Born of sampling technology and break-beat culture, drum and bass is the latest subgenre to emerge from U.K. techno, itself rooted in Detroit house music and running through hardcore and jungle. Typified by hyperfast, syncopated beats, dub bass and swirling sound effects, drum and bass is also distinguished from four-to-the-bar dance music through its affinity with the jazz-rock rhythms and Bitches Brew-style electronics of early '70s fusion.

L.T.J. Bukem, a British DJ, seamlessly mixes recordings by artists from his Good Looking label – including Photek, Chameleon, DJ Trace and Funky Technicians – with his own productions on this two-CD collection. The style of drum and bass represented here is in a formulaic, ambient vein. Shimmering electronic effects roll in for that hallucinogenic feel. A cooing diva adds a rapturous vocal hook; electrostrings and a buoyant bass line suggest melodic structure; a smoking break beat kicks the boogie. While Bukem's dense tunes fare slightly better than the anesthetized soundscapes that fill most of Logical Progression, it is tracks like Photek's spooky, claustrophobic "Pharoah" (which sounds like "Riders on the Storm" meets "Cold Sweat" at high speed) and Aquarius and Tayla's oceanic "Bringing Me Down" that provide the real sustenance.

Drum and bass is still in its infancy, ripe with the excitement that comes with a still-underground phenomenon. But to hear the future of break beat, check out the work of Plug, Squarepusher or Alex Reece. In comparison, Logical Progression is a still life. (RS 744)

KEN MICALLEF