Back in stock: Drum And Bass

Review: Covert operator ASC continues his astral travels for his current series of intergalactic breakbeat explorations with 'Star Cluster'. Following 'Isometric Projection' and 'Cause & Effect', this EP once again reaches to the heavens for its essence and rolls out with shimmering, emotional charm and more than its fair share of heavy drum punches. The dreamy vocal calls and slamming breaks of 'Solyaris' and the tightly coiled spring groove of 'Oblivion' are both major highs on this trip.

Review: Dylan Brownsword strips things right down to the elements for this exceptional exploration into dub techno influenced drum & bass. Stark futurism that smoulders at its coldest and will have you shivering at its hottest, vibes range from the shimmering Basic Channel style reflections of 'B1' to the more autonomically minded swagger of 'B3'. Trembling with echoes of his powerful techno work in the past, across this whole collection DB1 keeps one foot in the dance, one foot in the stars throughout.

Review: Vinyl only and lucky if we see one release a year; Moonshine's Dubwise Revolution always keeps us keen with their white label 10s. This is no exception. Crafted by an anonymous source, these spicy versions join the dots in a contemporary, high grade way. Sleng tenging it out with plenty of molten low end, 'Garnedd' brings the soul while 'Ghetto Living' slugs it out with swagger. Grab it while you can.

Review: Eusebeia and Artificial Red: Two artists together across three tracks on one beautiful 12" Samurai off-shoot label Mind Games are spoiling us silly right here. The magic is evident the moment those luxury drums swoop and dip on 'Sweet Memories'. More jazz than jungle, there's a cosmic urgency laced throughout that sets the tone for the whole EP. Elsewhere 'Peace Of Mind' goes full GLM with its dreamy pads and soft subs before 'Cloud Nine' finishes with a tender ravey hug. Music for the Mind Games, soul games and indeed body games.

Review: 2019 has been big for Goldie. The late summer saw the anniversary reissue of his second album "Saturnz Return", and now he's put together a bumper collection of drum & bass gems. Across "60 tracks that smashed it" as the release is sub-titled, the proudly British sound of drum & bass is explored and exposed thanks to music from all the key players including Roni Size, Doc Scott, Photex, Krust, DJ Zinc and many more familiar faces. Of course, the Metalheadz boss' own "Inner City Life" kicks off in triumphant fashion and the vibes keep coming thick and fast from there on in.

Review: After 16 years as a DJ and label owner, Kasra only released his debut EP in 2018. Now he's dropping albums dripping in high grade collabs. Gardna, Riko Dan, Yaano, Slay, VISLA, Killa P, T Man and Enei all play a role in this gully-fest as the Critical bossman rolls out a session of timeless styles. Highlights include the A.W.O.L style dark stepper 'Platinum', the Digital Soundboy flavoured 'Shatter' and the mesmerising smash of 2023 - 'BB.OO'. Dreamy. .

Review: Few things are certain in life; death, taxes, politicians lying and Paradox guaranteeing to slap your very soul with every single release he ever carves. Paradox Music 040 is no exception as 'Soviet' buries you under a savage iron curtain while '7Arc' is just Dev showing off his digging chops as he makes a whole range of breaks and cuts chat and bubble away in conversation. Pure breakbeat magic as always. Big up Paradox.

Review: Deep atmospheric jungle is definitely having a moment right now with labels such as Omni Music and Codename RCRDS and Deep Jungle incubating some outstanding art, Kid Drama and DJ Trace's Nine Windows project setting benchmarks and, way ahead at the forefront, Soul Intent doing what he's been doing for the best part of 20 years. Atmospherics is the perfect example. His deepest and most cosmic of albums, the full trip is an epic sci-fi odyssey that sucks you in on an iMax level. These four cuts are some of the most clubbier-minded cuts, especially for the vinyl heads. From the hurricane breaks of the title track to the jazzy rolling drums of 'Dying Star', this is an exceptional snapshot of an incredible album.

Review: Given the uniqueness of his madcap and mind-altering trademark sound, the release of any new album from Tom Jenkinson AKA Squarepusher is big news. Given that his last new full-length landed four years ago, the arrival of Dostrotime has got an awful lot of experimentalists in a bit of a lather. Like many albums that have surfaced in the last couple of years, it was apparently inspired by the "novel, eerie, sublime silence of lockdown", with the title being a reference to "how time passed differently". Quite how this plays out within the music itself is open to interpretation; for the most part, what's on offer is prime Squarepusher - all distorted, full-throttle acid lines, mutilated experimental D&B beats, analogue electronics and rasping, strobe-lit nods to raves,