My experience of DJ Zinc is at big parties, and his big dancefloor sets. This mix is a perfect encapsulation of that, and as the title suggests, it’s a journey through a variety of dancefloor drum n’ bass, from liquid to flat out nasty tunes and some stuff in between.

A large component of the mix is its vocal content. A number of the tracks are predominantly vocal, and running through the mix are various snippets from MCs. Much like in the live setting, the addition of vocals acts as a guide through tracks and ensures energy levels are at their utmost throughout the whole of the mix.

It’s an interesting mix of tunes – some are brand spanking new, whilst some are new remixes of older tunes (remember that ‘old’ in drum n’ bass can be as short as six months ago!). It’s also a good mix of some of the more ‘up and coming’ producers (such as Lomax, Commix and Redeyes) with more established names such as Zinc himself, Ed Rush, Optical and High Contrast. One of Zinc’s most well known moments in drum n’ bass is his track Super Sharp Shooter, and a VIP of the track features on the mix. It’s not a huge departure from the original and it’s a great way of introducing virginal ears to this early drum n’ bass.

Lomax and Focus’ tune 5 Weeks gets the VIP treatment as well from non other than MC Stammina: this is a great tune anyway, with a slightly techy sounding bassline with the sweetest string sample over the top. Dropped into this tune is a typical Zinc tune (though he uses his alias Dope Skilz) a hard up wobbly tune that is gonna reek havoc on the dance floor.

The opening track features the extremely talented Genna G with a slight tweaking of her In Love tune – yeah it’s a little bit cheesy to change the lyric, “I’m in love” to “D-JAY Zinc,” but they get away with in because its in context of the mix. There’s two High Contrast tunes in the mix – If We Ever, and that great drum n’ bass re-interpretation of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. Break also has two tunes on the mix and there are a number of other Zinc tunes included.

An interesting remix on the album is of the Coki and Benga track Night, a huge tune in the dubstep genre. Interestingly enough Zinc (who remixed this track) also reworked the ground breaking Midnight Request Line for Skream, bringing more attention to the growing genre. I enjoyed the break in the mix where Zinc slips into some more smoother or ‘liquid’ territory, with tracks from Makoto and Redeyes – it really demonstrates the variety of music out there, and how it can all work together in a mix.

This is not a contemplative mix, something to listen to late at night: it’s best when you want something with a lot of energy, a lot of movement and lots of vocal encouragement. It’s a mix you could play to someone who wants to get a better idea of what a big drum n’ bass party might sound like, what better ride to take than Zinc’s?