- After leaving the confines of drum & bass with his Symbol series, releasing a number of between-genre EPs on his own Auxiliary label and making an entire ambient album for Silent Season, James Clements ends 2011 with a return to the Auxiliary flagship—and to 170 BPM.
Lead track "Time Is Now" doesn't exactly shake the earth with innovation (but with those waves of sub, it comes close), though it continues his journey forward from Nothing Is Certain towards slightly sparser soundscapes. A typically sci-fi affair, it halts and jerks like it's made out of automated doors opening and slamming shut, and ominous synth horns render it darker than previous Auxiliary releases. Whatever darkness surrounds "Time Is Now" is fully embraced for "Make Me Feel," in which Clements puts a punishing bassline under dry and squelchy synths and his usual druggy swirl of drifting melodies.
Giving "Make Me Feel" a run for its money, "Dark Star" is the most aggressive thing Clements has made in ages, recalling his break-heavy earlier work but written out with that same inhuman precision as his most recent. The creeping melodies lurk the distance, shrouding things with an air of mystery and melancholy. His love of atmosphere—however minute or however immense its form might take—is what makes ASC distinctive, and has been the driving force behind his decade-plus of stunning drum & bass. Time Is Now proves that he's still at the top of his game.
Tracklist A1 Time Is Now
A2 Make Me Feel
B1 Dark Star
B2 Error Code
B3 Untitled D-50 Loop #1