2007 is turning out to be the year of the cover song, with numerous raggae, jazz, funk and house versions doing the rounds on radio stations and dancefloors. One track I’ve not played for many years is Roni Size’s “Brown Paper Bag”: a classic, yes, but every time a certain Mr Peterson plays in Leeds, he plays this track without fail. I’ve never worked out why but maybe he’ll explain one day. You&Me aka co-owner of Tru Thoughts Rob Luis and TM Juke have produced a reggae verison that has bought life back into “Brown Paper Bag”. “Floating Heavy” is a cracking album that really mixes up the styles. From drum & bass, soul, broken beat, jazz, raggae, disco, dubstep through to break beats, this will keep me happy with anthems for the rest of 2007 and beyond.

Daughter of a South African father and a German mother, Denalane was born and raised in Berlin, and yet her singing voice is as American as they come. In the Mary J. Blige mould, she has a big, powerful sound that is just bursting with soul and which straddles perfectly the line between genuine R&B and a more commercially minded approach. With only three guest vocalists on the album, the spotlight is well and truly focused on Denalane’s talent, but the fact that one of those guests is Lupe Fiasco and another is Raekwon shows that there was no messing around here. Undoubtedly, the label/production team hoped and fully intended for ‘Born And Raised’ to achieve global success, and a couple of flaky ballads and fluffy fillers notwithstanding, it seems that they may just get their wish.

Hot on the heels of the DJ Hell volume comes this collection of 21 tracks, compiled and mixed by Radio Slave, undoubtedly one of the UK’s most in demand producers and DJs. As we have come to expect from the Misch Masch series, which is inspired by the massively successful club night of the same name (run by Germany’s Tiefschwarz), the fare is House music of a tough, minimal, bleepy variety, a la Ricardo Villalobos, Get Physical, and Radio Slave himself. Vocals are few and far between, but squelching synth stabs and growling bass lines are in abundance, so if that’s to your liking, then this CD is definitely for you. As ever with this series, the quality is high, and they even throw in a bonus CD of unreleased or ‘hard to come by’ Radio Slave remixes for your trouble.

After breaking onto the scene in 2005 with ‘Put It Out’ featuring Eska and following up with the excellent ‘Searching’ last year the duo of Rob Mullarkey and Anna Stubbs now come with their debut long player. As with the singles, both of which are included here, the album is a broken-soul affair and features guests Ty on the title track and Earl Zinger who graces ‘Elevate’ with his distinctive spoken word delivery. Although there’s nothing here to quite top ‘Searching’ the set has some strong moments such as ‘True’, ‘A Little Trouble’, the funky ‘DTs’, and the blissful ‘Raindown’. Well worth investigating.

Fellow listeners to Benji B’s Deviation (1xtra) radio show will have noticed that the words ‘Jazzy Sport’ are now synonymous with exemplary Hip Hop, up-to-the-minute Nu Jazz, boundary-breaking Broken Beat, and killer live Disco to boot. Pound For Pound is the perfect demonstration of why this is so, delivering gem after gem from the likes of DJ Mitsu the Beats (alongside Maspyke’s Hanif Jamil), Bembe Segue, Masaya Fantasista, Cro Magnon and Grooveman Spot (who has even roped-in Hip Hop heavyweight Jeru The Damaja for a slice of the action). These guys are not messing around – Japan’s Jazzy Sport is consistently raising the bar and the challenge for others is to try to keep up. This is essential listening – don’t sleep!

California-based Stones Throw, home to head-honcho Peanut Butter Wolf and leading light Madlib, is undoubtedly one of the world’s most exciting and productive independent Hip Hop labels, and any new compilation from such a label is always cause for celebration. Far from predictable, Chrome Children 2 pulls together a collection that includes not only Hip Hop, but Jazz and Disco-tinged Funk and Electro (in the true sense of the word) as well. The featured Hip Hop matches some the hottest emcees around – Guilty Simpson, Aloe Blacc, M.E.D – with some of the most forward-thinking producers around – think Dabrye, Four Tet, Danny Breaks and Madlib himself – and the end result is satisfying indeed. For me though, the stand-outs are the Egon re-edit of the Clifford Nyren Disco-funker ‘Keep Running Away’ and ‘Murder’, by the rather comically named James Pants.

The formula: a hearty helping of expertly crafted beats – one-part classic Hip Hop, one part Broken Beat – with a sprinkling of highly talented vocalists. How could the man go wrong? Well, he doesn’t! Japan’s Grooveman Spot is on top of his game here, layering squelching synths and soulful keys over crisp, snapping beats that vary in tempo and form, but never in quality. Some are head-nodding instrumentals, some are full-on fodder for a discerning dance floor (‘Rude Fantastic’), and others are graced by star turns from the likes of Count Bass D, Grap Luva, O.C., Jack Davey and Capital A. Of particular note, is the Dilla-esque ‘Turn It Up’ featuring M.E.D. and ‘My Mind’, which introduces – to me at least – skilled Japanese rappers, Hunger, Raythought and U-Zipplain. Overall result: an album that I can’t recommend highly enough!

Let’s get the gripes out of the way. Firstly, there are too many skits and interludes on this album for my tastes. Secondly, there are a couple of insipid, ballad-like tracks that let the side down. Right, now to the positives. Most of Subject 2 Status is actually very good, and it’s hard to imagine most UK emcees being able to match the skill and flow of Manchester’s Broke ‘n’ English, a.k.a. Strategy and DRS, when they’re at their best. The high points, here, come on the tougher, up-tempo tracks, where they get a chance to display a rugged, but not aggressive, style that exudes energy and works to great effect. Case in point being ‘Take It Low’, a dynamite marriage of soulful chords, broken beats and smooth rhymes that deserves much success.

The Good Lookin’ label, home to Drum ‘n’ Bass pioneer LTJ Bukem, had rather drifted off my musical map of late, so it is particularly heartening to see it release a new artist album. Makoto, a confirmed Bukem-disciple, makes the kind of uplifting, melodic Drum ‘n’ Bass that is all too rare these days. You know, the kind with a sunny disposition, rather than the kind that was spawned by the Dark Overlord. Believe In My Soul is not breaking any new ground, but it’s not supposed to. It’s a high quality album full of intricately woven, musical Drum ‘n’ Bass, infused throughout with Jazz samples and soulful snippets that will please Good Lookin’ fans both old and new. And, if that’s not enough, it also includes bonus remixes by Marky and XRS.

Back again with new material, and DJ Vadim has been working hard, because there are 17 tracks here, with no fillers or interludes. What’s more, if you like one song, I think you’ll probably like them all, for The Soundcatcher maintains a certain summery style and feel-good factor throughout that makes it a perfect head-bobbing, relaxing-on-the-beach album. The beats are generally of a Hip Hop nature, but few tracks are straight-up raps. The rest are smooth instrumentals (a la Rae & Christian), laidback, Reggae influenced vocals and all other varieties of pre-party flavours that DJ Vadim has become known for. A good album that will be loved by many.