Goldie: Saturnz Return (Ffrr Records)

AFTER YEARS of failing to cultivate any homegrown hip hop talents comparable to the likes of Rakim or the Notorious B.I.G., the infamous noise scientists who roamed the fringes of U.K. clubland in the early 1990s began experimenting with various sounds — dub, rap, dancehall, Detroit techno, jazz, and ambient. Often under the influence of phantasmic drugs, they created nervous soundscapes that twisted together samples, original vocals, and frenetic breakbeats — all moving at 160-plus BPMs. This frantic sound mixture gave birth to the impertinent genre known as jungle. The music of a Blue Note club DJ named Goldie took on a soulful psychedelic vibe that blended cutting-edge instrumentation — a revolutionary version of the future of sound — with the brutal, angst-ridden life realities of today.