SINGLE: 12 STONE TODDLER Under The Weather (Amazon)
As catchy as head lice, the 12 Stoners are back with another portion of infectious pop punk XTC. There’s an apparent belief that to get a song under your skin you need a catchy hook which you then repeat, mantra-like, for the entire 2.29 of the single – this got on our nerves when the Verve did it recently but it kind of works here. The first single from forthcoming album Scheming, this is an obese, Turkey Twizzler-munching beast of a record – not at all good for you but great all the same. (NC)

EP: DUBNOSIS Bashmental EP (LateniteLounging)
DJ and producer Crucial D has broken free of the shackles of the Wicked Beat Sound System to resurface as Dubnosis, on a journey through his musical heritage of dub, breaks with a bit of dancehall house chucked in for good booty-shaking measure. Richie Phoe’s a name we’ve written about before, he’s put in a dark and brooding string-laden remix of Dub Africa which is easily the standout track on an otherwise also pretty decent EP. (NC)

SINGLE: THE DROIDS The Force (Serge Santiago Re-edit) (Arcobaleno)
Back in the late 70s and early 80s a spacey dancefloor sound came out of Europe – all drum machines, synths and vocoders – becoming known as Italo disco. There’s a massive revival going on (see Schtumm or Disko Rosso for Brighton examples) and Serge Santiago is right in the middle of it. The original mix of this is halfway between Space’s Magic Fly and Visage’s Fade To Grey but Serge has given it a subtle kick and extended it to 11 minutes. Slow and sensual, it’s more gentle than the rave electro of recent years but every bit as good for dancing. (JK)

DEMO: OVERWATCH
If Aerosmith’s Joe Perry met Tangerine Dream at an admittedly unlikely party, they might well suggest a future musical collaboration. Musicians do this quite a lot apparently, maybe they get taught it at pop star school as a good opening gambit for when they meet people they recognise from MTV. Anyway, given the possibility that such a meeting and subsequent creative liaison might feasibly occur, the recorded results might not sound a million miles away from Overwatch. This would be even more likely if they’d bumped into Trent Reznor queuing up for the toilet. A seasoned alt.rock veteran himself, he might have reminded them to put their MySpace address on the CD too. (NC)

SINGLE: SKILF Slow Me Down (Riztone)
Homegrown rappers have historically had it tough in the UK, the genre’s lifeblood seeming to be perennially UK-Negative. But the domestic scene here in Blighty has quietly produced some quality over the years, and Skilf is certainly among that number. A quick-fire, razor-sharp lyricist with production that doesn’t doff to Dre or fawn to Fiddy, he’s picking up plaudits in all the right places and could well end up as steady on his feet as Dizzy. (NC)

ALBUM: VARIOUS Shapes 08:02 (Tru Thoughts)
It’s a testament to the growth of Tru Thoughts empire that this cut price compilation comes across two discs this time around. The first CD is called Shapes and has a ‘listening’ bent. Full of soul, the dusty, breathy widescreen acoustic jazz of Belleruche is a highlight, while on the second ‘DJ’ disc Bonobo’s dubstep funk of Kes (under his Barakas moniker) still sounds amazing. The perfect way to test the water on the wide selection Gilles Peterson’s fave Brighton label offers these days. (JK)

ALBUM: VARIOUS Toy Soldier Records One:18 (Toy Soldier)
Toy Soldier have quietly become one of the most exciting labels around, and this collection of their wares is a great introduction to a varied mixture of stuff. Witness the lowest-of-the-lo-fi raptures of -A+M, Revenge Of Shinobi’s art school Eno’n’Byrne-isms, Everyone To The Anderson’s frenzied guitar assault and the sinister chamber pop of Sons Of Noel And Adrian, on an 18-track sampler that could teach a lot of other labels a thing or two about eclecticism and the sheer joie de vivre of just putting out great records. (NC)