The Vitals:

Label: Hospital Records
Genre: Drum & Bass
Number of Tracks: 24 (2 CDs)
How to Obtain: www.hospitalrecords.com, www.beatport.com

Factor Scores:

Production Quality: 8.0
Programming and Arrangement: 8.5
Entertainment Quality: 7.5
Total: 8.0 - Great

Z's take:

I was excited to listen to this record. Anyone familiar with Logistics and his brand of drum & bass would be. Many drum & bass DJ mixes over the last 6 months have been dropping select tracks from this album, and it has only served to increase my love of this producer's music.

Now More Than Ever is the latest to come from Logistics, one half of Hospital Records' Brothers Extraordinaire (his sibling being drum & bass producer, Nu:Tone). This ambitious 2-CD set is a jaunt through the current trends in drum & bass, taking us from the trancy-jazzy side of the genre on disc 1 to the harder edged tech style on disc 2. Disc 1 contains the popular jazz-tipped track "Take Me To The Bridge", the lounge "Call Me Back", the addicting love song "Falling For You", and the calm afterhours "City Life", as well as two of my new favorites "Follow That Star" and "Winter Blues". Disc 2 is a more minimalistic-styled club recording that includes the rolling "Girl From Mars", the stripped-down techstep "The Divide", and my personal favorite, the title track, "Now More Than Ever".

I will say it right up front, if you have any interest in drum & bass whatsoever, you need to buy this CD. You can't go wrong with most of the amazing tracks on this record. Even if you are only an occasional listener to this genre, you will have a defining album in your collection. Logistics really pulled out all the stops in writing these songs, and his ambition to create danceable soulful drum & bass really makes this record shine. Whether you like the jazzy soul side of the genre or the dirty tech-driven club side of the genre, there is a song or two to satisfy everyone.

Even amidst the continuous stream of quality producers and DJs coming out of Hospital Records, Logistics pulls a "that's not a knife… this is a knife" moment that reveals his expertise in drum & bass. This record visits almost every side of the many-faceted genre and does an excellent job at flushing out the nuances. Logistics is an artist you will definitely want to keep an eye on for future releases. He certainly has my attention.