The Asc

Extremely happy to say that next in the series with a stunning interpretation of quiet details, is the electronic music titan, James Clements, here as ASC. Active since the late nineties, James has repeatedly shown himself to be one the most creative and hardworking artists around - with a huge body of work covering multiple genres (from ultra-diverse jungle/drum and bass, to techno, to atmospherics, ambient and far more besides), film scoring and more - releasing on numerous leading labels. Plus establishing his own seminal labels including Covert Operations Recordings, Auxiliary and others - he’s an industry veteran who’s stayed completely true to his vision, making no compromises and now universally respected as an artist and focal point for the community. Tales of Introspection is ASC at his most ethereally emotive - an incredible exploration of his creativity we both agree feels like a major milestone in his work.
Always known for the highest level of production skills, this album is a heart-felt expression of an artist in a perfect state of flow - the ability to create a pure representation of their innermost thoughts in impeccable musical form.
Vast soundscapes invoke the sense of infinite space, out of which emerge mesmeric motifs and meticulously crafted harmonies - the music envelopes you completely in dreamlike bliss. Finely honed electronics mix with electro-acoustic and vocal textures, with a dynamic arc that takes you from quiet reflection to full emotional release and back again - incredibly beautiful and something only James could have made.

Extremely happy to say that next in the series with a stunning interpretation of quiet details, is the electronic music titan, James Clements, here as ASC. Active since the late nineties, James has repeatedly shown himself to be one the most creative and hardworking artists around - with a huge body of work covering multiple genres (from ultra-diverse jungle/drum and bass, to techno, to atmospherics, ambient and far more besides), film scoring and more - releasing on numerous leading labels. Plus establishing his own seminal labels including Covert Operations Recordings, Auxiliary and others - he’s an industry veteran who’s stayed completely true to his vision, making no compromises and now universally respected as an artist and focal point for the community. Tales of Introspection is ASC at his most ethereally emotive - an incredible exploration of his creativity we both agree feels like a major milestone in his work.
Always known for the highest level of production skills, this album is a heart-felt expression of an artist in a perfect state of flow - the ability to create a pure representation of their innermost thoughts in impeccable musical form.
Vast soundscapes invoke the sense of infinite space, out of which emerge mesmeric motifs and meticulously crafted harmonies - the music envelopes you completely in dreamlike bliss. Finely honed electronics mix with electro-acoustic and vocal textures, with a dynamic arc that takes you from quiet reflection to full emotional release and back again - incredibly beautiful and something only James could have made.

The extensively prolific ASC continues his stealthy tack towards ambient techno mutations with superb results in The Farthest Reaches. He may well have just cracked the elusive code that binds techno and D&B’s mutually exclusive DNA with these four tracks. They all operate at, or around 130bpm, yet somehow feel more like we’re moving to some rolling and halfstepping momentum. We’ll leave it to the producers to work out just WTF he’s up to, but can safely say it works beautifully with the swimming hydraulic velocity of Ceres and the effortless sweeping motion of Arc whilst Exoplanet channels those elliptical contours into a subtler, barely-there presence of systolic bass thrum and vast atmospheric dimensions.

When one is left alone to dream in the depths of these woods, the stillness is at once fervent and sublime. Every tree begins to whisper into the night. Beautiful textures and serene pad sounds, with subtle distortions that make me shiver. An apparent simplicity that exudes an unusual sensitivity.

A selection of traditional Christmas songs performed by bass-baritone Timothy Dickinson and pianist Duncan Honeybourne. "The inspiration for this programme of Christmas music was sparked by a handful of songs and a handful of singers. Having rather hurriedly gathered together repertoire for a Christmas concert in December 2020, after months of cancelled and postponed performances, it dawned on us that the few songs we had chosen (among them 'The little road to Bethlehem', 'The Holy Boy', 'The Oxen' and 'The bayly berith the bell away') belonged together and would sit very happily in an expanded programme of similar music.

This superb album sees Tina May ("That great rarity, a singer who enhances a song" The Observer) perform the songs and arrangements of pianist and composer Steve Plews.