History Of Our World: Breakbeat & Jungle, Mixed By DJ DB
Back before sped-up breakbeats and ultraheavy bass solidified into drum & bass as we know it--back even before everybody started calling its protean form jungle--there was this 25-track mix, put together by DJ DB, with bits of the ultrafast records that were starting to occupy dance floors in 1991 in taxonomies nobody was sure of yet. There are a few bona fide classics (4 Hero's "Mr. Kirk's Nightmare," the Omni Trio's "Renegade Snares"), but the real kick of the compilation is hearing the elements that were just starting to become a genre in proximity to each other--the tiny, sped-up snippets of diva voices, the weird synth chords, the mind-rattling clatter of rhythms cranked to maximum speed.--Douglas Wolk