Customer Reviews

Drum & Bass Arena (with Bonus DVD)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Amazon, FIX YOUR TRACKLISTING! IT'S ENTIRELY WRONG! I believe this was the tracklisting that was announced a few months before the CD came out. I ended up forgetting about this release until it jumped out at me in the record shop shortly after release in the US. To my surprise the tracklisting is all different than the one here on Amazon (most important to me, missing Morning Light by Concord Dawn).

Anyway this mix has quickly grown to being one of my favorite DnB mixes mostly because it's a solid chunk of musical energy all the way through. No better way to start out the mix than with Bad Company's Bullit Time. Andy's mixing style is very fast and it works well to keep energy going all the way through. He doesn't spend too long on any song and it shows with 24 tracks in the mix (the last two are unmixed).

If you're looking for dark, evil, nu-metalish drum n bass you might want to know that this mix (along with Andy C's "Nightlife" mix) showcases more of the fun, party side of the drum n bass scene. As close as you're going to get to that type of DnB is Capone - Tudor Rose and Resonant Evil - Troubleshoot.

The DVD's not bad either with some interviews with Andy himself, and others (Twisted Individual etc etc).

If you're into more of the party drum n bass as opposed to the dark, evil drum n bass, I definitly recommend getting this mix. Lot of big tunes on here. I also recomment checking out all that www.breakbeat.co.uk (Drum 'n' Bass Arena) has to offer for listening.

Here is the real tracklisting provided by CDDB:
01 - Bad Company - Bullit Time
02 - Total Science - Nosher
03 - Moving Fusion - Chilli Pepper
04 - Hive & Keaton - Bring it On
05 - DJ Fresh - Foreigner
06 - MC Tali - High Hopes
07 - Matrix & Danny J - Vertigo
08 - Black Sun - Spread Love
09 - DJ Zinc - Ska
10 - Capone - Tudor Rose
11 - Concord Dawn - Ninja
12 - EZ Rollers - Crowd Rocker
13 - Photek - We Got Heat
14 - John B - Pressure
15 - D Kay - The Martians
16 - Concord Dawn - Don't Tell Me
17 - M.I.S.T - Outerspace
18 - London Elekricity - Different Drum
19 - Fresh - Big Love
20 - D:Ecco & Sabotage - House Music
21 - Ed Rush & Optical - Goodfoot
22 - Spirit - Out of Control
23 - Pendulum - Back to You
24 - Resonant Evil - Troubleshoot
25 - Moving Fusion - Living Daylights
26 - Hold Tight - Fever

I've been out of the DNB loop for a while.. Got jaded by endless loop remixes which have no thought, but this is different. I'm not going to sit here & describe every track to you but Andy C delivers the goods in a way that will keep you hoppin throughout the duration of the cd, particularly if you buy music to listen to rather than critique it! What I particularly loved is the seamless way in which he blended "Goodfoot" with "Out Of Control", sounded like the same song! "Bullitt Time" is a fantastic opener that will give anyone goose bumps & "Don't Tell Me" is a great song that reminds all the DJs about what they wanna do with people who make requests. The DVD is great too to open up to people across the pond what DNB is all about in the UK. We need more CDs like this.

first off the tracklisting amazon gives is very wrong, and kudos to that who corrected it. Only it should be noted that total science's "nosher" is a baron remix, london elektricity's "different drum" is a dillinja remix, and the lenny fontana track "spread love" is a nu:tone remix. I don't understand what's up peacedividend's rear, but the mix is amazing and once again showcases why Andy C is such an amazing technical dj (better than any of the 4 members of bad co. who do the so sloppy i couldn't believe they sold it mix on the shot down on safari cd) and shows the many flavors of the dnb spectrum and not just give you a same style staunch mix. Also to be so critical of an album is absurd when it sounds like you don't even know what you're talking about (ex. keaton and hive's bring it on being tech step, what?) and the last two tracks are songs from the 3x12 vinyl that weren't put into the mix. Andy C didn't just play them from start to finish that'd be pretty assinine if he did. I just don't like such a critical review when it's obvious the person being so harsh really only has the slightest clue about what they're talking about.

and you didnt think hed go there. This whole cd really makes you wanna flow on the floor. A great andy C/ dnb arena mix, good high energy mixing, well worth buying...buy the cd and youll get the first statement

Gotta concur with the technishun there, peacedividend seems to have his head in his rectal cavity and this cd is far more worthwile than he gives it credit for. I mean, he called a DILLINJA track (the remix of Different Drum) an EASY LISTENING tune. And it's about as likely to be played on easy listening radio as Dubya is to utter a coherent sentence.

The CD has its flaws - IMO the dope vibe of the "Nosher" rmx at the beginning coulda been less interrupted by the pretty average "Chilli Pepper", although Concord Dawn are NZ bwoys and it's good to see em well-repped on here less time coulda been spent on "Ninja", and the last few tracks don't *quite* sustain the momentum all the way through to the excellent "Troubleshoot" - but these are minor quibbles compared to the long stretches of brilliance, particularly round "Pressure" and "The Martians" to that "Different Drum" rmx and "House Music" (funniest DnB ever ;D)

Andy C's mixing is top-notch and the range of DnB flavours on offer here just shows the depth of the scene at the moment - that's exactly what DnBArena aims to do, and they do it well. Check it out.

Drum n Bass my favourite type of music!!!

I came to the US for a holiday and found no one had ever heard of it. WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

Give it 5 years and the kids will be loving the then old school Andy C!! This is a nice introduction to DnB for anyone.
It will leave you wanting more but get something with MC's truely great and truely underground Brit!!

U guys have to catch on!!!!!

Slammin Vinyl 2004 nuff said!!

This CD is awesome, expect nothing but the best mixing ever from the one like Andy C!

Sorry amazon.com, but that tracklist seems to be wrong...

The CD is good, but Nightlife is still better!

From the first track to the last, this mix does not stop. It's intense and hardcore.

Before I heard this mix, my favorite was Dieselboy's Project Human (excellent of course). This one, however, takes it to another level.

Highly Recommend

Oh, the perils of fame.
I love that the drum and bass scene in England is so hugely popular that labels like Breakbeat Science are thriving, but along with mass saturation comes the burden of pleasing the masses. This cd/dvd set is a perfect illustration of why the scene has never gotten as large in the U.S.

We like our underground scene: either for the slight tinge of deviance (if you're a teenager) or for the joy of enjoying something outside a heavily-promoted market-researched milieu. Here we have an inspired DJ spinning either Top 40 tunes or tunes that will reach the Top 40, just as soon as the videos are wrapped and sent to MTV.

From its cinematic Bullit Time (Bad Company UK) opening to its retail Fever close, this is cleanly manufactured music for the masses. Blessings of the state, blessings of the masses, consume, be happy... Don't get me wrong: I adore Andy C, and eat breathe love and sleep to Bad Company, and just about everything else in DNB Arena family, but this synthesis is just a little too... synthetic.
Where are the killing breaks that Andy C makes you scream for? Hidden under a layer of club drag. Track 2, Nosher (Total Science), is like a missed sneeze, and your gratification is denied halfway into Track 3, Chilli Pepper (Moving Fusion). From there the bass gets nice and spooky, and you techstep your way through Hive & Keaton's Bring it On, right through the sweet vocals of DJ Fresh's Foreigner and on to Tali's High Hopes.
This is where the message starts to get a little too saccharine sweet. Vertigo feels like you're being punished and sent to the chill room, where you're shushed by so many lady vocalists then finally admonished by a department store Santa, in the guise of Black Sun, to Spread Love (Lenny Fontana). One wonders if this song was drafted specifically for the holiday shopping season, and just how many manufacturers have licensed it for advertisements. I really, really hate this song, and I found it really hard to appreciate the rest of the set because of it.
The incredible, that's-the-way-Andy-C-gives-it-to-you beats of DJ Zinc's Ska are infected for a full 17 seconds by this icky candy coating, then disappears into a too-soon (if devastating) mix into Capone's Tudor Rose. At least that's how the tracks are marked, but I can hear DJ Zinc in there for another couple minutes, and it's bliss. This track (#10) rocks very, very hard, under its layer of filmic samples.
The movie quotes are getting a bit tired, don't you think? We all remember Skinny Puppy's first album, and felt cool recognizing the bits from Andy Warhol's Dracula, and now we're over it.
#11, Concord Dawn (Ninja), is another for the trance-y chill-room set, but Andy C's righteous and rigorous mixing keeps it interesting by drawing it through EZ Rollers' Crowd Rocker for almost the full 3:12. We Got Heat (Photek w/ Cho TY & Chiara) again feels like a directive to conform and consume and be just like them, and that irritation is not pacified by the lilting bells in Track #14, Pressure (bits of which appear on other DNB Arena Cds), but are obliterated by the big beats of D Kay's Martians.
Too bad it's stepped all over y Concord Dawn & Tiki's Don't Tell Me, which tastes like so much spoonfed pseudo-rebellion. The beats and the bass rock so very, very hard, why oh why the silly juvenile lyrics? When was the last time you paid an iota of attention to someone who cried "I don't give a care"?
Track #17, M.I.S.T.'s Outerspace would make it all better, but it's only there for a scant few seconds before London Elektricity is brought in with Track #18, Different Drummer. Too many vocals getting in the way of, well, crappy easy listening music here. Which prepares me for skipping Track #19, Fresh's Big Love, entirely. I'd love to love it, baby, with all that dark and spooky bouncing, but the lyrics are just too annoying. Thank gawd for D:Ecco & Sabotage's House Music (VIP Mix). This will keep the cd in my player. It is big and funky and keeps things rolling until the drop into Track #21, Ed Rush and Optical's Goodfoot. You're back in the middle of a scary movie, with this one, fighting your way through it with #22, Out of Control (Spirit) as your soundtrack. Continue down the spiral with #23, Pendulum featuring Lisa Lind's Back to You, then rejoice in the Resonant Evil of Track #24, Troubleshoot. The chattiness here is a nice contrast to the previous track's soaring vocals.

I don't know what happened at the end here. A train wrecks and leaves you standing at #25, Moving Fusion's Living Daylights, and by the time #26, Hold Tight's Fever walks away from the light and back into the shopping mall, and you can't decide which is worse so you turn it off and turn to the DVD. Hey, look, a Making of the Mo' Fire video! Can we hear the track, please? No? You mean we have to put on Bad Company's Shot Down on Safari to hear it? I'd say that's a bad idea: we'll remember how prefect that double cd set is, and will be unlikely to listen to Andy C's DNB Arena disc again.