Biography
Brian Johnson, recording as Bizzy B, stands among jungle’s earliest trailblazers, shaping the style at its most abrasive, shadowy, and uncompromising. Apart from fellow innovator Remarc, few producers have rivaled his command of abrasive breakbeats fused with ominous atmospheres. Since the opening years of the 1990s he launched Brain Records, a label that first presented Peshay, DJ Zinc, Mark Caro (Technical Itch), and Red Alert & Mike Slammer to wider audiences. Alongside Pugwash he created the Dream Team, issuing material through the landmark jungle and hardcore imprint Suburban Base as well as the pair’s own Joker Records. His productions supplied a decisive template for the harsher fringes of breakbeat music, directly informing digital-hardcore, breakcore, and drill’n’bass artists including Alec Empire, Venetian Snares, and Bogdan Raczynski.
Johnson started Brain Records—distinct from the earlier Krautrock imprint of the same name—in 1991 and began issuing breakbeat hardcore that drew on house and techno while layering dense breakbeats and ragga vocal fragments. The exceptionally prolific artist issued dozens of plates, frequently under alternate aliases or in tandem with other producers, and his aesthetic grew progressively quicker and more turbulent. The 1993 cut “The Power,” credited to the duo Warped Kore, helped crystallize darkside jungle by merging rave euphoria with bleaker subject matter and sharper rhythmic arrangements. The Dream Team surfaced in 1994 via “Stamina” on Suburban Base, established Joker Records shortly afterward, and maintained an intense release pace across the decade. Their output tended toward a more dancefloor-oriented, hip-hop-inflected sound than Bizzy B’s darker work, aligning instead with the jump-up drum’n’bass approach associated with Aphrodite and DJ Hype. The duo delivered the albums The Drum’N’Bass World Series and The Trilogy in 1997.
Near the turn of the millennium Johnson turned to U.K. garage under names such as the Beatfreaks and Second Protocol, retaining ragga edge and weighty basslines while adopting tighter rhythmic frameworks. He also recorded drum’n’bass as Warped Science. Renewed attention to jungle’s harder edges brought fresh listeners to his earlier catalog, prompting recent productions that reinstated brooding tones and fragmented Amen breaks. Planet Mu, which had already released a Remarc retrospective in 2003, issued the double 10-inch Science EP, Vol. 3, extending a series begun in 1993. Vol. 4 appeared in 2005; both volumes later received CD editions augmented by an extra track. Vols. 5 and 6 followed in 2006, while Retrospective compiled key early material in 2009. Two volumes of Dubplates also surfaced on Brain Records before the decade closed. Johnson stayed prolific throughout the 2010s, issuing fresh material—including Science, Vol. 7 in 2016—alongside anthologies of previously unheard 1990s recordings.
Johnson started Brain Records—distinct from the earlier Krautrock imprint of the same name—in 1991 and began issuing breakbeat hardcore that drew on house and techno while layering dense breakbeats and ragga vocal fragments. The exceptionally prolific artist issued dozens of plates, frequently under alternate aliases or in tandem with other producers, and his aesthetic grew progressively quicker and more turbulent. The 1993 cut “The Power,” credited to the duo Warped Kore, helped crystallize darkside jungle by merging rave euphoria with bleaker subject matter and sharper rhythmic arrangements. The Dream Team surfaced in 1994 via “Stamina” on Suburban Base, established Joker Records shortly afterward, and maintained an intense release pace across the decade. Their output tended toward a more dancefloor-oriented, hip-hop-inflected sound than Bizzy B’s darker work, aligning instead with the jump-up drum’n’bass approach associated with Aphrodite and DJ Hype. The duo delivered the albums The Drum’N’Bass World Series and The Trilogy in 1997.
Near the turn of the millennium Johnson turned to U.K. garage under names such as the Beatfreaks and Second Protocol, retaining ragga edge and weighty basslines while adopting tighter rhythmic frameworks. He also recorded drum’n’bass as Warped Science. Renewed attention to jungle’s harder edges brought fresh listeners to his earlier catalog, prompting recent productions that reinstated brooding tones and fragmented Amen breaks. Planet Mu, which had already released a Remarc retrospective in 2003, issued the double 10-inch Science EP, Vol. 3, extending a series begun in 1993. Vol. 4 appeared in 2005; both volumes later received CD editions augmented by an extra track. Vols. 5 and 6 followed in 2006, while Retrospective compiled key early material in 2009. Two volumes of Dubplates also surfaced on Brain Records before the decade closed. Johnson stayed prolific throughout the 2010s, issuing fresh material—including Science, Vol. 7 in 2016—alongside anthologies of previously unheard 1990s recordings.
Albums
Slow Jamz
2023
Retrospective
2009
Science EP, Vol. VI
2006
Science EP, Vol. V
2006
Science EP, Vol. IV
2005
Science EP, Volumes III & IV
2005
Science EP, Vol. III
2005
Singles
