Various - Offering Vol. 2 (Studio K7)

This might be the coolest compilation you'll find for summer listening. The label that bought you the legendary X-Mix video compilations (now into their fifteenth year, believe it or not!), the Freestyle Files and Electro Boogieists from around the planet are back with more juice which, like the opener from Terranova, opens up a whole world of European drum & bass. The perfect summer cocktail.

Alongside archive tracks, Offering 2 showcases some new-found talents, like the band Khao, whose debut LP appeared on K7 last year. Their 'No Compromise' - featured here remixed by Smith & Mighty - sounds worryingly like a ruffed-up version of Culture Beat (seriously!) but fortunately their other contribution (a William Orbit meets Zion Train-style rant) is much more on the mark. As if to redeem themselves, Smith & Mighty turn in their own track - a rollicking 12" mix from the brilliant K7 imprint DJ Kicks series which has seen input from the likes of Stacey Pullen and Claude Young, who both went on to release stand-out albums on Elypsia last year.

There are some middle-of-the-road tracks, like Shantal's 'Tell Me Why Is It Oh So Hard To Be Oh So Lovely' and some tripped-out beats from Sample OS. But even these are worth checking out and keep you entranced enough to get into K7 stuff like Impulse's two contributions here - one of which is brilliant ('Wall of Pressure'), the other of which is awful ('Wall of Deceit')! 7/10