Jonny L
Magnetic

LA RECENSIONE

Usually, I have almost always preferred more "rock" music, but as a good '90s kid, I was also fascinated by what remains the most important musical revolution of that decade: drum'n'bass. At the time, I was attracted to the genre only up to a certain point because, although I liked it, it sounded "a bit all the same" to me, and it was only after repeated listens in stores that I finally found a record that attracted me: "Magnetic."
The CD differed quite a bit from the fashionable Jungle that had been heard until then, even though the phenomenon was nearing its end (it was '98).

This Jonny L went well beyond the usual broken rhythms and basslines, complementing the urgency of the breaks with ambient keyboard inserts, thus creating effective nighttime atmospheres (“Brother,” “Pbx,” “Sight Unseen,” “Exabyte,” “In Vain”). Elsewhere, it was an almost industrial rhythmic assault that prevailed with metallic, heavy, and/or metronomic beats like in “Uneasy,” “Focus,” and “Viper.”
An excellent example of how rap perfectly married Jungle (and this comes from someone who doesn’t digest rap) was given by the adrenaline-pumping “20 Degrees,” while the interlude “Hard Clip” effectively mixed Hip Hop with Industrial. The other two sung tracks (“Accelerate” and “Viper”) stood out for the presence of a female vocal that appeared cold, lost, and sensual at the same time.

It seems that good Jonny L, after this excellent work, embarked on the downward spiral experienced by many former Jungle heroes who abandoned the ship before it sank, trying in vain to reinvent themselves in other genres.
Who knows if in a few years, yet another revival will have us rediscover them.