Eight Weeks

Review: Here we have a battle of the heavyweights as classic big beat/electro-house label Skint goes head to head with established garage imprint Ice Cream. Featured are two DJ mixes in which DJ Omar and Sonny Wharton mix up the back catalogue of each (including some exclusive versions), boasting names such as Fatboy Slim, X-Press 2, Tim Deluxe, Andy Jay and S-Tee and R.I.P. Productions.

Review: Hot on the heels of Ministry Of Sound's killer future bass album, we now get a further 66 'speaker blowing basslines' that we're sure to get familiar with over the next few months. Highlights include Disclosure's warped version of the Artful Dodger' "Please Don't Turn Me On", the sparse soul of Woz's "Spoons" mix, Huxley's jackin take on Maxxi Soundsystem's "Stella's Way" and Wideboy's bonkers electro-disco anthem "Stars".

Review: With the imminent return of Daft Punk reminding us all of Paris's vibrant electronic music heritage, local label ClekClekBoom pop-up to provide us with a wide-eyed snapshot of the current Parisian underground. There are hints of familiar French staples - the stomping Ed Banger-ish ravery of The Town's "Dice", the classic house flex of Coni's "Missing You Nire" - but for the most part Paris Club Music Volume 1 dances to a different beat. With label regulars French Fries coming to the fore, much of the album is devoted to the sort of hard-to-pigeonhole bass music that takes its influence as much from B-more, R&B and UK garage as filter funk and electro-house.

Review: Given the ubiquity of classic garage-inspired house records over the last 18 months, it was probably inevitable that some bright spark would eventually decide to put together a themed compilation. To be fair to Needwant, they've done a pretty good job. While there are plenty of big, scene-defining records present - HNNY's "For The Very First Time", Dusky's "Flo Jam", Medlar's mix of Disclosure's "Boiling" and George Fitzgerald's "Child" - there are also of plenty of admirable cuts from lesser-known names and relative newcomers (see the excellent contributions from Ben Pearce and Purple Velvet). Job done.