TI:ME:CO:DE
TI:ME:CO:DE
A bonafide drum & bass legend steps forward.
Source Direct changed the face of drum and bass from a bedroom in St Albans. Releasing the majority of their records between ’94 and ’98, they – along with artists like Photek and Goldie – spearheaded a minimal, tense drum and bass sound that would shape the genre for generations to come, with a dystopian kink that has been influential throughout dance music.
It’s a pretty bold statement to lead with, but it’s true so what the hell? No one makes electronic music quite like Source Direct does. Beautifully crafted and complex, SD’s music has always hinged around a fantastically future-bound formula that was galvanized amongst the current of the pioneering drum & bass and jungle music that was being sculpted back in the ‘90s. Source Direct tracks took the UK underground movement to new levels and alongside the Metalheadz family - whose darkly progressive sound became a revolutionary force within drum & bass music and much further beyond - they came to redefine the studio process and wider possibility of what it meant to combine samples, with break beats and synthesizer technology.
Jim Baker is a pioneering drum & bass and jungle artist who's been recording solo as Source Direct since 1999 (before then the project was a duo with Phil Aslett). On June 8th Nonplus will issue a 12-inch that has a Blawan remix of "Black Rose" alongside the 1996 original. That'll be followed by a record featuring '95 cut "Approach & Identify" backed by a remix from Demdike Stare.
It's a classic understatement to open an introduction such as this by saying that Source Direct's music means a lot of things to a lot of different people. But it's true. Having surpassed seminal reputation years ago now, the duo are consistently name-checked by artists in and outside of drum & bass as real inspirations.
Sometimes I'll just sit there and listen to old Source Direct records and get misty-eyed and think about the good old days.
Their music was beautiful and, as they scarcely left the studio and were uninterested in pursuing the breakneck DJ schedule of many of their contemporaries, they had the time they needed to craft it to perfection.
But although Source Direct were, and remain, unsurpassed in their ability to conjure dark audio visions, their sound was not one-dimensional. 1996's 'Secret Liaison'/'Complexities' 12", for example, remains one of the most beautifully powerful explorations of time-stretched amen bliss put to vinyl.
Ask any DnB producer about this guy and they will tell you straight, he’s a certified legend, a pioneer, his music is widely considered to be an integral part of the very fabric of DnB and his output has inspired many of today’s great producers.
For me, when I was 15 years old, Source Direct, Photek, Hidden Agenda were the shit as far as I was concerned.
Looking back, Source Direct seem to stand on the threshold between two worlds; the relentless sonic, rhythmic and tempo experimentation of hardcore and jungle on one hand and the sleek, shark-like propulsion of of drum and bass on the other.
It should go without saying that what follows is a personal selection of favourites. In any case there isn’t really a bad Source Direct record, and all are worthy additions to a jungle collection.
More subtle in tone and sophisticated in affect than most of the other material on the label, its combination of amen and shimmering, metronomic bell samples swathed in washes of Daniel Lanois-esque guitar captures, in six minutes, the statuesque brilliance the best jungle was able to evoke.
Trust Me
Release The Bells
Don’t resist The Beat
[1994]
[Certificate 18]
Currents
Intellect
[1994]
[Certificate 18]
Hidden Rooms
A Spice Of Jazz
[1995]
[Certificate 18]
Release The Bells (Wax Doctor Remix)
Currents (S.O.L. Remix)
[1995]
[Certificate 18]
Night Windows
Lush
[1995]
[Street Beats]
Last Dance
Sands Of Time
[1995]
[Street Beats]
Intensity
Forbidden Medicine V1
Forbidden Medicine V2
[1995]
[Basement Records]
Deep Rage
Bewildered
[1995]
[Odysee Records]
Just For You
No Tomorrow
[1995]
[Odysee Records]
Feel My Dreams
Personal
[1996]
[Odysee Records]
Shadows
Generations
[1996]
[Basement Records]
Red Lights
Crystal House
[1996]
[Source Direct Recordings]
Black Rose
12 Till 4
[1996]
[Source Direct Recordings]
Cold
Divine
[1997]
[Source Direct Recordings]
Jade
Sculptures Hide
[1997]
[Source Direct Recordings]
Future London
Shimmer
[1994]
[Odysee Records]
Different Groove
Stars
[1995]
[Odysee Records]
Fabric Of Space
Bliss
[1995]
[Source Direct Recordings]
Approach & Identify
Modem
[1995]
[Source Direct Recordings]
Snake Style
Exit 9
[1995]
[Source Direct Recordings]
A Made Up Sound
The Cult
[1995]
[Metalheadz]
Stonekiller
Web Of Sin
[1996]
[Metalheadz]
The Crane
Artificial Barriers
[1996]
[Source Direct Recordings]
Secret Liaison
Complexities
[1996]
[Good Looking Records]
The Silent Witness
[1996]
[Mo Wax]
2097
[1996]
[Virgin]
Two Masks
Black Domina
[1997]
[Science] [Virgin]
Call & Response
Computer State
[1997]
[Science] [Virgin]
Capital D.
Enemy Lines
[1997]
[Science] [Virgin]
Dog Style
[2001]
[London Records]
Call & Response
Computer State
Black Domina
Enemy Lines
Two Masks
Capital D.
Riotous (Japan Only)
[1997]
[Science] [Astralwerks]
Call & Response
Mind Weaver
Haunted
Technical Warfare
Love & Hate
Capital D.
Dubstar
Wanton Conduct
Concealed Identity
[1999]
[Science] [Virgin]
Yo Bitch
Pimp Star
[2000]
[Demonic]
Sub One
Escape From Cairo
[2000]
[Demonic]
Snowblind
The Place
[2001]
[Demonic]
Strike Like A Cobra
Strictly Red
[2002]
[Source Direct Recordings]
Nitty
Hired Guns
[2003]
[Source Direct Recordings]
Scream In The Jungle
[1995]
[Headroom Records]
Modulor
[1996]
[Mo Wax]
This Is A Baad Rmx
The Cult Remix (The Initiation Test)
[1996]
[Razors Edge]
Dark Metal Rmx
Stonekiller Rmx
[1997]
[Razors Edge]
Visions
[1997]
[Motor Music]
Let Go
[1999]
[Aspect]
The Child
[1999]
[Disques Solid]
Midnight Run
[1999]
[Dune Recordings]
Michael In The Cage
[2000]
[Invader Recordings]
Out Of Touch
[2001]
[Renegade Hardware]
Snake Style Part 2
Street Wars