Basement-shaking bangers: Cheetah and Aries at Kable

On a Saturday night in February, the basement of Kable was home to a slick showcase of an addictive mix of classic and modern jungle provided by legend Aries, rising star Cheetah, and staple of the Manchester underground Sweetly, put on by local promoters Fishing for Bill. Kable’s basement was electric. Their Funktion-One soundsystem and dazzling lighting made the perfect home for a relentless, sweaty night of frantic breakbeats.

The crowd didn’t let up from the outset, spurred on by the rapid pace of the modern jungle revival. First up was Manchester’s own Sweetly, co-owner of Brainiac Records, a local label curating Manchester’s underground footwork, jungle and UK garage scene. He is also known for drumming in the post-punk band Holly Head, and incorporates his live drumming skills into his jungle sets. Sweetly's set opened with Nookie’s 'only you', an atmospheric tune with lush piano hooks and soulful vocal samples. This relative calm didn’t last long, though. From this point on, there were few chances to catch your breath for the rest of the night, not that anyone in the crowd seemed to need it.

Sweetly moved onto a heavier, bassy sound for the rest of his set: the middle portion often used looping, almost hypnotic basslines, with drums being supplied from his pads. The live drum elements were compelling, allowing Sweetly to improvise and evolve the percussion across tracks, providing a fascinating flavour that was unique from standard breaks. The biggest crowd-pleaser of the set was his jungle flip of Awesome 3’s classic 'Don’t Go'. The breakbeat remix, again with live drums, brought a surge of energy from the crowd. Towards the end of the hour he dropped Roni Size’s 'Brown Paper Bag', which again was met with a burst of energy.

Bristol-based DJ and producer Cheetah is a central figure in the modern jungle revival. He collaborated with Nia Archives on 'Get Loose', the single which launched Up Ya Archives, the latter's jungle label. Cheetah is known for dropping non-stop 160 bangers with a mix of old-school and modern jungle that incorporates elements of hardcore. Cheetah set a breakneck pace right from the beginning, opening with an even faster flip of 'Original Nuttah' and maintaining the high energy characteristic of modern jungle throughout his entire set. While the set didn’t vary much in terms of pace, he kept it fresh throughout by bringing in elements of ragga and hardcore. The brilliant thing about modern jungle is that its relentless pace is tiring but never boring. DJs like Cheetah hold your attention throughout, almost forcing you match their infectious energy.

Birmingham-born Aries is a veteran of the jungle and drum-and-bass scene. His career spans over thirty years, and he now heads up Born on Road, a label at the forefront of modern drum-and-bass and home to sounds ranging from jungle to jump-up. His experience definitely comes through in his DJing; he laid down a slick, straightforward jungle and DnB set. His set brought more of the classic jungle sound than the previous two, with more reggae and dancehall elements incorporated. He gave everyone a slightly needed break to sing along to 'I Chase the Devil' (famously sampled in The Prodigy’s “Out of Space”), which went down a treat.

Towards the start of his set, he teased the crowd with snippets from Fred Again..’s 'leavemealone' and High Contrast’s 'If We Ever', which felt somewhat unsatisfying since neither song got to drop fully. A jungle flip of jump-up classic 'Couple Guinness' also came across as slightly cheesy, although it didn’t go amiss with the crowd by any means.

All in all, Aries maintained the energy of the previous selectors and brought a more classic tinge to a brilliant showcase of what the vibrant modern jungle scene has to offer. Anyone interested in Manchester's electronic scene should keep an eye out for Sweetly and Brainiac Records, in particular, as he takes to Manchester’s Gorilla alongside Takuya Nakamura for what is set to be a captivating night of jungle jazz at the beginning of April.