Back catalogue: Drum And Bass

Review: California-based, British drum & bass musician ASC returns with more homages to late 90s atmospheric drum & bass on his excellent sub-label Spatial. Anyone who has been following his work and the releases that he's put out on his Auxiliary label and sub labels in the past few years should know what to expect. Following on from last month's excellent full-length Next Time You Fall, 'Undercurrents' is four tracks of impeccably produced ambient jungle. The first cut, 'Ocean Breeze', has a simpler rhythm than you would expect from him, which could be a hint at a more liquid future direction. The next three cuts are classic ASC: cut-up, spaced-out breaks interspersed with dreamy vocals.

Review: Mind Over Matter', the latest release from ASC, continues his explorations into atmospheric, breakbeat-driven soundscapes with striking results. Opening track 'Desire' sets the tone with a lush beat structure, punctuated by sharp cymbal strikes. Subtle whale song samples are woven into the mix, accompanied by a warm bassline and tender piano melodies, while swirling strings ebb and flow, creating an almost tidal sense of movement. 'Voidscaping' follows, launching immediately into crisp, striking breakbeats. The throwback pads recall the heyday of Good Looking, but ASC's meticulous sampling and deep reverb work keep the track fresh, merging nostalgia with modern complexity. On the flip, 'Let Go' brings in the sounds of nature, with metallic bongos and a restrained choral vocal riding over playful, energetic hi-hats. The atmosphere builds, layering strings, synths, and ASC's trademark vocal elements, each listen revealing new intricacies. 'Meltdown' wraps things up with a darker, more anxious vibe. Minimal breaks and elusive hi-hats give the track a creeping tension, while ambient pads and a yearning female vocal add a layer of emotional depth. It's a finely balanced track, blending melancholy and intensity in a way that ASC has mastered.

Review: Space jungle extraordinaire ASC is as prolific as they come, and this week he's back again with 'Sphere Of Influence', a synth-heavy present-day take on the dreamy origins of his chosen sound. Beginning with 'The Arcane', we're most struck with ASC's emphasis on atmospherics and synthwork - they come first compared to his relatively functional breakscience, which are like godlike apparatuses guiding us through heavily nuanced, heavenly vistas. That functionality goes out of the window with 'Threeform', though - an unusually sound-designed number which introduces suddenly-huge variation in the breaks, in what is said to be ¾ time.

Review: Simon Huxtable's Aural Imbalance is one of drum & bass's most cultured projects. It's a pretty prolific one too, with great new music coming on a steady basis on labels like his own Spatial and Okrbon. It is the former he returns to now with a lush translucent blue vinyl 12", Retrospective Feelings. 'Blue Sky' is a deft mix of ambient cosmic synth work and meticulous drum patterns that suspends you in mid-air. 'Starburst' douses you in dazzling light and 'Frozen Tears' is deeper, tighter, more melancholic. 'Moonlit Clouds' is the classy closer which again pairs a lightness of rhythm and melody into something heavenly.

Review: Aural Imbalance is in a super productive and super good run of form that has seen him serve up a wealth of great EPs over the last year. Now he is back on his own Spatial platform. This latest one comes on translucent grey smokey and green splattered vinyl, starting with the busy and unrelenting amen breaks workout of 'Spacewaves' then pulling back into more suspensory and delicate synth realms on 'Tranquil Sea'. On the flip, the crisp snares and underlapping drum loops of 'Concordia' have you in a state of meditation and then last of all is another sublime bit of ambient laced and dreamy jungle in 'Fading Fields'.

Review: JLM opens the EP for Spatial with 'Consensus Reality', an uplifting track driven by lush keys and filtered breaks. The melodies are woven from a range of harmonious elements, while crisp apache breaks are expertly introduced, showcasing JLM's signature style. 'Salva Veritate' shifts to a darker, more intense atmosphere. Whooshing synths and dense soundscapes are layered over hefty 'Hot Pants' breaks, with tuneful 808 basslines and blippy sub-melodies adding texture to this suspenseful track. On the flip side, 'Hotspot' starts with mellow, jazzy keys before bursting into life with juddering snares and smooth 808 basslines. Dreamy strings and pads sweep through the mix, creating a paradox of energy and calm. The EP closes with 'Nova', a soothing track featuring soft, flowing synths and delicate beats. Subtle effects and cosmic breaks aplenty - an exceptional release.

Review: This new 12" jungle splatter record marks a return for JLM Productions, best known in d&b circles for appearing on 4Hero's Reinforced label in the early to mid-90s, although closer research reveals JLM aka Jamie Myerson to be behind a myriad of releases of different hues for everyone from Josh Wink's Ovum to his own, prolific but unnamed 'own brand' label. Flaunting the artist's longtime talent for atmosphere incantation and breaks wizardry, all the tracks from 'Theia' to 'Translight Velocity' end up achieving the transcendental superluminality its title boasts of.

Review: ASC's Spatial imprint looks west for inspiration this month as they welcome a certified Reinforced OG who made a return last September after a 25 year break from this particular project (and many years from the game): New Jersey's JLM Productions. Also operating under aliases such as Sky City and P.E.P during the 90s, the JLM name was synonymous with the deeper, atmospheric sounds of jungle. And that's exactly what we have here. Four blissful, subtle and restrained atmospheric jungle cuts. Highlights include the swashbuckling breaks on 'The Navigator' and the dream-like haze of opener 'The Cartographer'. Welcome back JLM.

Review: Reinforced graduate, technoid polymath and very early US jungle representer Jamie Myerson returns to Spatial, ASC's platform that willed him back into the game just under a year ago. His third EP since his return, once again Jamie treats us to four sublime sonic scenarios ranging from the bright and hopeful salvo of ravey open 'Tensor' to the poignant pads and hazy farewell of the finale cut 'Wavefunction'. Each one as beguiling and emotionally sprung as the next, these are a testament to both Myerson and Spatial's enduring sense of timelessness.

Review: Spatial is the connoisseur d&b label run by Simon Huxtable aka Aural Imbalance and as well as dropping a new EP from the boss himself this month, JLM Productions also steps up with a fine limited edition purple slab of brilliance. These sounds are more textural and dense than the boss's, with 'Permeate' plunging on heavy drum breaks, while 'Orogeny' is a busy one with crashing hits and more sub-bass drilling down low. 'Subsidence' douses you in widescreen cinematic pads while the drums flutter about the field and 'Lamminar Flow' brings things to a close with a more bright melodic touch and cruising grooves.

Review: ASC's Reflections is a masterclass in drum & bass and ambient music. The album is awash with deep, melodic soundscapes and old-school 90s beats that will transport you to another world. From the gentle pace of 'Glaciers' to the more upbeat 'Prototype' each track on the album is a sonic journey that will leave you wanting more. ASC's production is impeccable, and his use of samples is nothing short of masterful. The result is an album that is both nostalgic and fresh, with a sound that is uniquely his own. Whether you're a fan of drum & bass, ambient, or simply good music, Reflections is an album that you won't want to miss. In addition to the stunning music, the album's packaging is also top-notch.

Review: Their first ever collaborative LP, drum & bass brilliants ASC and Aural Imbalance share Duality, consummating a long working relationship, which has also seen two 12" EP exquisites from 2023, 'Interstellar Transmissions' and 'The Other Side'. But, as this is their first full-length album together, Duality is less floor-centred and works in a relatively conceptual mode, tracking a strong but measured arc from left-right pad sculptings to designer breaks. The cosmic theme of both artists' music is omnipresent as ever, though there's an extra dash of titular spiritualism; we move from the literal celestiality of 'Sunset On Mars', into a B-side's figurative celestiality with 'Seraphim' and 'Prism Of Light'; a steady vibe-shift into angelic, alary buoyancy.

Review: The latest full-length LP from Aural Imbalance continues serenely on the heels of an already well-travelled career. Now seeming to avow the often almost eternal sounding nature of breaks and drum & bass, a title like Infinity Spectrum implies that this is a career that could happily go on forever, were we not mere mortals. As ever, the album is interstellar in theme, each track doubling up in function as names that could also easily denote distant star systems or galaxies; 'Aurealis' and 'Alpha' are standout cuts in this regard, pitting rolling pitched 808s, rattling arps, and nebular pads together, behooving the ever-central breakbeat that sets us off on a journey to find some glistening lost alien artifact. Though there is a destination, it really is about the journey; by the time we reach the C-side, 'Slow Motion' ups the sonic sulphur content with a detour through an airier, major-keyed gas-planetary iceworld, while wondrous scoped-out rollage judderer 'Apparation' proves that even space provides its own mirages, its own fata morgana.

Review: New Jersey's standout drum & bass star JLM Productions is a releasing powerhouse, having gone strong since at least the mid-90s with his Reinforced alias - and now with a return to his JLM name, here releasing under ASC's Spatial Recordings. Implied to be a pioneer of a certain subset of atmospheric drum & bass, this new album, Variations On Being, harnesses this credo to brilliant effect, rightly representing Jamie Myseron's craft as one that brings with it a deep spiritual fecundity. With Buddhist, Vedic and Hindu titles like 'Dharma', 'Artha' and 'Kama', backed up by a Hellenic haul of tunes on the B-side with titles like 'Physis' and 'Hexis', each track here riffles with a pulsive energy and exquisiteness, as if to suggest the movement of a pure font of spirit, not bound by the formalisms of much drum & bass (the sound is unashamedly expansive, unafraid of giving way to pad and synth wash at the relative expense of heavy-hitting drums).