Ten records to start with: the drum and bass albums and singles every listener should hear

Where should a new listener start with drum and bass? There is no single answer, but a handful of records are named so often that they work as landmarks. This list is not a ranking. It is a route through the genre, in the order the records came out, with a note on why each one matters.

1. Shy FX and UK Apache, Original Nuttah (1994)

The breakthrough ragga jungle track, with vocals from MC UK Apache, released on Sound of the Underground. Wikipedia credits it with cementing Shy FX's position as a mainstay of the scene. It is jungle in its purest form: fast breaks, a heavy sub and a voice that sounds like a sound system.

2. Goldie, Timeless (1995)

Goldie's debut album entered the UK chart at number 7 and is widely seen as the record that showed jungle and drum and bass could carry long, cinematic ideas. If you only buy one album from the first wave, this is the usual choice.

3. LTJ Bukem, Logical Progression (1996)

A compilation rather than a single artist album, and the calm counterpart to Timeless. It collects the jazzy, atmospheric strand of the music that LTJ Bukem and his label Good Looking championed, and it still works as home listening.

4. Roni Size and Reprazent, New Forms (1997)

The album won the Mercury Prize in 1997. It put a drum and bass record in front of an audience that would never have visited a rave, and it is still often named as a landmark for the genre in Britain.

5. Ed Rush and Optical, Wormhole (1998)

Released on Virus Recordings, it helped define the tight, dark, technical sound that became known as neurofunk and techstep. Listen for the cold basses and the sense of precision.

6. High Contrast, True Colours (2002)

His debut album on Hospital Records, from June 2002. It showed how melodic, soulful drum and bass could reach a wider audience, and it began a run of records that made liquid one of the genre's biggest sellers.

7. Pendulum, Hold Your Colour (2005)

The debut album by the Australian band Pendulum, released in July 2005. Its single Slam was the first Pendulum release to reach the UK top 40, and the record brought many rock and festival listeners to the scene.

8. High Contrast, Tough Guys Don't Dance (2007)

Credited with bringing liquid drum and bass back to the mainstream. It is a good example of how the style borrows from soul, funk and film music.

9. High Contrast, Confidential (2009)

Reached gold certification in the UK, meaning 100,000 sales according to the BPI. It is one of the clearest signs of how large the liquid audience had become.

10. Anything from your local night

The tenth record is the one you hear in a room and have to find. Drum and bass is a living scene, and its best records are often the ones played out last month. Ask the DJ, check the label, buy it.

A list like this is only a start. Once you have heard these, follow the labels and the names on the sleeves, and the rest of the genre will open up.