Tune of the day: Nautilus – Small Adventures

My first post on Drum Trip and hopefully the first of many.

This tune I came across listening to the excellent “The Secret Art of Science” mix cd by DJ DB. Released on the short lived Basement Records sub-label Precious Materials in 1996 it has an excellent chilled jazzy vibe to it and some excellent progression towards the end.

Nautilus consisted of Ben McColl, DJ Orbit and Matthew Brooks. Ben McColl and Matthew Brooks also produced together under the alias Appaloosa and had releases such as “Unplugged” on Recoil Records and “Night Train” with DJ Dream on Looking Good Records. It is no suprise with a release such as small adventures that around the same time they had releases on Good Looking Records, it definately has a Good Looking sound to it! Matthew Brooks is still involved with music and has in recent years released a string of Mash Up mix cds on Ministry of Sound with Nick Barnes under the “Cut Up Boys” alias.

The Precious Materials sub label featured a more jazzier Jungle sound than its parent label Basement Records and was active between 1994 and 1996. Although the sub-label was short lived it featured releases from prominent artists such as Alex Reece producing under the Jazz Juice alias with Paul Saunders aka Wax Doctor. Parent label Basement Records featured artists such as Jack Smooth, Basement Phil, Kev Bird, DJ Mayhem, Wax Doctor, Roger Johnson, Alex Reece and Top Buzz. ‘Jungle Techno’ is a sound drawn from the label, with the phrase credited to Mikee B (one third of Top Buzz) who once famously commented that a Basement Records tune he was listening to had sounds that were actually similar to those in a jungle, mixed with Detroit influenced soundscapes.

Small Adventures can be picked up here on vinyl for approximately £4 or you can get it on unmixed cd on the Sunday Best chill out album for £2.

A worthwhile purchase in my opinion.

Ben

Written by Benct on May 9, 2012.