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: UK producer Kloke has been on prolific form lately, dropping the science on Tim Reaper's Future Retro, Unknown To The Unknown, Fresh 86 and scores more labels besides. Now he's stepping up to Samurai sub label Mindgames in the wake of essential drops from Reaper and Eusebeia with some incredibly accomplished workouts which reach beyond formulaic limitations to offer the kind of bar-raising breaks juggling and considered production that truly stands out in this day and age. 'Eternity' is as compelling in its teasing, quasi-ambient lead in, taking some of the backroom surrealism of Photek's Modus Operandi and charging it with a vivid, underwater sound design flair. That's just one example - every track has its own distinctive intrigue and mind-bending ideas flying out of the speakers in high-definition.

Review: .Stepping into spring with true style and just the right amount of nostalgic sass, unpredictable Finnish artist Otto Taimela follows a string of techno dispatches with this sublime four track jungle narrative that's perfect the sunnier seasons. With its lively, unkempt edits and jumps, 'Sunflower' has a powerful warmth of a timeless jungle dancefloor tune while carrying a certain amount of nostalgic IDM haze. It's a vibe which is maintained throughout the EP; 'Sunwarmed Window' has a dreamier edge that wouldn't have gone amiss on Warp at any point during the early to mid-90s, 'Sunshine Reloading' rides a much busier drums palette while 'Imagined U' brings us back down to earth with a gentle beatless ambient kiss. Stunning.