Week 9: Ambient Jungle

Imagine yourself in 1994. The whole jungle thing is kicking off big time, and you love it, but you happen to have this other side—maybe it's an artsy-fartsy ambient "let's smoke a bowl and talk about the universe" side, or perhaps it's a wannabe-jazz-musician "one of these days I'm gonna learn to play vibes just like Roy Ayers" side, or maybe you're just one of those pretentious types who thinks this whole jungle thing would be a delight if only there were some intellectuals like you to make it inscrutable to the unwashed masses.
Back in the day all three of those somewhat unseemly forces united and churned out a sound referred to as "ambient jungle", "atmospheric jungle", "jazz jungle", "intelligent drum & bass", "artcore", and a few dozen other names that the press tried to push out there but that never really stuck.
This stuff was adored by the critics back in the day (I remember reviews from the jungle section in Urb saying "thank goodness this new Reinforced comp doesn't have any stinking AMENS in it"), but it's been pretty much forgotten today. On the rare occasions when people do bring up this genre, it's usually to malign it (my pal and sometimes collaborator DJ C hates the stuff, for instance).
Make no mistake, a bunch of ambient jungle was awful. It sounds like an advertisement for body lotion that you might see on Lifetime, or like the music they play in Pottery Barn. But then again, a lot of it was really good, and due to prevailing tastes in jungle at large, I never ever get a chance to play this stuff. So here goes.

Chrissy's Year of Mixtapes Week 9: Ambient Jungle

1. Blame; Groove Research (Movin' Shadow)
2. Cloud Nine; Blissful Ignorance (Tango Remix) (Movin' Shadow)
3. D'Cruze; Heaven (Suburban Base)
4. Eddie; Intelligent Drummer (One Touch Recordings)
5. DJ Food; Fungle Junk (Ninja Tune)
6. Essence of Aura; Let Love Shine Through (Movin' Shadow)
7. Tek 9; Slow Down (Nookie Remix) (Reinforced)
8. Jazz Juice; Jazz Juice (Precious Materials)
9. DJ Krush feat. Black Thought & Malik B; Meiso (4Hero Remix) (Mo'Wax)
10. Run Tings & Liftin' Spirits; Invincible (Suburban Base)
11. The Noise of Art; Rollin' Deep (Smokey Joe Remix—Chrissy Re-Edit) (Suburban Base)
12. Omni Trio; Renegade Snares (Foul Play Remix) (Movin' Shadow)
13. Red One; Alive & Kicking (Remix) (Liftin' Spirits)
14. Flynn & Flora; Dream Of You (Independent Dealers)
15. Boogie Times Tribe; My Soul (Roni Size & Krust Remix) (Suburban Base)
16. SDS; Future Feelings (Echo Drop)
17. The Art of Noise; Island (Seiji Remix) (China)
18. Jason Mouse; Better World (Sm:)e)
19. DJ Phantasy; Atmosphere (Alex Reece Remix) (Rogue Trooper)
20. Tek 9; 74 Inches Above Sea Level (SSR)
21. ILS & G-Force; Nocturnal (Echo Drop)
22. Rogue Unit; Dance of the Sarooes (Labello Blanco)
23. Tight Control; Sax Lick 1 (Chrissy Edit) (Bear Necessities)
24. Mikey James; The Rhys Project (Suburban Base)
25. A Guy Called Gerald; Life Unfolds His Mystery (Juice Box)