Bestsellers This Week

Review: Entering what seems like a new phase for Pinch's bastion of forward-thinking dubstep, Tectonic Plates reaches its fourth edition and brings in a raft of fresh producers and new angles on just what the genre might mean in these fractured times. Even the classic standard bearers such as Jakes are bringing curious 4/4 momentum in amidst the sparse, dread filled pressure, while Guido pivots off of the plush musicality of his album to create an utterly broken symphony on "State Of Joy". There are a lot of different ideas floating around the whole compilation, and yet everything holds together with the deep-rooted soundsystem mentality that has always defined Tectonic as a shining example of what dubstep has always meant.

Review: The phenomenon that answers to the names 'footwork' or 'juke' has spread far and wide since its origins as a sped up fusion of ghetto, jackin' and hip-beats in Chicago. It's spread so far in fact, that French label, Booty Call, have taken it upon themselves to present this inspired compilation in an attempt to put the genre firmly on the musical map. They've got taste too, and highlights of these 12 prime cuts include: the deep synth fest of 'Access", the porno-hop frenzy of "Sex To Me" and the Kenny G on downers vibe of "My Sorrows".

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: Born into life kicking and screaming back in 2010, London via North Devon label Shifting Peaks has slowly but surely earned a killer rep in the world of bass and underground house. This is their second compilation and boy is it packed full of goodies. Highlights include the melancholic urban-tropical vibes of Mak & Pasteman's "Do The Same", the psychedelic Chicago vibes of Marshall Jefferson & Noose Heads' "Mushrooms", the heartbroken jukeisms of Cut Off! Cut Off!'s "Second To None" and the sublime King Of Arabs' "The Years Without Art".

Review: Despite only unveiling themselves to the public in 2010, Black Butter Records have already ascended to some impressive heights with a string of hugely popular bass/UKF releases. This first 'proper' label comp features five names from their roster, remixed by many more. It's literally fizzing and popping with retro-futuristic ideas and sounds: from the B-more drum machine orgy of "Be More (3hrs & Woz mix), to Matta's accelerated electro version of Kidnap Kid's classic "Vehl" and Vince Clarke's elasticated tech-house version of "Lazarus Taxon", to the scuzzy, rave-inflected house of Codec's "What You Need", the thoroughly ominous bass tones of "Hackney Heat" by Racknruin via the eccentric end-of the world beats of "Trick Green" by Hostage.

Review: San Francisco's Hot n Heavy Recordings mark their third birthday with a new action packed compilation, released on the symbolic date of 12/12/12. Featuring 14 fresh cuts spanning future bass, deep house and leftfield garage. Highlights include the tropical melancholia of Laney's "You Need To", the menacing minimal vibes of "Hairdresser" by Allmostt, the sparse, abstract garage of HxDB's "Spectator" and the slammin' raw, retro house of "Darlin" by D3adl1ne.

Review: Under the control of Martin Clark, Keysound has been one of the more reliable imprints mapping the slow mutation of dubstep, garage and grime. Though its early years saw appearances from the likes of Kowton, Skream, Burial and Zomby, recent releases have seen the label develop its catalogue with a range of under the radar artists, maintaining a critical distance from flash in the pan trends with albums from Sully, LV and LHF, and singles from the likes of Beneath and Logos. Now the label delivers their first compilation; some 14 tracks deep, it's the perfect encapsulation of the fresh music Clark regularly represents on his Rinse FM residency with Dusk. Featuring a host of unheralded talent in the form of Rabit, E.m.m.a., and Samrai alongside established producers such as Beneath, Visionist and Gremino, the compilation's material is representative of the forward-thinking material Clark has been particularly vocal about of late, united by what he describes as a "130bpm heartbeat".

Review: After two very successful instalments of the Electr*c series thus far, Gilles Peterson returns with another chunky selection of artists that fit into the less organic side of his taste-maker tendencies. This time it seems that he has dug especially deep to find some fresh talent, so unfamiliar are the names on the line-up. In terms of style, there's a tendency towards rich melody across the board, from Aftawerks engrossing mellow acid workout to the contemplative juke dazzle of Jaded Laur, but there's also space for some more primal club tracks. Just check the ghetto tech flex of Frank Rodas' "Kick It VIP" for all the proof you need.

Review: Wonderfully titled label Slime was founded in 2010 with the firm intent to 're-capture the wide-eyed thrill of the first age of rave'. Since then they have put out a multitude of forward thinking releases all leading to this, their second label compilation. Literally bulging with underground goodness, the tracklist weighs in at 26 full-length tunes (plus a free one!). Highlights of all this madness include the sparse 2 step of "Jaded" by Akin, the twitching, percussive "Sunwan" by SPD, the dreamy 3am RnB vibes of "Communication" by Totte, the deeply seductive rimshot house of DYP's "Vices" and the ominous rave of "There's No Way" by Frequent Flyers.

Review: For anyone with a passion for forward-thinking bass music, Back & 4th should be essential listening. Via a sprinkling of super-hot exclusives and historic label favourites, it brilliantly celebrates the enduring appeal of Scuba's vital Hotflush Recordings imprint. For confirmed fans, it's the first new jams that will titillate most. It boasts some real killers; strobe-lit future garage, dubstep and wonky neck-snappers from Boxcutter, Rosca, Boddika, Falty DL and Scuba himself (the acid house-flavoured "Feel It"). If that's still not enough to tempt you, take a look at the previously released tracks from Joy Orbison, Mount Kimbie and Untold.

Review: Since their rebirth a few years ago, R&S have been at the forefront of a new wave of exciting dance music, being instrumental in pushing names like James Blake, Blawan and Space Dimension Controller into the collective consciousness. This compilation sees them revive their long running In Order To Dance series, with a monster 22 track compilation; 12 tracks of selected highlights from the last 18 months of R&S releases, with modern classics such as James Blake's "CMYK", Untold's "Stereo Freeze" and Space Dimension Controller's "Transatlantic Landing Bay" all receiving pride of place. But it's the 10 unreleased tracks that will excite most, with contributions from the whole roster. There are numerous highlights; the piano riff of Lone's "Cobra" is as deadly as that on any of his previous productions, The Chain's "Suffer For Your Art" evokes the Detroit masters of the original days of R&S and Pariah's "Left Unsaid" sees the young producer move away from the UK garage inspired Safehouses EP to explore dense, claustrophobic textures. In a word: essential.

Review: To celebrate four years of releases, Hemlock, the label run by Untold and Jack Dunning presents Chapter One, a collection of label highlights and unreleased exclusives. Moving through the glittery funk-leaning post-dubstep of Fantastic Mr Fox, Mount Kimbie and James Blake, through techno contributions from Sei A, Randomer and Guy Andrews, and bass hybrids from Pangaea and Joe, the selections on offer demonstrate why Hemlock has been ahead of the game since its inception. As well as the individual tracks, a continuous mix is also on offer, joining the dots between their diverse releases with style.

Review: Following on from their first instalment, the guys at Parisian soul/funk/jazz label Heavenly Sweetness are back with a follow up. Having spent months scouring the net for the best new sounds, they proudly present the cream of their findings - 15 in total. Highlights include the future bass/jazzy trapisms of "Down Brandy" which takes the eponymous RnB singer and warps her into another dimension, the drunk cat on a keyboard-isms of "Muscles", the cool retro hip-hop of "Boomboxin" and the 80s freestyle pop of "The Followers".

Review: Founded back in 2007, London imprint 2nd Drop has deftly steered its way through the post dubstep fracture across some twenty releases. Arriving at their fifth & a half anniversary, the label offers up a thrilling snapshot of their enduring diversity on their maiden compilation Future Foundations. Familiar label names like Djrum and South London Ordnance offer their atmospherically swung take on dub techno, while label newcomers like Last Magpie and Alex Coulton provide some bouncy, UKG inspired techno. However, it's the frenetic jungle-inspired take on footwaork from Manni Dee and Deft that offers the biggest surprise in what is an already essential compilation.

Review: While it might be tricky in these open-minded times for Scuba to shatter preconceptions the way that he did with his Sub:Stance mix a few years ago, this compilation should be seen really as a celebration of the man himself as a DJ. After launching with a decidedly minimalist approach, the mix meanders between pacey techno, bluesy broken beat and rolling dubstep tempos. At times the flow feels unsteady, but then it just rings true that he put this mix together for himself. Without a dancefloor to look after, who knows where many of our favourite DJs might take us?

Review: A brand new compilation series from the Brighton beat powerhouse Skint; this is a collection of the finest moments they've experienced across their labels in the last year or so. As with all things Skint, it's a wide-armed spread with a cross-section of very impressive artists. Stretching from deep, immersive broken beat (Seth's "Flying High") to slap-happy, ivory tinkling jacking house (So Called Scumbags "Sundazed") via heads-down, unrelenting deep tech (Ramon Tapia "Trolley") this should cater for all manner of DJ tastes and dancefloors. Excitingly they've included Sonny Wharton's remix of X-Press 2's timeless "Smoke Machine" and, saving one of the best for last, an incredible remix of Kidda's "Get Close" by The Sneekers. Pick this and you're picking a winner.

Review: With an ever-strong commitment to their very unique brand of modern electronic dance music, the Night Slugs posse are rounded up once again for a stocktake on the follow up to the successful Night Slugs Allstars compilation. It's only with a chance to reflect such as this you can appreciate the range that falls neatly into the Night Slugs remit. At one turn you can be doused in the blinding sunshine of Girl Unit's cheery electro as on "Ensemble (Club Mix)", or at the next be confronted with the staggered stab frenzy of Helix's somewhat ironically named "Drum Track". Try reaching them without being thrown by Bok Bok's 31st century grime madness or Lil Silva's hyper-kinetic throwdown of mechanical psychedelia and you might have a chance of getting a handle on the label as a whole.

Review: Coming into their own over the last 12 months as a destination label for fans of quality bass music, Black Acre build on releases from Blue Daisy, Fantastic Mr Fox and Lukid with this remix compilation that features big names like SBTRKT getting glacial yet charged on a mix of FMF's "Sketches", Boddika giving Hyetal's "Diamond Islands" an acid rewash and John Talabot giving Blue Daisy & Anneka's "Raindrops" a slow cosmic rework that's simply jaw-dropping. Other names like Sunken Foal, Tes La Rok, and Lynx & Hellrazor make this a riveting and genre-spanning collection.

Review: Hemlock Recordings gather up the veritable treasure trove of exclusives that featured on the label's Chapter One mix/compilation project into one neat digital bundle. The result sees Guy Andrews' unique take on techno rubbing shoulders with Randomer's acid breakbeat house and Joe's singular, impossibly quirky off kilter rhythms. Sei A, one of the more surprising additions to the Hemlock roster, showcases his impeccable big room sensibilities with "Hyphen", while FaltyDL continues to purvey his heady New York shuffle on "Artemis". Two remixes of label co-chief Untold from Kowton and Nautiluss round off an essential package for all the Dunning completists out there.

Review: Pooling the best of San Francisco's 2-step, future garage and bass scene, Hot N Heavy's third volume in this series is a top source of some seriously impressive, upcoming talent. Kasio's opening "Back To The Garage" is straight-up stunning, with incredibly deep oceanic pads filtered down magnificently to a drop of crunchy and twitchy drums. Similarly, Red Army, Reilly Steel, Commodore 69 and Ground Control all prove more than a match for British kindred spirits like Joy O, Pearson Sound and the Night Slugs crew.

Review: Belgian leftfield dance label Pelican Fly have collated a host of tunes from all the key acts on their roster for this impressively different mini-compilation. Over the course of eight tracks we get taken on quite an adventure: from the bleepy 'G(litch) n B' of Zora Jones to the epic fanfare of Sinjin Hawke's "Prom Nite" and the restlessness of "Rave Land" by Mister Tweeks to the drum- machine-being-drowned-in-Lilt-isms of Lucid's "On & On" and the positively psychedelic "Circular Motions 2025" by the 'imaginative' Richelle.

Review: This new compilation sees Loose Squares seeking to showcase footwork from around the world.. It's a diverse collection (compiled by Chrissy Murderbot) and features 10 leftfield takes on established sounds. Atki2 kicks things off with the minimal, drum machine-led "When The Fire Starts", 618's "Freak You" marries a resounding bass drum to a Lil' Kim sample, Pixelord plays with a host of exaggerated vocals samples on the deliciously tropical "Footpork". However, following on from the mellow "Lost In The Jungle" by Actraiser (clue's in the title), things get more hypey with DJ Godfather delivering the Bobby O-sampling jump-up banger "Bring It Back" and the intense speed-a-thon that is "Crack" by Nickotine.