I remember the fuuuuuturreee...."

Probably one of my favourite full vocal tunes in drum'n'bass. I had this in my car along with a "vex'd" mix playing in my car throughout my last school term. Yeah? everyone should know this one. I'd definitely to pay to see the London Elektricity live band if they ever come to town.

What's funnier is that the High Contrast remix of this song is used completely in that PVPriest video (yes, for WoW). Smite, smite smite, holy fire crit for 2000+....

#16 - Black Sun Empire - The Cooler (2005)

CLIP

Black Sun Empire has made a lot of ton of good techno influenced drum and bass tunes. I decided to put a personal favourite "The Cooler", off the Cruel and Unusual LP up here. I think one of the things that drew me away recently from d'n'b was that all the tunes start to sound the same, and everything just became a formula....

This one on the hand is quite different from what I've been hearing, and this one's all about the groove. I simply love the way this tune progresses - a good demonstration of how great dissonance is when it's done proper.

Not much of a story behind this one, except that I first heard this one at EA Blackbox at my desk during my coop term there. That and I remember this one being the one where I was starting to do raids with BOV and ALE :(

#17 - Rob F - Deceit (2003)

CLIP

Hmm, now to some darker stuff. Rob F was one of the best at doing this kind of style. It was either this one or another strong tune, Switchblade Sisters, was gonna make this list... but I decided to go with this one because of those absolutely sick vocals and incredible arrangements. I also thought the bassline was well executed and just gave this whole tune a really haunted feel.

I got a 320kbps mp3 of this tune legit... it might have been the label head from Hostile Records who gave it to me, I honestly don't remember. Regardless, I just thought this tune summed it all up that year for me, a fitting title too. A year where I struggled with a few things personally.

#18 - High Contrast - Return of Forever (2002)

CLIP

High Contrast was one of my later discoveries into d'n'b. You see, I wasn't into liquid funk much back when it first started getting big. Regardless, this tune and a few other High Contrast tunes (Mermaid Scar and Make It Tonight) to be exact, changed my perspective on the whole sub-genre.

I find tunes like these a bit refreshing. Infectiously melodic, and still got that energy in drum and bass. I thought this was especially refreshing when all I was doing back then was War 3 beta, and studying for exams... ugh.

#19 - Keaton & Hive - Resolution (2003)

CLIP

This one's an interesting little tune. I think this is one of my first tunes I got in 2003, and right after I moved back into Longwood for my first work term in Waterloo... a dark dark period indeed. I can remember clearly, it is one of those tunes I had in my head for a while, and I got proof:

http://polarisprime.blogspot.com/2003_02_01_polarisprime_archive.html

And in case you're wondering what the lyrics are:

Scratch underneath the surface, where does your purpose lie?
It seems our world is worthless, like we're pawns beneath the sky
Change the race by reason, and ashes just the wind
The left is so our we're breathin, keep ourself from givin in

#20 - Ram Trilogy - Iron Lung (1999)

CLIP

RAM Trilogy aka Andy C, Shimon and Ant Miles definitely deserves a spot up here. To be honest, at first after listening to a few clips of their stuff, I wasn't so impressed. Until 2000, when I started listening to Mind Overload, Titan, Firewire, Skirmish and a few other heavy heavy stormers made me realize their potential.

It wasn't until early in my 1A term to be exact, that I had a full listen to the whole thing in my crappy speakers at V1... yep. I pumped that shit up and people noticed it! Read the post SOME PEOPLE PISS ME OFF... unbeliavable how fucked up I was in first year, that girl I was pissed off at was Mechelle btw.

I couldn't decide which tune to put up here, between Evolution, Gridlock, Mind Overload... and then I realized Iron Lung, a tune that just stuck out of my mp3 folder like a sore thumb. Big mean phat bass and some distorted sounds. Yep.

#21 - Pendulum - Sounds of Life (2005)

CLIP

Pendulum is a groundbreaking d'n'b group. Their stuff would definitely be classified as "easy-listening", not necessarily bad AT ALL. Personally I love their stuff and I've always rated them high up there. Their stuff is melodically rich and you can tell right away it's not your typical heavy bass heavy beats d'n'b.

This tune is one of the tunes on their album "Hold Your Colour".... this album is supposedly really popular in the UK and Australia, was on regular rotation on many radio stations (including pop). I'd put any of the tunes on the album up on the list, but I chose Sounds of Life, a personal favourite. What can I say, I'm a sucker for good female vocals, I'm not sure who the singer is - if anyone knows more about it, let me know.

#22 - Bad Company - Dead-side (2000)

CLIP

Hmm, another tune from 2000. Yep, it was probably the year where I started to really get into the drum and bass sound, this one comes from Bad Company's first LP, "Inside The Machine".

I was a total noob to drum and bass and all I really knew were about a few people from the Metalheadz label and Ed Rush & Optical. I went to D'n'B arena and i was wondering what the fuss was about Bad Company. I listened to a bunch of their clips, and I was stoked at Sentient, Deadside and Oxygen... these tracks blew me away. I've never heard such drum'and'bass tunes with such energy and such bad ass basslines... at that time I still had a really strong "electronica"/"rock" way of thinking coming to music and I think these really nailed that sound.

Dead-side was one of those tunes where it had a lot more progression, and had a bit more layering involved, which made it really memorable for me. This was definitely one of my favourite tunes back in the 2nd semester of Grade 12.

#23 - Digital - Deadline (2000)

CLIP

I first heard this tune in a live 2000 Bad Company mix. It was definitely the first tune I've heard in drum and bass with this half-time stuff, probably the first tune I've heard with "dubby influences". I got really into this one, sounds great in a mix and was just another one of those tunes that got your attention right away.

A lot of people love Digital's stuff, but it's always been a hit or miss with me and his stuff. I really wanted to put one of his tunes up in my top 25 and I really thought Deadline really grasped the most of my attention. I definitely had this one in my car back in OAC... Mike would've known this one.

#24 - SKC & Safair - Free My Soul (2004)

CLIP

SKC is one of the best producers in drum and bass, period. The Hungarian has a ton of tunes with different styles including techy, liquid, jazzy and dubby tunes.

I wanted to put an SKC tune on the top 25, and I found this very one, off one of my favourites in 2004, the Hospital compilation album named "Weapons of Mass Creation".

This tune's rich with melody and has a really addictive "FREE MY SOUULL" vocal sample. Definitely one of my favourite liquid-funk tunes all time.

#25 - Bad Company - The Nine (1999)

CLIP

This is probably one of the earliest tracks I've listened to. It's probably one of the most recognizable songs of the whole genre...

This track reminds me of OAC and a bit of late Grade 12, when I'd be cruising in my Acura during spare, driving to school, BlueSky, and to lunch. I remember getting so hyped up about this simple and silly, yet effective tune. Nonetheless, The Nine is an anthem of drum and bass, and I wouldn't be surpirsed if DJs still play this.

Drum and Bass' Top 25 - Countdown to 2007

I've been looking back at the music I've been listening to recently and I simply get such a kick out of it looking at my old mp3s. Drum and bass has seriously been a huge part of my life from the discovery of it during late high school to my production days in university.

Now that I'm no longer really attached to drum and bass anymore... I'm really gonna try and share a bit of the wealth. I'm going to start a top 25 tracks of drum and bass, in my non-biased opinion, in a countdown fashion and list them out daily until New year's.

I'm also gonna post a short clip of the song. I'd love to have someone do the same and share your favourite tunes!!