Aphrodite - Overdrive

Genre dance Publisher Feed Records External Links Official Website Feed Records

Jump-up first emerged as a subgenre of drum n' bass in the mid-90s. It distinguished itself from its parent through hip-hop and funk inflections and rolling synthesizer basslines. The name came from its intended effect of getting clubbers to jump up and start dancing. Aphrodite (Gavin King), who started the Urban Takeover label along with dnb legend Mickey Finn, was one of jump-up's biggest names. Now he's back with a new DJ Mix entitled Overdrive as jump-up is once again getting play in clubs worldwide. Overdrive is composed entirely of tracks made between 2002 and 2005, during jump-up's recent revival.

From the frightening opening synths of "Living In Darkness" the atmosphere is set to massive. "Living In Darkness" plays with tempo, an unusual move in the opening track of a mix -- it slows down like the Energizer bunny on dollar store batteries, then revs back up. In a live setting it could be a questionable move, but on headphones it draws the listener in. None of the tracks that follow are disappointing. The MCing begins with Stevie Hyper on Aphrodite's remix of "Can't Stop," but Aphrodite uses MCing wisely as just another ingredient to throw extra flavor into the mix at times instead of overdosing as some DJs do. As "Invasion" mixes in, the bass drops out and dancers are left at the mercy of cosmic rays. The sci-fi sample warning that "The world is under attack" says techstep but the bassline when it kicks back in is pure jump-up. The two tracks by Distorted Minds are especially great with a bad-ass MC growling "We. Can't. Stop." over pancaked, fluttering basslines. British R&B artist Beverley Knight guests on "Sometimes," which highlights the middle of the mix.

The second half smokes as much as the first, with the irresistible climbing bassline of "Roots & Culture" by Dope Ammo swirling up into feet, through torso, and out the head. It's followed by a hard remix of the Afrika Bambaata classic "Soul Maskossa" which transitions via horns (!) into "Evolution" by Sketch & Code, with vocals from Kim Nile. And to acknowledge the earlier era of jump-up, Mickey Finn rejoined Aphrodite in remixing their 1996 monster track "Bad Ass." The piano and vocals of "Holler" by NG3 brings things to a chill close.

Jump-up will always have a place for dancers to go when they want to leave the hyper-complex snares and smooth dubby basslines of more cerebral styles of drum n' bass at home. Overdrive fulfills the promise of jump-up drum n' bass: it pushes banger after banger out the speakers into your bones until not moving is not possible.