Five Tracks: Calyx & TeeBee

Don't you just love it when two dope things link up and make even more dope shit? That's kind of what happened with Calyx and TeeBee. As solo artists, they were merking the drum & bass scene with their own singular ideas, roaming in the same circles but providing their own unique twists to the growing scene. Their friendship turned into a production partnership, and in 2004 they started unleashing their fire material to the masses, to critical acclaim. We imagine many of you remember the dust that was kicked up over their All Or Nothing album on Ram in 2012, which was one of the top LPs of that year. On July 21, Fabric released Calyx & TeeBee's FabricLive contribution, a 34-track trek through the drum & bass scene. Of course they threw in a number of their own originals and remixes, but you get a great idea about what's made them tick. For this week's Five Tracks, they put together a special selection of tunes for us:

As a theme, we've gone with five influential and historic dnb tracks that captured our imaginations whilst inspiring our own musical direction. Three of these tracks can be heard on our FabricLive76 mix.

This track captures a time when dnb explored a dark funk that had never been heard before. It would always tear up a dancefloor, but its magic lied in its subtlety;  haunting vocal pads and effects swirled around the brooding, morphing bass and raw breakbeats.

A timeless classic from a true master and one of our greatest inspirations in the early days of dnb. Sublime rhodes chords and strings build a spine-tingling soundscape before Photek unleashes his signature breaks and deadly 808 sub hits.

A track that perfectly reflects the time that dnb cemented its status as "future music." The opening section feels like you're plummeting into a scene from Blade Runner - terrifying but also euphoric. Clubs and crowds would lose their minds when the foghorn-esque sounds crept in to the intro. That, however, was just the calm before the storm… the drums and bass that follow deliver rib-crunching slabs of frequency that once again re-affirmed Dillinja's status as the undisputed king of subs.

People mostly know these two producers as Konflict, who wrote the seminal, apocalyptic-sounding "Messiah." Whist there is no denying the unrivaled power of "Messiah," this track has so much more class, with ethereal strings and synths building up to the silkiest, sexiest bass groove you may ever hear!

The ultimate roller. So simple, so understated, so much groove, but above all, as a DJ it's SO much fun to mix with.