LTJ Bukem – Journey Inwards

When it came out I never had that much feel for it.
I lived through the beginnigs of 90's era. From spedding up tracks bij Fabio and Groove to Jungle. But when Jungle became more a stamp of lower and criminal stuff I hated the term 'intelligent dnb" and the snob that called it that :-)
But with age comes mind, relistening and reminiscing the 90's sound. During the hightimes of DnB (1996-2003ish) it grew on me.
Now I relisten everything GLR and Moving Shadow and especially this album.

It's one of the best fusion albums of DnB, warm harmonics, jazz, organics and mind.
I don't care what Pitchfork says, you need this in your life.

Definitely time for a repress for this excellent vinyl release

Bukem has always been a favourite of mine throughout the years and from the old sets he used to play back in the heady days of the rave and jungle era. I was and still am very grateful to have been around then. So naturally I buy all of his stuff but only just got this. It’s a beautiful collection of jazzy funky tracks and thought provoking drum and bass. But I have to say that CD1 really does it for me. The journey I experienced was utterly sublime from start to finish. When it came to CD2 I was met with Sunrays which I already knew but found a little repetitive. Production wise the initial riff just goes on too long for me it’s form and so it does my nut in a bit as does the second track for exactly the same reason. As the CD2 progresses though it becomes more the expected style I have come to know and love. So overall it’s a great collection and as I would expect well conceived and put together but a few tracks I would have put together slightly differently. Easy for me to say but there we are. Worth collecting for sure as many great tracks to mix with and play with beer to chill with. I would give it an 8/10 as some of his Earth series stuff has the edge for me. But still great work in general.

Note: for some reason Bukem or whoever decided to punish whoever wanted to listen or buy his albums digitally (meaning, major mp3 stores or streaming services) and some tracks are just faded out 1, 2 minutes or more. This happens with "Journey Inward", "Our World" and some others, and happens with other GLR albums like the Makoto first one where Time is awfully cropped. Why did GLR do this?

LTJ is a skillful composer and this album is the testament of this.

Interseting LTJ Bukem sampling heavily Nick Ingman - `Throng` on Inner Guidance.
Yet there is no credit to this track anywhere on the album yet the are credits to other samples used.

Truly cosmic, a voyage around the space. A masterpiece that can't lack from your collection. Maybe the cover art should have been something like Logical Progression 1 picture, that would have been more appropriate to describe the entire album. But, of course, songs can project those images in your mind.

Definitely, the most progressive and the most various work by Danny Bukem. As it was already mentioned here one can find a spirit of jazz and modern intelligent jungle/drum'n'bass. I'm a huge jazz fan, so I was glad do discover such slices as 'Journey Inwards', 'Sunrain' and 'Inner Guidance'...the track which was a complete surprise is 'Point Of View'...the word of gentle strings and analog vibrations. But, unfortunately, he's not a jazz-man, he's more of a beat-maestro, so the lack of possibilities is felt sometimes...I mean when trying to compare with the future-jazz bands, which produce more improvisation stuff. But...this CD is damn good. Esp. for relaxation and having a lot of free time, lying on a sofa in front of the speakers with the favorite book in the hands...

Thank you. Alexander. SPb, Russia.

And what a journey it is. Whereas many of his counterparts struggle to blend quantity with quality, Bukem provides both. Ambient soundscapes abound and are blended with acoustic percussion, flute, cello and cool synth timbres. It's a more jazz influenced style than on previous outings--a tone set by the languid flute opener, "Journey Inwards." This doesn't prevent Bukem from writing more uptempo material, however. "Watercolours" and "Viewpoint" are great examples of a more forward-looking approach. "Viewpoint" in particular is a futuristic drum-and-bass workout with a great rhythm. The jazz-funk strains of "Sunrain" open the second disc, which may surprise Bukem fans. With its instantly memorable vocal line it offers a pleasing twist of styles. Further proof, as if any were needed, that LTJ Bukem is still way ahead of the game.