Worldwide Baby - Lexicon

Drum and bass really gets a lot of spin in Australia. In Melbourne and Perth in particular it's a familiar groove and a dance floor staple most nights of the week, at someplace or another. And the d 'n' b family are devoted, following the sound wherever it goes, from warehouse size mega-venues to the many nights held at deep downstairs sweatshops around town. The question for us is, where to next? As the music journeys on, what does the future face of Oz-based drum 'n' bass look like?

Just like in the UK, early last decade techno DJ's pushed the break-beat up in the mix and brought some new moodier tunes to the floor. In Oz this happened out in the bush not in the clubs so much (our version of 'jungle'?). Into the 90's the DJ's latched onto Goldie, Bukem and Grooverider, to name a few, and the massive responded in full force.

Back then the spinners and party organisers were having WAY too much fun with the new sound to do much more than do the decks or move to it. Now, maybe these guys have the time to concentrate on production and on the search for the Great Southern Sound. A gritty bass? A distant drum? We love fresh technologies over here so maybe that's what will show the way.

The music has always been extensively promoted and still has plenty more ground to cover down here. Ears are still listening to this new stuff, feet are still pounding and with the potential for new directions that is the way of d 'n' b, we reckon the Oz massive have a good head for the future. We get all the godfathers and grandsons visiting our shores and floors on a regular basis. In fact, with our reverse seasons we are a bit of a mecca for overseas artists.

Our scene needs to grow up a bit and move into production. More home grown. The face of Australian drum 'n' bass needs to take on some of its own features. And here's a glimpse of that face. Some of our local lads are making their own tunes and thinking global with it. David Carbone, ex-3RRR Melbourne radio DJ and d 'n' b producer is now based in Bristol

running BS1 Records. BJAM from Perth is also onto a great starter with the CD 'Tactical Manoeuvres'.

Also from Perth, is Greg Packer, whose LP is due out this year on his label 'Interphase'. Adelaide dudes have begun label BigDog, bringing together locals on an almost all-Australian compilation 'Outback Drum 'n' Bass'. Atom 1's 'Imminent' is out there on compilations after a heavily spun career on dance floors. Innovators / producers Electro Emotive Force and Heavy Dark Matter are just two of the new truly creative forces coming out of a Melbourne d 'n' b sound lab.

Maybe it's the darker urban vibe, the grounded sound, but youth in Melbourne really get the loaded emotion of this music. This city also has the right influences, a strong live music tradition, jazz venues still swinging and gorgeous female vocals are all over the landscape.

This is the BassDrama crew signing off, you can catch us on www.rrr.org.au live-streaming at 1.15pm UK time.

During the last 6 years the Amsterdam dnb scene has come a long way, from a shabby mix up of breaks, trance and ragga to well informed and specialist events which truly represent the sound. Sure there are those who still believe in playing "diverse" sets which maybe include 20% dnb (alongside every other genre), but for the most part DJs and promoters know the score and this reflects in the high calibre of Dutch artists and events. Plenty of quality producers are now breaking through and dnb is still maintaining its foothold in club land and festivals as well as in the underground scene (squat parties, illegal radio etc) all over Holland.

Amsterdam, being the cultural centre of the Netherlands, provides the greatest diversity and frequency of events. Regular nights are held in Mazzo, Paradiso, Melkweg and more, some more frequent than others. The benchmark was set in '97 with Concept. A collaboration of MC Marxman and Andy Haze which brought the quality back to dnb events in Amsterdam. These popular nights featured Grooverider, Johnny L, Lee, Rob Playford, Blame, LTJ Bukem to name a few. The success of which led to some fierce dnb line ups at Dance Valley Festival… where it wouldn't be out of place to find Kenny ken, Rap, Ray Keith, Bryan G, Storm, Goldie, Groove & Fabio joining residents Andy Haze and Deep Space in the drum n bass arena. The last 6 years of Dance Valley festivals have supported dnb, starting in '95 with Doc Scott in the Melkweg tent. Since then World Dance have stepped in to host this arena, with support on the ground from the Fusion Cru who started there wicked wednesday nights back in March 1999 as well as organising the larger dnb illegal parties.

Now there is only one weekly dnb club night in Holland, and that's the Fusion-inc run Bullit.proof at the Mazzo. This night has been running almost 3 years and features regular international guests and the cream of the local DJ pool. Organising more parties than anyone else in Holland (approx 250 events in last 3 years) Fusion-inc is on the cutting edge of the scene. Strong believers in promoting the up 'n' coming artists rather than just the biggest names, the sounds and names of the future are what you'll find at Bullit.proof and Fusion events... most artists to come to Holland have played for Fusion-inc first and the list is endless. As well as this weekly event Holland now has a whole host of other drum n bass club nights and organisations (Jungle Galaxy - Nijmegen; Drum n Bass Line - Amsterdam; Retox - Amsterdam; Dozer - Belgium; Killa Cutz - Amsterdam; Jungle Terra - Amsterdam; Fresh - Amsterdam; Bassground - Amsterdam and many more who have made the Dutch scene so good today).

November in Amsterdam saw the first in a series of club nights hosted by the UK's BPM agency. Dom & Roland and The Roots ripped it up fine style at their new Bullit.proof residency, while a couple of days later DJ Storm represented the UK at a "girl's night" in More, alongside up 'n' coming female DJs from all over Holland.

More recently we have seen the Movement tour hit town, with Bryan Gee and Marky representing at the Melkweg, with the Nu Urban music posse in full effect the night after at Bullit.proof, featuring Darrell (Invaderz), Illusion & DJ Tera, Math & Acrylic, MC Trip and others. The vibe and atmosphere was first class, as was the music! The unprecedented action of free vinyl & copies of Lexicon amazed the crowd and no doubt started a few record collections among the international crowd of punters in attendance. Watch out for the entire night being broadcast on www.nu-urbanmusic.co.uk

Andy Haze (Bullit Proof), Esta (A New Dawn Rec.), Tyson (Forms) & Murdock (Dozer).