- The Rupture LDN DJ delivers a vibrant album that showcases the health and creativity of the modern jungle scene.
- In dance music, making space for those that need it can have a bigger impact than any individual track or DJ set. Rupture LDN, the drum and bass-focused party founded by Double O and Mantra in 2006, is one of the best examples in recent years. The Corsica Studios-based night provided a haven for London's jungle and drum & bass community during a period when two-step, the genre's less funky and more cleanly-produced category, was still the dominant sound. Supporting veterans and new talent and nurturing a rediscovery of the classic, breakbeat-driven mid-'90s jungle sound, the night served as a crucial gathering space for junglists in the genre's London heartland, as well as a chance for DJs to play around with the style. (Ed Law of the Repertoire label even declared "Rupture is like going to Church.")
Rupture also laid the groundwork for jungle's wider revival amid a new generation of ravers. Nearly two decades on, it might seem odd to hear mainstream acts like PinkPantheress and NewJeans taking on amen breaks, but with the sound filtering up thanks to Tim Reaper and Coco Bryce, we can draw a line from Rupture to the pop charts.
That's something Double O, AKA Doncaster-born David Henry, doesn't seem interested in doing on his new LP Firm Meditation. "I do not put myself on a pedestal," a voice intones at the beginning of the record. "I'm not bigger than no man, I do not see myself as a king." It's an attitude in keeping with the communal mindset of the current scene, where artists and labels collaborate and producers take an eclectic, progressive attitude toward new tracks, with creative sampling and influences from other genres.
Several tracks on the album feel indebted to Double O's contemporaries and disciples. "Testing Ground," with its thumping four-on-the-floor bass beat and phasing synth chords, resembles something Tim Reaper might've saved for his label Future Retro (the title even references FR's motto "the jungle testing grounds"). "Probe" takes things down to UK garage tempo, switching between heavy breaks beatdowns and sweet melodic sections with breathy vocals. It sounds like Special Request or Coco Bryce might've cooked it up.
The LP also takes on a historical perspective, cherry-picking different styles from drum & bass history. "Corsica Groove" brandishes forceful techstep drums and horror-movie chords, sounding like a lost Photek track from the turn of the millennium. "Bad To Worse" features a cleaner drum sound more akin to late-'90s drum and bass, when producers began to record drums live instead of using breakbeat samples.
Most of the tracks, however, are throwbacks to jungle's peak era of 1994-96, in particular the "intelligent jungle" sound pioneered by the likes of LTJ Bukem and Goldie. "Stretchy Biz" foregrounds time-stretched vocals and drums alongside a melody of mystical bell-like synths before a busy marimba-like middle section. "The Game" fuses dreamy, crystalline synths and echoing bongo hits with breakbeat choppage and filtering, while "Victory V" places jazzy pianos and smooth organ patches over a straight Amen break at a tempo in the 140s, recalling early Good Looking Records tracks.
Then there are some cuts that don't fit in any particular mode. "Repatriation," with the album's only feature, from Theory, delivers an intense, reverb-soaked tribal drum sequence, but adds elements taken from one of Double O's oldest musical inspirations—the dub-influenced bleep techno scene of early ‘90s Yorkshire. Heavy hits of humming bass and a distinctive, chiming melody recall early Warp Records singles like Sweet Exorcist's "Testone.". With these kinds of touches, Firm Meditation takes a grand view of jungle, from the soundsystem culture that inspired it to the new generation pushing it further.
Tracklist01. Firm Meditation
02. Repatriation
03. Stretchy Bizz
04. Cosrica Groove
05. Testing Ground
06. Probe
07. Victory V
08. Bad To Worse
09. Riddim Yah
10. The Game
11. Love Is
12. Thankful