At last! A Droppin' Science compilation rounding up the first ten tracks of the legendary jungle label. Ten gems that go back to, what we now can safely call, the golden age of jungle: 1993-1996. Ten untouchable, perfect tracks that you heard in the clubs and were almost impossible to get a hand on safe for an occasional compilation appearance. These tracks by Danny Breaks, Safari Sounds and Kosmos are history, this is without a doubt some of the greatest music produced in the 1990s, but it also to this day sounds like the future, a future sadly abandoned, just waiting to be taken up again (mind you, Droppin' Science is still releasing top-quality gear and this is supposed to be just the first volume in series of retrospectives).

No need to repeat the story of the decline and fall of jungle, this is what it is all about, this is the blueprint, the model we need to get back to. Simon Reynolds once described Danny Breaks' sound as a virtual adventure playground and indeed in doing so told one half of the story. These tracks feel playful, the breaks are built with intent to create an ever-changing rhythm environment you can almost roll around in, joyfully wander about. But what also becomes clear is that Breaks has a knack for beautiful melodies that at the right moment wave in and out of the rhythmic maze. A track like 'Firin' Line' does make me feel a bit nostalgic for dance floors abandoned in time but there is also a weird positivity shining through these sounds that, maybe foolishly, convince me that jungle will find a path back towards its promised inherent futurity. Ten tracks that all sound completely differe nt, from the sexy vocal snippets of 'Volume 1', the stuttering jump-up of 'Step Off' to the dark cosmic sounds of 'Astrologikal', and once for all make you realize what an insult the last years of drum 'n sludge have been. Music that is intensely alive, don't let it get lost again.