The announcement of Murdock’s album sent shockwaves throughout the wider world of electronic music, and not just drum & bass; that’s because he’s reigned supreme over the music circuit for years, heading up Belgium’s Rampage Festival and helping thousands of ravers worldwide enjoy some of their favourite artists, alongside the best technics, live spaces have seen.
But he’s also dedicated as much of his time to his own sonic art, the type of has already been unveiled across a variety of mainstay drum & bass labels. Although for his landmark album, he returns to Viper, a label which is celebrating fifteen years of its history with an exciting addition to their catalogue. After already dropping Murdock’s first single ‘Holding On’ earlier this summer, the electric collaboration with James Marvel, he’s set to revisit ‘Stronger’ with brand new single ‘Dark Cloud’ ft. Dynamite MC.
To celebrate its August release, we caught up with Murdock to find out which tracks he’s been rinsing over the warmer seasons…
1. Errol Dunkley: A Little Way Different
This is obviously the inspiration for my single Different Way featuring the man himself, although Digital’s 2004 rework of the KennyKen jungle classic has a lot to do with it as well. It’s a classic groove from an incredible singer. When he stepped into the booth to lay down the new vocal for my track, he did it in one take and it was perfect.
2. Common: Funky For You
No matter how high he is rated, COM is still underrated. Water For Chocolate is an absolutely perfect album and is filled with rump shakers as well as consciousness, showing a sense of humour that bridges time and genre barriers like very few other albums have ever done since.
3. Sly & The Family Stone: If You Want Me To Stay
Sly Stone is a genius and I wish a major music festival would dedicate a team to getting him back on stage. I like his up-tempo stuff as well, but these slow creepers he’s done are just incredible, goosebump-inducing, dancefloor-incinerating grooves that demonstrate the power of the bassline.
4. NAO: Fool To Love
The girl hails from London and this tune was released a few years ago, but she could have been from Brooklyn and the tracks could have been released in 1996. The whole EP is bonkers but this one definitely up there with the best of them, and that includes the Mary J Blige or Aaliyah bangers from way back when!
5. Mobb Deep: Survival of the Fittest
Huge party jam and one of the many standout tracks of their seminal ’The Infamous…’ album, definitely one of my top 10 albums of all time, and the one album that really gave an insight into what life on the New York streets was really like. Amazing beats, rock-solid rhymes, and impeccable storytelling…
6. Tanya Stephens: Yuh Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet
I could have picked a Bounty Killer, Beenieman or Mr. Vegas tune but let’s give the women some love here: Tanya Stephens is an absolute queen and her version of the Joyride riddim is a classic. It takes me back to the golden era of the turn of the century when every week new arrivals from Jamaica would flood dancefloors and they were all outstanding.
7. Dynamite MC: Bubble
Shout out the legend that is Dynamite MC! World of Dynamite was a great album, dropped in the early 2000s and had bangers like the garage-y Rush The DJ, the Andy C collaboration Hotness and hip-hop bangers like this one. When he was in the booth with me at petrol I dropped a garage breakdown and had him go into the Rush the DJ chorus and that was a riot!
8. Sean Paul: Feel Alright
When the Coolie Dance came around, it turned a whole lot of people onto dancehall, and every notable artist at the time dropped a crazy version of it, but whoever injected Sean Paul’s version with that sweeping low-end Reese bass took it to the next level. Ya dun know!
9. Beastie Boys: Pow
When the Beasties dropped Licensed to Ill they got me hooked on hip-hop for life. When they came out with Pauls Boutique, it schooled me on the possibilities of sampling and the funk jams on the two following albums urged me to dig into soul and funk back catalogues. I’m forever grateful!
10. Un-Cut. ft Jenna G: Midnight (Marcus Intalex & ST Files Remix)
Let’s close the list with a drum&bass classic that features one of the most important people in my journey through dance music: the incredible Jenna G! This is such a great song and it perfectly captures the vibe of a midsummer night’s dancefloor at dusk or dawn. Thank god they got the legend Marcus Intalex to remix it, making sure this will be in the d&b bible indefinitely.
Stream/Buy ‘Dark Cloud’, here.
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