Eight Weeks

Review: Doctor P and Flux Pavilion hand over the selection duties to familiar label faces Funtcase and Cookie Monsta for the second Circus set. A 25-strong banger compendium balanced between classics and exclusives, it oozes the perfect blend of bare-faced bass attitude and tongue-in-cheek humour. From Roksonix string-soaked jig jamboree "Music In Me" to Brown & Gammon's emotional audio rainbow "Dark Matter", the Circus sound is represented at its boldest, most characterful and, above all, fun. Not a dull moment in sight - check this and remember why we all got into dubstep in the first place.

Review: The global phenomenon surrounding Never Say Die is unparalleled for UK bass labels right now. Ruthlessly eschewing generic constraints, the label's fusion of seismic bass, angular grime and moshpit-level rhythmic aggression has found favour the world over. And listening to their second compendium of releases, it's not hard to understand why. Highlights include Zomboy's old-meets-new stabfest "Mind Control", the vibrant technicolour riffage on Dodge & Fuski's "Sucker Punch" and Bar9's synth-schmoozing step-back session "1983".

Review: Dub Police are on fire as of late, and this latest unmixed collection of tracks from the one like Subscape really speaks for itself - over 35 tunes long, he paints a fine picture of the latest in bass news; his initial "I Need You", coupled with other tracks like "Just Coz", "Graveyard Shift" or "Beautiful People" are perfect examples of his own skills as a true modern bass scientist. There's plenty to be heard here but if we have to pick some highlights, then we'd go with Pixel Fist's "Let Yourself Go", a raucous wobble-stepping jungle mutant, "Beneath The Fold" by Mydas, another bass-emitting belter, or even "The Promise" by Breakage, a surprisingly balearic 4/4 spin-off. In all honesty though, Subscape gets it right from start to finish.

Review: Absolute Instability... Not just an apt description for the world's economy but a fitting moniker for such a collection of forward-thinking, genre-munching bass slayers, too. Flickering wildly and playfully from chirpy 8-bit electro bass hybrids ("Combust") to pirate-like glitch swaggers ("True Enemies") to warped, twisted dronestep ("The Future") to EDM-razzed trap ("Man's A Bad Man") Phucked's remit is joyously unpredictable yet consistently naughty.

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: A dubstep super group comprising Excision, Downlink and KJ Sawka, Destroid come armed with their own full-throttle live show, myriad high grade co-labs and even their own comic. If you heard last year's "Raise Your Fist" (and let's face it - who didn't?) you'll know exactly what to expect; ugly, savage aggression wrapped up in huge hooks and lip-bursting drums. Highlights include the stark balance of dark and light on "Annihilate", the metal-ready D&B on "Put It Down" and the NES-trigged glitch hop "Flip The Switch".