James Connolly has always been one of the trickier members of the Night Slugs family to get a handle on; his discography as L-Vis 1990 over the past four years has seen him deliver translucent UK funky, an album of full on pop for Island, and raw, tracky, Dance Mania-inspired club music. It was this last category that Connolly seemed to feel most at home with, and when he followed up that first record of Club Constructions on Night Slugs with a similarly rubbery house record on Clone’s Jack For Daze it felt as if he’d finally settled down into a groove.
This week’s two biggest records resulted in an extensive testing session of the Juno office hi-fi’s subs, and the one that arguably caused the most damage was the 
London label Night Slugs will release a second All Stars compilation in February.
Record labels are the bricks and mortar of the independent music industry, the foundations upon which artists and scenes flourish and grow. During 2012 there seemed to be a glut of new labels popping up across the board, and though some made strong statements with their initial releases, our list largely acknowledges the imprints who continue to lead the way for others to follow. The people behind our top labels are individuals we – and many others – willingly place our trust in; their curatorial abilities are integral to ensuring they stand tall amidst a sea of samey musical dross.
We’ve got a load of Night Slugs merch to give away, including vinyl test pressings, a hat and tickets to next month’s label showcase in London.
Listen to Night Slugs duo Bok Bok and Girl Unit lean through 30 minutes worth of material recorded live using strictly hardware.
If you’ve read about this year’s debut album from Jam City, you’re likely familiar with Jack Latham’s stories of how the album was inspired by a real-life stint as a corporate spy for a well known athletics brand. Dig around a bit, and you’ll hear about how he designed futuristic prototype chrome body extensions that were shelved at the last minute, or played Kevin Saunderson tracks to a group of oil barons in a mansion in the outskirts of Paris.
Jam City will complete the work he started on debut album Classical Curves with a second 12″ single and digital-only EP of club mixes and one all-new track.
