Back in stock: Drum & Bass / Jungle

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.

Review: The mysterious Vibez '93 are as prolific as they come; the 'Bad Kingdom' EP is certainly not the first of this productive drum & bass project/imprint's outputs to make it through our floodgates this year. Four slices of various productive forces - ranging from paddy jungle ('Jelly Swim'), to an unusual foray for '93: drilled-out techstep ('Labrea'). Otherwise, expect no nonsense, as this record spans both casual and not-so-casual floorfillers.

Review: Wots My Code has been back on our shelves recently with some of his most seminal EPs getting reissued. His self-titled effort from 1992 came back in October, as did his All Seasons EP also on Kiteforce, both of which sounded as good as they did back when first crafted. Now his The New Dubplates EP drops on Just Another Label with 'Dubplate' kicking off as a remix by Bay B Kane that takes no prisoners. A Sikka remix then tweaks the energy level and on the flip is 'Pass Me A Dubplate (92-3)' a short but sweet closer.