Back catalogue: Drum And Bass

Review: Tek-notic drum & bass from audio astronaut ASC, whose practice assembles at the chair of a group mooting of cosmically-minded artists, Eusebeia and Aural Imbalance also included in said the Situation Room panel. 'Next Time You Fall' brings us arresting breaks hypnotics and relentless thruster pulses as ever, with 'Fear Of The Deep' packs a chiming sound palette, and 'Concentric Circles' having a wonderful ride-symbolic quality about it, its crosstick rhythms and jazz polytimes wringing the best out of an otherwise choppy and minimal scape. 'Say It' mirrors the EP's titular, lettered urgency, spurning jungle's often dirty commands for a contrastingly seductive piece.

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: At the edge of space, what lies there? Aural Imbalance returns in full force for yet another release on Spatial, with another interaural foil to upset our sense of equanimity and self-satiation. Though every tune on this octopod space-shuttle is ethereal to the Nth degree - its pads are like pulmonary slow-releases, as nice as heaven - that doesn't stop Aural Imbalance from living up to his own name, as he "taints" the mix with classic breaks, whose preserved textures command a candied timelessness about them. At any moment we like, we could be beamed back to their 70s sound-sources if we so wished. Best here is 'Neptune', a gas-giant of techstep submersions, and 'Warpcore', which seems to blur the feeling of speeding up and slowing down.

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).