Veil
A1 – Sphaera : ASC the man known for sci-fi spectaculars begins with the beautiful and forward thinking Sphaera. The soundscape that ASC builds and creates here is one of depth and purpose. A metallic machine like sounds compliment wonderfully with drifty pad sounds that take this track into the deepest realms of space. The beats as you would expect from ASC are progressive and have a great groove to them. With snappy hats and solid kick drums this is a great head nodding piece make no mistake.
A2 – Monsoon : Goes down a darker path than the previous. Again machines and sounds of industry are at the forefront of this beast. The overall feel is colder and more industrial. Don’t let this put you off though as there is a kind of melancholic wonder to this tune. The attention to detail is superb with little noodles of arp sounds that do soften the track to some degree. The structure of the beats is of a more simple rhythm, and lets the main sounds of the track set the groove and pace.
B1 – Neutron Star: Now what ASC manages to deliver consistently well is depth and feeling that has a sci-fi edge, almost film score esc so to speak. And this is very evident in Neutron Star. The hypnotic feeling of the percussion is like a mantra that will take you into the deepest parts of your thoughts. This is coated it a set of spatial ingredients that your ears can feast upon with great delight. The bass pulse sounds is simple but very effective and they are supported with distorted sounds add pure quality to the overall atmosphere.
B2 – Spatial Drift: The EP closes with a very energetic piece. The star of this is the cyclic pulse that really creates a heavy hypnotic dose of brain whirling. The sound progresses and opens up and frequency changes which takes it into the stratosphere. The beats are based on a solid stutter kick that pound the rhythm of the track. Dusty hats and filtered snares make the groove irresistible, this is a proper thoughtful tune even though its in your face but not afraid to be. The sounds again could be heard in many a movie title that involves being in some sort of space drama.
What ASC manages to do here is combine many different styles and sound sets, and make really convincing and well thought out tracks that make the listener want more. This is an EP for someone who likes their music coming from the deeper side of electronic music, but with an industrial feeling as well. A great EP that is well worth your attention and your time to listen too.
(Aural Imbalance Review)
Released 16th October 2015
White Vinyl 12" with artwork sticker
a1. ASC - Sphaera
a2. ASC - Monsoon
b1. ASC - Neutron Star
b2. ASC - Spatial Drift
Release Date: 26th February 2021
In 2019, ASC decided it was time to return to the music that he grew up on. With a gentle nudge from Presha, the breakbeats were back in the mix and a slew of mid 90’s-inspired drum & bass ensued. The majority of the heavier break-oriented and edit-ladened were set aside for projects with Samurai, however, there were a grip of tracks that were more at home with the older atmospheric / intelligent styles of drum & bass from the mid 90’s. Ideasthesia is the culmination of that work. Four tracks of atmospheric drum & bass in its most unadulterated form. No drum machines at work here, just sped up breakbeats, heavy 808 bass, blissful pads, and ethereal textures. Ideasthesia is a true love letter to a golden age of music which sadly seems long forgotten.
a1. ASC - After Dark
a2. ASC - Artificial Life
b1. ASC - Voyager
b2. ASC - Forever
Released 24th February 2017
A1) Solar Reaction | ASC is known for off the wall deep atmospheric music with a darker more menacing side to it, Solar Reaction encapsulates this to perfection. The usual ASC trademark of quality is here in abundance, with intricate beats, as one would expect, accompanied with a mysterious dark atmosphere that evolves into something with a warm and more welcoming feeling. Haunting chords and electrical static pulse sounds hypnotize and seduce the listener into a trance like state. The deeper drifty synth sounds drop with a friendly embrace on the ears and make you yearn for more. Solar Avoidance is a track of contrast is executed to great effect.
A2) Crystal Moon | Crystal Moon is coming from a deeper and more thought provoking place and lends itself to an overall mellower vibe. The beat structure has a wonderful groove that feels like a gentle skip through a luscious garden of synthetic wonderment. The ambience of the tune is crafted with a real attention to detail. There is a dub feeling with the stab sounds that bounce up out of the spacey pads. Swing is added with the bass pulses that permeate through the atmospheric layers of the tune. Crystal Moon has got a kind of retro style overall, and will give reminiscent thoughts of warmer tunes of days gone by.
B1) Astral Dreaming | The first track on the flip has the instantly recognizable ASC sound of previous out there adventures from this prolific producer. Industrial Sci-Fi music at its best, Astral Dreaming slaps you round the face with its powerful rhythm and fore frontal style. Beats cut through and have an energetic positive forward thinking arrangement to them. There is more of a menace to the soundscape, with colder less gravitated pads and drones that rise and fall throughout the piece. Metallic stabs and lead sounds complete the extra- terrestrial experience into the out of this world and mind of ASC.
B2) Carrier Signal | Finally we have Carrier Signal which forms more of an ambient soundtrack piece of music. This is a pure listening experience in the horizontal position. The attention to detail on this is superb, the percussive elements have the sound of a train on the tracks, which grow and shrink in velocity. The sonic depth on this track is a joy to behold, people who like to lose themselves in artificial outer worlds will love this tune the most. ASC shows his diversity with this EP, but keeps commonality and concept together as a whole. Obviously fans of all things ASC will snap this up and rightly so, this EP offers variety and exceptional quality throughout.
Ltd. clear 12" vinyl pressing.
a1. Solar Reaction
a2. Crystal Moon
b1. Astral Dreaming
b2. Carrier Signal
a. Sam KDC – Synesthesia
b1. Sam KDC Ft. ASC - All Roads Lead Somewhere
b2. Sam KDC - Captured
This is a four track EP that shows off some of the Auxiliary stables finest artists in a futuristic slab of pure quality, the EP contains tracks from label boss ASC, Vaccine, Sam KDC and a collaborative track by Synth Sense & ASC.
A1 is ASC's moody but brilliant tracks called Noncolour Entity and this deep future vibe sounds stunning very very intricate synth noises pulsate throughout this tune and it's got drama and pure genius written all over it, very nice indeed.
A2 by Vaccine entitled Irradiate has a lovely charming chime based synth line running through with a kind of oriental vibe surrounding it, almost dare I say hip hop esc beats that drive this slice of goodness in a positive direction this is a very cool track and has a really positive vibe throughout.
We move on to B1 - Sam KDC offering which has a lush soundscape over a pulsating break beat vibe containing a real energy, quality production values throughout here - very nice and tight edits keep this piece moving along nicely another quality edition to this EP.
Finally we have the collaboration track between Synth Sense and ASC called Glimpse and if this is a glimpse into these guys working together more often then this really makes you want it to happen! A great atmospheric tune that takes you off into the dreamy vibes that this lovely piece of music provides, a subtle use of ghostly vocals really makes this an essential track to own as do the rest of the tracks on this EP...
Pure gold from start to finish.
A1. ASC - Noncolour Entity
A2. Vaccine - Irradiate
B1. Sam KDC - Lovesick
B2. ASC & Synth Sense - Glimpse
Here we have another four slices of futuristic goodness from the well established label Auxiliary run by atmospheric master ASC, this EP showcases four of the Auxiliary label regulars Sam KDC, Synth Sense, Method One and ASC.
Let's kick things of with the Sam KDC track entitled Ascetic, this rolls in a very deep sort of dub tech vibe and really captures the technicality that Sam KDC normally brings to the table. A very deep and darkish vibe, but not too heavy surrounds this track with edgy beat work growing as the tune progresses.
We move onto ASC's piece called Symmetry which has such a lusciously spacial vibe to it and really draws the listener into the lush textures and deepness that this tune provides in bucket loads... really lovely to listen to, the subtle vox additions sound great throughout!
Synth Sense provides a very raw glitch based track entitled Trapped Within The Circuit which is very apt title for this tune. It's distorted yet controlled soundscape has that kind of vibe that keeps you the edge whilst listening, with softer sounds developing over the top that take what is initially harsh and raw and really pulls it all together. This vibe really works on the EP giving a different vibe to the overall release.
Finally we have a track from Method One called Under the Same Stars. This is a really drifty tune that has beautiful elements throughout, very very deep and spacey, downtempo quality beats over wonderful synth lines - excellent from start to finish!
This EP really does capture a broad sense of what the guys over at Auxiliary are putting out as a label, which in my humble opinion is deep edgy music that captures the imagination and covers a lot of different bases.
A must buy from this group of very talented musicians.
A1. Sam KDC - Ascetic
A2. ASC - Symmetry
B1. Synth Sense - Trapped Within The Circuit
B2. Method One - Under The Same Stars
The return of the Veil/Unveil series! Auxiliary's first vinyl offering for 2015 comes in the form of Veil/Unveil - Issue Three.
Followers of the series will know the format by now, but those of you new to it can expect 4 different artists offering four pieces of music that do their utmost to complement each other for a well balanced listening experience.
First up is ASC's 85 bpm monster, Lose Control. Heavy bass and a classic acapella do the damage on this one.
Synth Sense flip things for the abstract Red Skies, with it's eerie synth hooks and messed up vocal phrase.
Sam KDC continues with the dark theme from his recent EP, The Order & The Entity, while Method One rounds things off with another steady 85bpm 4/4 bass offering. You already know you need this, so enough said.
a1. ASC - Lose Control
a2. Synth Sense - Red Skies
aa1. Sam KDC - The Messenger
aa2. Method One - Pyre