Bestsellers This Week

Review: The Boddika-helmed Nonplus unveil Think & Change, the label's first compilation and what a way to mark such an event. Calling on a cast of the great and the good of contemporary techno and bass music, Think & Change arrives sporting some thirteen tracks, a statement of how far Nonplus has come since its emergence in 2009 as an outlet for the Autonomic family of artists, gradually mutating into a more wide ranging approach, with material from Actress, Kassem Mosse and Basic Soul Unit ensuring a reputation as one of the most respected labels in the bass music diaspora. The highlights on this compilation are many, but you should be checking Four Tet's contribution "For These Times" (easily his best, least fussy club track to date) "Bad Chicago" from Martyn, and Kassem Mosse's excellent "Broken Patterns".

Review: This compilation shows that there is more than a direct link between Detroit's soul past and its house and techno present. In fact, In The Dark suggests that producers like Amp Fiddler and Rick Wilhite offer a continuation of the sound developed by Motown. In Amp Fiddler's case this is audible on his reshape of Courtney Jackson's "Every Body". There, a rippling double bass and gloriously spacey synths provide the backing for her soulful tones. Wilhite meanwhile, contributes two tracks - the first is the playful seduction of "City Bar Reopen Live Dancing", while "Cosmic Jungle", a collaboration with Sherard Ingram's Urban Tribe project, sees lush strings unfolding over an eerie, brooding bassline.

Review: It's hard to believe that Sweden's Drumcode has been going since 1996, but Adam Beyer's imprint celebrates its fifteenth birthday this year, and as part of the celebrations the label have released this essential 28-track compilation. Instead of looking to the past, as is usually customary with this kind of collection, 15 Years of Drumcode focuses on the newest work of the label's current roster alongside new material from some well known names from the label's past and special contributions from some bonafide techno legends. Highlights come in the form of Slam's powerhouse "Temperance", and the percolating, acid tinged textures of Jesper Dahlback's "No Control", the pulsating robo-techno of Patrick Seich's "Structure", and the dubby atmospherics of Mauro Picotto & Riccardo Ferri's "Asteroids".

Review: Lucy's label rolls out the big guns for the latest instalment in this excellent series. Like previous volumes, the emphasis remains on providing techno producers with a platform to experiment with different sounds. Luke Slater rises to the occasion with two pieces as LB Dub Corp. The first, "Choctaw Dub" is an engaging piece of hissing tones and textures, but "Indulgent Dub" is more rewarding thanks to its rainy day drizzles of percussion and plink plonk jazz keys. Peter Van Hoesen and Yves de May remain in territory familiar to the Sendai project over two volumes of "Without the Written Word". The first is all atmospheric textures, stopping and starting, while number two is a more brooding affair, lent a sense of menace by murderous, disjointed kicks. However, it's James Ruskin who steals the show here; "Cabin Fever" is a gloriously moody arrangement, punctuated by sonar blips and best of all, "Cast Down" sees him deliver a symphonic, string-led orchestral masterpiece.
Stellar sounds indeed.