Something was stirring the cobwebs in my brain, that's for sure. The Hippie thought I'd strained something, but I knew it was Goldie. As INCredible Sound of Drum-n-Bass piped through my speakers and 'phones, I began to think of another album-- Urbal Beats 2.
Y'see, 1998's UB2 was a double-disc compilation of skillfully DJ'd tracks that served a higher purpose. Disc One was nu-skool, fresh hits and Disc Two brought back some fat-ass gems from the vault, again proving that old techno isn't necessarily bad techno. INCredible Sound of Drum-n-Bass works on a similar premise-- Spectrum (Disc One), splits drum-n-bass into a wide range of colors ranging on the new side, most tracks coming from '97 to '99. Goldie's Metalheadz label is represented heavily-- tracks by Alex Reece, Doc Scott and Codename John give way to acid-jazzy compositions like Digital's "Space Funk." It's comprised of tight, well-chosen tracks that stretch boundaries instead of pants.
INCredible's second disc, Retro, recalls the Disc Two of UB2. It's largely composed of older tracks that sound, frankly, like a walk down memory lane. I remember back in the day when "Terminator" was on all the floors. Used to be, you could got a pill for just $10 bucks back then, but half'd kill ya. In any case, even if you haven't necessarily heard all of these tracks in this mutation, you've likely heard pieces of them sampled on other songs. Goldie contributes not only 1993's "Terminator" but 1994's "Manslaughter." He also brings Neil Trix, Optical, J Majik, Source Direct and Matrix, mixing house-fun sensibility with live drum-n-bass intensity to pleasing effect. But as with UB2, the older sounds almost surpass the newer material-- the hindsight of a couple of years provide clarity for Goldie's vision.
