“Invaders Must Die” - it is, for me, one of those releases that stands out above pretty much anything else. The Prodigy have a tradition for lengthy gaps between albums (a lovely 5 years this time) but manage to pull off a great LP each time. You could almost say it’s well worth the wait, however I hate waiting for releases that are this good (how can you tell I’m a huge Prodigy fan!). I first heard that they were to release a new album last year and managed to hear the first single, Invaders Must Die which gave me an instantly good first impression. A hard-hitting song with early Prodigy sounds, mixed with the more contemporary music scene. This basically sums up their album to be honest. A very hard-hitting album that has a lot of influences from their early music, yet, has been brought up to the more modern standard.

The album progresses well with the second single, Omen and continues with some amazing tracks; Thunder, Colours and Warrior’s Dance to name a few. They are on tour at the moment and will be for another couple of months so I would try and get to a gig if you can - it will be epic! I can’t really say much more except… research and listen if you still aren’t sure and then buy this album! It is for me already the release of the year and one of the best albums I have personally heard in a long time.

- Stuart

Sorry, this is a slight deviation from the norm for me and the dance/electro scene but I feel like I should mention it. For anyone that knows me well enough, I am and have been a big fan of Alkaline Trio for about 8/9 years now. I have to admit to preferring their older releases but recommend it all! This was my 3rd time seeing them, which is rather apt - and they were as good as always! They came on stage at 21.40 (after a couple of stereotypical American, slightly annoying punk-rock bands), and from the start blew me away yet again! They started playing some of their new songs, but then (for anyone who is a big fan like me) started to play some real classics like; Goodbye Forever, Private Eye, Stupid Kid and I Lied My Face Off.

I think this tour is to help promote their newest album, Agony and Irony, and if you can get to it then I would!

- Stuart

It’s been a long, anticipated wait for me, and when I heard that Yuksek’s first LP was being released in February I was straight online with my payment details at the ready! It was released on the 9th in the UK ad of course I received my copy on that day! Influences apparent in his numerous EP releases such as; Tonight, It Comes or The Wax, all come together to create an amazing collection of tracks - a lot of which are released/heard for the first time.

The track listing is as follows:

1. Break Ya
2. Tonight
3. A Certain Life
4. Extraball
5. Take A Ride
6. I Could Never Be A Dancer
7. So Far Away From The Sea
8. Little Dirty Trip
9. This Is Not Today
10. I Like To Play
11. So Down
12. Freak O Rocker
13. Eat My Bear / Tonight (Cover)

The album is more varied that expected actually, and include collaborations with Shitdisco, Chromeo and The Shoes. It starts well with the new track, “Break Ya”, and leads well into the familiar releases of “Tonight”, and “A Certain Life”. “Extraball” is the other single and I am very impressed with it - this is the start of the unknown for me, since nearly the rest of the album is, to my knowledge, unreleased before now. An extremely good album sure to be on my list for the year already. For any Yuksek or electro fan it is a must-have, and to be honest - anyone could buy and listen to this album! If anyone has any doubts then there’s a nice taster mix on his Myspace Profile at the moment.

- Stuart

I do have to apologise about the lack of electro input over the last month -
my lovely 6 month old iMac decided to fail on me, thus meaning I am now writing this on a dreaded PC. Anyway to business…

Jean-Baptiste de Laubier - to me, one of the biggest influences on my music tastes over the last couple of years. Known to the music world as Para One. I have to admit to first coming across Para One due to a MSTRKRFT remix of his most well known song Dudun-Dun. Although, after a bit more research I started to really get into his releases and I still think his 2006 album Epiphanie has got to be one of my favourite, proper electro albums. I have yet to find an album which really sums up the French electro scene better, and I highly recommend it to anyone that loves this sort of music.

The likes of Daft Punk, Bloc Party, MSTRKRFT and Boys Noize are among the artists he has remixed, and he is part of the Institubes entourage, of which I am a huge fan. I think if there is anyone who is a fan of the electro scene and hasn’t listened to Para One yet then they need to go and check his music out now!

- Stuart