Spatial Vinyl & CDs

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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).

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: 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.