★★★★★
"Mighty Zanzibar will distract the dragon with his wand of dazzle, while Galadriel casts a fireball at the Dragon's ass," said the Dungeon master to his tiny audience of D&D; geeks. America's premiere drum 'n' bass DJ Dieselboy offers up The Dungeonmaster's Guide, a cheesy title on a brilliant double disc bringing together dance anthems with intense drum 'n' bass slams...
- www.hour.ca
2010-11-09
★★★★★
This handsomely packaged CD takes the form of a fantasy game - the Dungeonmaster is introduced as someone who "has a challenging and often difficult task to perform". The man doing the dungeonmastering, Damian Higgins, has put together a tough and energetic mix. No doubt he intends to complement the brave claims in the foreword and preface(!) that detail the mix as a year in the making and a "soundscape that is lush, dynamic, detailed, vivid, unique and, most importantly, interesting"...
- www.musicomh.com
2010-08-23
★★★★★
This double-disc set of drum 'n' bass from deejay icon Dieselboy's Human imprint is unnecessary and indulgent, celebrating the catalog of a label that hasn't had as many successes as it seems to think. The first disc is made up of selected works that merely blend into one another. The only real high point is the Hive remix of Bad Company's "Mass Hysteria." The rest of the tracks are either too familiar or do not add anything new to the drum 'n' bass equation...
- www.prefixmag.com
2009-06-08
★★★★★
Drum-n-bass is in a boom-bust flux right now. It's debatable whether all the
magazine articles noting how conveniently some former junglists have become
die-hard two-steppers have actually caused the topsy-turvy fortunes of the
Amen-botherers. Meanwhile, drum-n-bass has actually just come around to
another creative peak. So, why the naysaying?
Well, I think people are looking for drum-n-bass in the wrong place...
- www.pitchforkmedia.com
2009-03-20
★★★★★
Drum 'n' bass used to be exclusively British. After all, the music began in London as a fusion of multicultural influences: breakbeats (drum), reggae (bass), house, techno, and soul. About 10 years ago, during the golden age of drum 'n' bass, the idea of American d&b was laughable. A few primitive singles and labels cropped up, but the Yanks were years behind the Brits, who not only had an established community of producers and DJ's, but also a club and rave infrastructure to support it...
- www.popmatters.com
2008-11-11
★★★★★
Alongside DJ Soul Slinger, DJ db and DJ Dara, Dieselboy is one of America's top jungle DJs. The third major mix album he'd released in the past two years, A Soldier's Story is his best yet, including tracks from Technical Itch (three total), Jonny L, Danny Breaks, DJ Friction and Moving Fusion.
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
There are those who say that the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (beloved of 30-something fantasy geeks everywhere) is dead. But then, there are also those who say that drum'n'bass is dead but here, Dieselboy puts his substantial skill to work proving that both propositions are wrong on this sumptuously packaged, two-disc set. Whether you end up agreeing with his argument will depend mainly on how you felt about both the game and the music to begin with...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
For Dieselboy, one of the premiere American drum'n'bass DJs, a system upgrade means getting the latest dubplates on yet another mix album so it doesn't sound like he's losing touch with the fast-moving, British-based jungle scene. As such, System Upgrade includes all-new productions from some familiar labels -- Ram, Tech Itch, Moving Shadow, Renegade Hardware -- all of which favor the jungle two-step with paranoid bio-tech samples and effects...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
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