Dieselboy

As DJ mixed CDs go, Moonshine has scored a winner here with New York’s Dieselboy’s aptly-titled A Soldier’s Story. Dieselboy, perhaps the closest North American drum & bass DJ to being a household name, has flawlessly mixed up a blend of dark and funky beats by both well-known and up & coming artists that is sure to please fans of the current trends of two-step dark d&b and driving techstep. Technical Itch tracks feature strongly on this disc, both from mother-label Moving Shadow and their own label, Tech Itch. Definitely lending his own tuff vibes to Tech Itch’s Mark Caro, the Dieselboy & Tech Itch tune “Atlantic State” is a feather in the cap of NYC d&b, proving that the Big Apple can (and does) produce slamming tunes with at least as much vigour and panache as the UK artists most commonly heard in the junglist circuit. This CD contains a flow from the hard and rough sounds of the Usual Suspects (heard twice alongside both Loxy and Fierce) and Jonny L to the smooth and dark sounds of Peshay, culminating in the beautifully hard melodic track “BS9” by Tech Itch’s Decoder (aka Darren Beale). Beale is also presented on this mix as the remixer of Kosheen’s rumbling “Yes Men,” which Dieselboy brings in almost unnoticeably after Peshay’s track of the year, “Vegas.” Props to Dieselboy for saluting many of the finest in UK d&b labels (Trouble on Vinyl, Renegade Hardware, Shadow, V Recordings, Ram and Droppin’ Science) yet allowing his ever discriminating taste to include relative newcomers Fierce, Loxy, Konflict and DJ Friction. His track selection and mixing is far superior to many of the UK DJs who command much of the spotlight (and pay) in the d&b community.