Few have been fucking with Purpose for a minute now and this release continues the trend, showing that his mixtape tracks are better than most so-called rappers’ albums. Comprising a series of original beats and the obligatory jacked numbers, ­ most notably it features hip hop’s artist of the moment, Gotye, on Somebody That I Used To Know. Sometimes attacking a track aggressively over a self-produced track on the closer Nothing Else Matters, other times it’s done in a more standard Purpose flow, like on One Last Stop which is another self-produced joint lifted by live strings courtesy of Eslev. On Sun Burnt Out it’s the reuniting of the Red October team with Motive over a thumping Rob Shaker track, while Prime shows again why these two could be this country’s most dangerous duo on the remix of Lord Knows. One thing that stands out throughout the album is that Purpose has lifted his production game almost to the level of his lyrical prowess – if you’re another rapper in Australia, that means you have a real fucking problem. Cop it, but more importantly, cop the long player dropping real soon. Purpose’s city has a voice.

SHANE SCOTT

Funny that the King Of Auto-Tune would shine the brightest on the one track that sees him switch it off for once. On T-Pain’s fourth album Revolver, it’s his collaboration with Chris Brown on Look At Her Go that not only makes for a beautiful piano ballad but actually reveals that T-Pain has some impressive singing skills. What you get with Revolver most of the time, however, is an up-tempo pop album oversaturated with auto-tuning and bursting at the seams with shameless brags of bitches, bling and – of course – boats. Though T-Pain gets a little more emotional and melancholy on this one than he has in the past, Revolver is still very much a club-ready offering and a fans-only affair.
NINA BERTOK

There’s a whole theme that comes with this year’s Clubbers Guide To 2012, courtesy Ministry Of Sound, and it’s all about the party to end all parties. Literally. Seeing how 2012 is prophesied to be the final year for mankind before the apocalypse blasts us all to bits, MOS has employed the talents of Melbourne duo Denzal Park and Brisbane boy-wonder Danny T over a massive two-disc journey that really does showcase some of the best floor-destroyers on offer right now. The Denzal lads go for the bigger, more ‘main room’ sound, on Disc 1, ploughing through anthems from Avicii, Afrojack, The Bloody Beetroots and Benny Benassi, while Danny T shows off his liking for Aussie DJs, with mixes of Pnau, The Aston Shuffle, Canyons and Strange Talk. If this really is the last Clubbers Guide comp ever to hit the shelves, MOS, for one, is going out in style. 

NINA BERTOK

Also known for her collaborations with Bjork, London-based Iranian DJ and producer Leila is all about the vintage rhythms, creepy echoes and hair-raising melodies on new album U&I. Partnering up with Berlin-based American DJ Mt Sims, who provides the only vocals on the entire album, Leila’s fourth full-length is an enigmatic 10-track offering which shifts between liquid melodies one minute and spooky industrial noise the next, such as on Interlace and Colony Collapse Disorder. The word ‘difficult’ comes to mind several times while listening to U&I, as does ‘intricate’ and ‘complex’, probably due to the fact that what you get on this record are loops of electronica manipulated against one another. If you’re a fan of musical journeys, or just tunes that mess with your head, then this one’s definitely for you.

NINA BERTOK

As a youngster, Christian Vance was always interested in recreating the atmosphere of the DJ – that continuous flow of music to make you move, so to speak. As a result, the Melbourne-based Vance soon started to develop a live show that would do just that...

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