Drum 'N' Bass
March: 9 drum 'n' bass releases you need to hear this month
Powerhouse riddims
Album of the month
Various 'Hospital: We Are 21' (Hospital Records)
300 releases and now 21 years in, and still with a universal dancefloor sound that’s not too noisy, too deep or too gentle, there’s a strong case for arguing that Hospital is the most successful d’n’b label of them all – but frankly, who cares about debating that when you’ve 70 tracks, 20 new exclusives and two full-length mixes from Nu:Tone to dive into? The prized pearls are so numerous you’re guaranteed a netful wherever you look: Fred V & Grafix vs Metrik’s ‘Tension’ is electro night-rider heaven; Serum’s ‘Blow Them Away’ is knotty, low-slung tech fun; Bop’s ‘Space Girl’ is intricate glitch gold. From Noisia to Kimyan Law, the extended Hospital habitat is vast and unrivalled – and all here.
9/10
