Waveforms 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: With the Waveforms series, spacefaring drum & bass titan ASC moves away from the pure cosmic thematics for a much more formal take on his craft. Having released these tracks in wavy serial form since at least the end of 2023, specially on 10", these 'Waveforms' could be said to track a tidal movement in ASC's psyche, with the releases therein following his many capricious oscillatory whims i.e. as he sees fit, whether in response to lunar cycles or otherwise. Still, that hasn't stopped him from releasing over three additions to the series, though: now, waveforms 11 and 12 emerge. Both tracks extirpate ASC's sound as something purely formal - without the usual metaphysical or outer-spatial fetishisms - yet still take up huge amounts of bandwidth (though not to the point of sounding undynamic) and stir up a primal rancour in us by way of militant techstep on the A, and string-baked Arcadian amens on the B.

Review: There's seemingly no end to ASC's offerings to the drum & bass world and so it continues on this beautifully packaged black splattered yellow 10" from the Waveforms series. 'Waveform 03' is an airy jungle excursion with explosive amens set off against vast expanses of pads, while 'Waveform 04' locks into a sleeker, techier approach where the icy atmospherics have more space to stretch out. No one is even close to the quality and quantity of ASC, and this is yet another essential addition to his huge legacy.

Review: Waveforms is as a brand-new label from ASC and Presha who are already well known and respected for their work with Spatial/Auxiliary and Samurai Music. It's a new outlet that will specially tap into the sounds of 90s jungle and serve up new tunes on 10". Tim Reaper has been behind one, and Eusebeia is now on this one on blue-marbled vinyl. A-side cut 'Waveform 05' is a cavernous cut with pulsing bass and spine chillingly ethereal vocals up top while 'Waveform 06' keeps the pressure on with more throwback jungle realness and unrelenting breakbeat pressure.

Review: The Waveforms Series hears many a drum & bass titan outside of their usual comfort zone, encouraging them to explore sound-regions not dissimilar to their usual output, yet without the thematic accoutrements, instead as a means to purely ponder the form of sound itself. Here the label welcomes Melbourne-based producer Kloke to the fore for their ninth and tenth selection: both tracks bring tympanic tremors and echoic bass-boings to an otherwise shifting palette, one that never settles into the potential banalities of breaks nor the predictabilities of jungle percussion. '09' is melancholic enough, veering effortlessly between teary night-bus-ride padwork and aggro shellage, while '10' melds the two, bringing extra filter-happiness on the drums and arpy ardour on the synths.

Review: Waveforms is a brand new label spearheaded by ASC and Presha who the already revered minds behind Spatial/Auxiliary and Samurai Music respectively. They say they are on a mission to dive deep into the menacing world of early 90s jungle and cook up tunes reminiscent of that era and then serve them up lovely slabs of 10" wax. And right from the off the man who never misses, Tim Reaper, transports us back to the driving breakbeats and raw energy of that time with a pair of tunes that layer up a flurry of snares and booming low ends with wiry synths the sense of futurism that still holds true to this day. Sure to captivate old-school heads and new listeners alike.