Back catalogue: Drum And Bass

Review: Calibre aka Dominick Martin pairs up with DRS, each taking one side of this 12" and each more than holding their own. Martin continues his current obsession with the pure sound of the real piano, a powerful antidote to the more synthetic sounds we're more used to hearing in the genre. Add a supreme male vocal in plaintive mood,. declaring "I've been looking for love in all the wrong places" and you've got something that really stand out of the crowd. Living For by DRS is more of straight anthem, with reggae influences and a hip-hop vocal giving it a proper lighters-in-the-air atmosphere, its conscious lyrics very much echoing the mood of Britain in 2020. Two very different tracks, for sure, but this package is strong in its diversity.

Review: New gen energy with old school frequencies, Digital's protege Tim Clay lets rip with a level-upping dispatch. 'New Beginnings' is a statement in every direction. By far his heaviest hitting drums to date, you can feel the Function force on this one! 'Body Move' takes more of drum & bass approach with its strident piano stroke and sensual vocal - think Total Science or early Headz. Finally 'Information Overload' is a right old grizzly 95-era Bristol groaner. Rude in sonic and health. Big moves from Monsieur Clay.

Review: We shouldn't need to hype Critical Music up to you too much - the label is a true staple of underground drum & bass after all. Even so, it's exciting to see two powerful forces coming together, and Coco Bryce remains at the top of his game bowling onto this EP for the London imprint with the cheekily titled Nirwana EP. The title track is a delicate, melancholic affair with some smart vocal snippets arranged into an emotive framework before we drop into some outstanding Apache chops. 'Pull Up' meanwhile offers its own distinctive flair with jazzy key licks sprinkled in the breakdown before a coolly dispatched Think break kicks in across the mix. There are ravier synth stabs at work on 'Daze Of Our Lives' and 'Life Changed' lets a little dub slip into the mix, not least thanks to the proper sub line rounding out the bottom end of this typically classy joint with that distinctive Bryce flair about it.

Review: Billed as a "deep think about AI and junglism" and a "deep dive into tribalism and jungle techno" respectively, Coco Bryce's latest toe-tapper doubles as a mysterious bowling down darkside breakage tunnels, manifested in the twin tracks 'Ritual' and 'Y Do U Think I'm Not U'. Both unsettling, Reese-bound tunes, we can't be sure whether any AI programs were used in the making of these tracks, but they do command that same sense of vanguard mystery that pervades the technological climate of today; facing the deep, neurally netted unknown, perhaps surrendering entirely to it. Arpeggiated bliss kicks in at around the halfway mark of the A tune, whilst primal pan flutes and synth bowls seem to fuel the mystique forever on the B.

Review: Furthur Electronix's first two Furthur Journeys Into compilations tune plenty of heads and shift plenty of copies. The third one keeps the quality levels high with more explorations around the periphery of underground electronics. Chris Coco opens with a soothing synth sound before Jake Slazenger brings crystalline synths and abstract modulations to the mid-tempo '168B.' There is more pace and twisted acid energy to Global Goon's untitled contribution and then old school jungle comes to the fore on the super stylish and atmospheric Gavin Masih cut. Monika Subrtova's 'Alata' is a serene and widescreen ambient synthscape that brings things to a suitably poignant close.

Review: This new one from Cyberlife might be rooted in techno but it is closer day a much wider world of sounds. The opener for instance rides on a nice loopy minimal rhythm you might find the likes of Batu or Pev' crafting. It comes with a lovely and dubby low end and then 'Endless Waiting' gets a little more light, with sci-fi sound effects fizzing about the mix as a dystopian automated groove takes you onwards with a hint of ancient tribal ritual to it. 'Reflexive Perspective' brings the sort of synths you'd find in some IDM over cavernous low ends and sombre, sustained chords and 'Backpropagation' shuts down with a watery and languid rhythm full of celestial depth.