Rewind! For those moments when a tune is just too good to let flow, reloading a track has been a staple dance damager since the birth of reggae soundsystem and clash culture. And none more so than bass music… Especially drum & bass.
But what constitutes a guaranteed reload tune? Is it the crowd? The vibe? The DJ? Or the tune itself?
This is what we’ll attempt to discover each month as we ask 10 wicked DJs across drum & bass and beyond for their biggest reload tune of the month. This is what they’re reloading this month. Be sure to tune in on Monday… One act got so carried away they gave us an entire top 10 of reloaders!
Chords
Reload: DLR Feat Break – Human Error
“Reload of the month for me is an interesting one. I’ve never heard anything like this before and it absolutely kicks off a dancefloor with inevitable reloads every time. The groove on it is so unique and seriously gets me dancing!”
Culture Shock
Reload: Bungle – Arcadia
“I’ve always liked Bungle’s music so it’s good to see him back again. This tune is huge. Amazing rhythms, massive bass and plenty old school vibes! I play from the breakdown into the second drop and then reload to the start for maximum effect.”
Etherwood
Reload: L-Side – Put Em Up
“I don’t play a lot of jump up, so when a track like this barges onto the dancefloor in the middle of a set the crowd don’t know whether to jump or duck!”
Gerra & Stone
Reload: Origin Unknown – Lunar Bass
“There are so many classic Ram Trilogy, Origin Unknown and early Ram tracks that were instrumental in both of our drum and bass beginnings. We seem to go through phases with each one, picking them up and throwing them in our current sets for a while before remembering about another one! We’ve been drawing for this one again this year, it made our recent 1xtra mix and still sounds fresh in a modern set – that sub bass never fails to get a reaction!”
Hamilton
Reload: Cyantific – High Water Mark
“New track from Mr Cyantific. Epic into and great drop. What more could you ask for when it comes to reloads?”
Mind Vortex
Reload: Dimension – Whip Slap
“Our reload track has to be this! In the clubs we use this as a killer double drop which is an instant rewind moment. Screwfaces and bassfaces in abundance. Boom!”
Neonlight
Reload: Black Sun Empire & State of Mind – Ego
“We usually don’t do many rewinds in our DJ sets, but this track made so many crowds go mad that we it was almost too easy to rewind time and time again. It has the energy and the vibe we really love and like to support in our live sets.”
Proxima
Reload: Icicle Feat Skittles – Problem
“My rewind tune of the moment has to be this absolute belter of a track! The way it gets angrier and angrier in the intro and then drops with that hard-hitting minimalistic, almost militant vibe. It’s absolutely astounding in my eyes (and ears) I have been playing it for a while now and it smashes clubs to bits every single time! The production is top notch and that really translates so well to a sound system. I always keep an extra pair of pants in my DJ bag, this tune forces you to come prepared!”
Reso
Reload: Black Sun Empire & State of Mind – Jack Nicholson
“This is the kind of tune that just destroys people. It’s got that really infectious ‘is it a triplet shuffle or just straight?’ groove that I really love. The bassline just has such a great feel, the right amount of tearing distortion plus the filtered, combing reeses at the end of the phrase really tie up the whole package. Add to that the syncopated, percussive top line synths that come in, adding yet more funk fuelled mayhem. It’s quite straight forward and to the point, not pretending to be anything other than a ridiculous banger that’s great for double dropping with other tunes. IT GOES OFF!”
The Others
Reload: The Glitch Mob – Skullclub (Emalkay Remix)
Having new music from Emalkay in my sets is one of life’s little pleasures. He sent me this remix of The Glitch Mob’s Skullclub at the beginning of the year and I absolutely love it! Even before I downloaded the track and gave it a listen I knew it would be special, and I was not disappointed – it’s exactly the vibe I’m on at the minute. The tune sounds monstrous on a sound system and is guaranteed to do the damage on any dance floor. Great stuff as always from Emalkay.
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