Tracklist etc.: https://substack.com/@djic/p-174377515

Episode XV stretches across R&B slow burns, garage hybrids, 2000s breakbeat relics, and drum & bass pressure, stitched together with long blends, a couple rewinds, and some thematic pivots.

Half-time instrumentals bend into disco, German grime verses warp garage swing, Marvin Gaye collides with 2006 Croydon austerity before disappearing into Ed Rush and Optical’s Wormhole.

The New Edition arrangement is Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the same Minneapolis duo behind Janet Jackson’s Control and Rhythm Nation 1814. Their fingerprints are all over the string pads and electric pianos that put an interesting emotional shine on the incoming cut.

Linkwork follows, grime and garage welded together. P.tah and Kinetical’s verses are in German; both MCs are Austrian, from Linz and Salzburg. Dark halftime sections alternate with 130 BPM garage beats, a sharp mood swing. The MC’s flow rides the swung hats and snares of the incoming groove precisely, doubling the tempo without crowding the stage.

Superstylin’ appears next, a Groove Armada staple from 2001, as DJIC trades basslines with the Thunderkats’. Superstylin’ is a shape-shifter—chart hit, festival anthem, recent secret weapon.

At 20:00 Sneaker Pimps’ Spin Spin Sugar emerges. Released in 1996 on Becoming X, it became a UK garage touchstone after Armand Van Helden’s remix. The original bassline is instantly recognizable, and it still works. Kessler takes over, his Foul Play EP representing the new Belfast wave—dark, urban, and hard-edged.

P Money returns with Stay in Your Lane, joined by Taiki Nulight and Jolie P. The cut comes with a rewind and a political edge. The sub runs so hot it distorts our mix—call it distressed?

So Solid Crew step back in with Oh No. Their 2001 They Don’t Know LP effectively mainstreamed grime, but the production sounds thin by today’s standards. Z Virus’s Sasmanouver carries a similar lo-fi imprint. 

One of dubstep’s most inventive producers, Benga came out of Croydon in the mid-2000s. He battled personal demons later, but his work remains singular. Skank still cuts cleanly through and the bass feels huge.

So Solid vocals continue over Skank, percussion interlocking neatly. Marvin Gaye then drops in—Got To Give It Up in live acapella form—folded against Benga’s half-step. It takes a bar to align, but once it locks in it sounds dope. The cheerful admonitions to dance cut oddly against Benga’s austerity, but the keys line up and the friction works.

From there Marvin accelerates to 172 to clear the runway for Ed Rush & Optical’s Compound from Wormhole (1998). Frequently cited as the definitive drum & bass album, Wormhole crystallized neurofunk: all sinewy basslines and paranoid futurism.

2025-09-25  |  Substack Soundtrack XV  |  Can you stand the rain?  |  Garage, breakbeat

1/4 D&B, 1/4 EDM, 1/4 FMU, 1/4 R&B

100% TDS

313, 734, 303, 716, 718, 202... 613?

youtube.com/@djindustrialcomplex

2025-09-25 | Substack Soundtrack XV | Can you stand the rain? | Garage, breakbeat

DJ Industrial Complex