DRUM 8t BASS
PFM
Producer 02
-‘Good Lookingi .000
A
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Way. way back in the mid—90s when 'intelligent drum 8‘ bass' ruled the school. PFM was the top of the cf; ss. Premier tracks such as 'One And Only' «not to be confused ‘.'.’|ll‘. the Chesney Hawkes' songi and ‘lhe \r'\./estern' were among those guaranteed to wind up any guality shakedown.
Soothing swathes ot sy'nth patches bump bulbous basslines across the I no esgue ambiei t landscape. with only the scissoring breakbe; ts preventing this from slipping off the dancefloor and onto a big comfy cushion in the
The hypnotic simplicity of 'Danny’s Song' and “Nash Over Me' soothe the soul and heat the feet and while further explorations have been made els'.'.rhere. dra.'./:iig in elements of l atin. soul and tan. tl is is still :lrum & b; ss in its most refined arid accessible form. iMark ltober'tsoni
ROCK lllt Alltl- THE SENSATIONAL ALEX HARVEY BAND
Faith Healer — An Introduction To. . . ilvlercuryi .000
Like the Small laces' Steve Marriott. Alex Harvey came out of a musical theatre background that marked both his inter‘pretatror‘. of rock and blues and his incredible stage shows. this taster in lieu of eight original SAI tt’) albums that are to be reissued in 200? is very .‘/elcome after years ot appalling represses. l'hough missing that ill/(1 ‘Jt;l’f;l()ll of 'l)e|i|ah'. this searches out the rarer darker moments of their back catalogue. I very tune wrll knock ,rou Sl(l(,“.r‘/ZI‘/S alter all this time with their blend of hiin camp and bar room brawl. but the
absolute diamonds in the Weegie mud here are ‘Gambln' Bar Room Blues. “(it rig Bang' and the dreamy swan song “Sirocco' il’aul Dale:
lll()llt()Nl(ZA NOBUKAZU TAKEMURA Sign
i I'hrill Jockey 0...
58::
lo give you some .dea of the angular and particularly Japanese form of modernism going on here. lakemuia is the guy responsible for the sound effects on Sony '5; frank=y disturbrig idea. the AIHO electronic dog. It's not that Sign is not beautitui clrime 'Soii‘.'eiiii In Chicago' is so
the acoustic
sumptuous that 555; minutes doesi‘t seein overiong lt's Just that l‘.lS (Z()llll)()f3:lt()l‘rf3 {:a'r S()lll(?l‘l‘t(}f3 tee: :nhumar‘. Ir ere is something continued iii the ‘wilfu' cookiriess of Meteor that rrzais its general splendour. It lakeinura's seiiri organic sound texture and pitter patter drum programming are flawless. then he also lacks the ‘.'.’£tl'llltll necessary to lift rt to the truly great. Don't get me wrong. this is very good. but rt does sound a little too much like architecture.
iliiii Abrahaiiisi
tllt)llt()Nl(;A VARIOUS ARTISTS Nuphonic: This Is Not A Soundclash iNuphonicr O...
I tlll IIIII
In electronic soul cir'ciet. Nuphoiiic is a label ot duality and ’liSlllKitlHl‘. It's only been around since liltifi. but Nuphonic has, III a short time. signed up the likes ot I an: Action. Maurice liiltoii. Justin ltobertsorr aridAdam ()oldstorie
who record under various pseudonyms to produce p; s examples of underground dance music. Ranging from deep. dubby disco grooves through tough Chicago house to slea/y. (iancc-floor si//lers. this high~calibre compilation of the best material to date is a snip at the price of a mere $9.335).
So it's basically a lot of fun for not a lot of money. iCatherine Bromley.
sionate
ROCK
HAVEN
Between The Senses iltadiatei 000
lhe UK musrc scene desperater 'ieeds sortie
new heroes and word has it that llét‘.’(}tl arc- gust ‘.'.'hat Lac-"ye been looking for. Certainly they haye all the ingredients of an accoiiiplisheii' songwriting toice and haye rrror'e than mastered the art ot singalong se'itimeritality. lhe s'.'.reei rllltl guitar strokes of '\".’here Is lhe lose. soa't'ig (1.”.(N'tlf3 ot 'Say Something" and tll'()‘.'.r’lll‘;{t '.‘.rah wah ‘y‘JlIlCll propels ‘I et It I 've' all shou'.’ signs of proriiise but amad all that vocal ‘.'uli‘.eiability and bittersweet angst anthems by numbers. (:X(j|t(:.'l1(}ltl is nowhere to be seen. lhe heart overtakes the spark. and sophistication ,‘tISI. isn't the stutt that icons are made of.
itlaiiiilla I’iai
llltlllt()NltlA CORNELIUS Point iMatadorr O...
POINT by CORNELIUS
If there '.vas a competition to see =.'.ihich nation takes the most ironic attitude to pop iirusic. the clever money '.'.’()tll(l go on the lreiiclr I or sheer
iiiirecortstructe(l cheesrness our Gallic chums know what they are about; synth pop with a nod and a wink in every line. Led by
chee y chappies such as Cornelius. the trench would be run a close second by the Japanese. His second album to be released ll‘.
the UK. Point is a simple
but cheerful collection of lla'~.'/aiian tinged. sample-rich pop replete with a bonus Joke metal track i‘l Hate I later. So enjoy it. Hell. even i'eyel in rt. Just don't expect your life to be changed by rt. i'l'im Abrahamsi
INDIE (:llttt out VARIOUS ARTISTS A Quiet Riot il’lASr OOOO
l'l’()lt‘. the front lines of' the dance indie ‘.'.r'ar‘. IVI'IIISIH,’ Of Sound chuckie as they launch another Buick si/ed (Sh/flout 900.“): [he f’redrctiorr or some
missile sucl‘: beatless. bleepirig onto the heads of the ;iitlxe lads. 'l\.'.'o can play at that
buttonery
5.993;: Riot
'. I
Inmm'l' nay-n
ga'rref (fer. ares General l'eyness of the indie infantry. ‘Vy’e shall retaliatef‘ thus/t ()r/re.‘ Hot 1:; born.
\fy’hile riot bereft of electronic slterianigaiis ithe latter guai'fer' boasts t emon Jelly. (‘toldlrapp and Blue States: the bulk of this 3-1 track doubler is the gentle sti‘urii wring o‘ guitars and the muttering iritoiiations of reeks more sensitive souls.
[Sadly Dravrr‘. lioy. laiiibchop. lire /ephyi‘s, Mull llist<;r'.<;a! Society. lhe Delgados. Alfie. l ow. lire l-Eees. Arab Strap. lhe l-Beta Band. I o'.'.'. Cousteau and Sigur ltos ensaie a ‘.'ar‘ied palette of tones and only the <)r:<tasror=;’:| donkey riiake ths a ne; r‘ perfect late r‘ig'rt
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Records
trance ‘..i"~\-:3‘.s.
lvlark l-t/t-he'fso':
SIMON NABATOV TRIO
Three Stories, One End A(}l «techrtzs OOOO
unexoected’. i:ig T“ the l sbior". Syeiiss lr‘io. A(ZI are rloulrtmss
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Hugi r‘ (\f
., ,,/ The new single ‘I? ‘X The num-
February 4th
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7” 8!. CD
“Blackened BI,” out I m. March
-'-v: THE LIST 99