Howie B "Music For Babies"
Polydor, 529464 2 (45 mins)
Dial a track code 1201
Howie B may he best known for working with U2, Bjork and other such megastars who seek his highly credible touch but the Scottish beat master is more than a mere gun for hire. His Pussyfoot label is home to some of the most challenging and experimental tracks around (the Best Foot Forward collection is a good starting point) and his DJ-ing slots are, journeys into sound, mixing everything from space age dub to prig rock. And then there's his own stuff Music For Babies, the debut album, is quite stunning.
While he has proven in the past that he's more than capable of out freaking the best the young Turks at the Mo Wax and Ninja Tune stables can come up with, this is more music for sleeping bags than music for dance floors. It's obvious that time spent in studio with Brian Eno on the Passengers project has had a significant effect on Howie, the overall drift of the album being somewhat akin to Eno's classical suite of ambient albums back in the Seventies.
However, don't take this and the rather hippyish concept behind the title to imply an endless parade of direction less doodles and sketches. On the contrary the opening two tracks, beatless and bereft of rhythm are gorgeous examples of extra chilled head music. Shag introduces a drum beat to the plot, with hypnotic sirens in tow, before tracks like On The Way and Allergy let Howie B do a little bit of this and a little bit of that with old school hip hop beats. The perfect soundtrack for post babysitting blues.
Underworld "Second Toughest In The Infants"
Junior Boys Own, JBOCD4 (73 mins)
Dial a track code 1311
As techno as go. Underworld are highly self sufficient. While Darren Emerson grapples with a diary of top dollar DJ-ing dates around the globe, Karl Hyde and Rick Smith are partners on the Tomato design consultancy turning out adverts for the likes of Nike and Levis'. Add an easy going record company and a well stocked home studio to the equation and you can see why the trio was in no rush to follow up its much acclaimed debut album, Dribnobasswithmyheadman.
When other dance acts struggle to maintain a momentum, Underworld can afford to work and rework ideas and tracks. Thus Second Toughest is a much better album than the debut. It's far more assured, much more laid back and decidedly aware of where it wants to go. No longer merely a collection of clubs tracks for living large dance floors, this Underworld album puts all manner of sounds and influences into play. The rolling drum & bass rhythm of Banstyle and the St Germain jazzy breeziness of Confusion The Waitress are typical, of the new ideas up for closer examination.
Of course, there are still plenty of Underworld trademarks on show epic trance monsters nods to the Detroit school, of excellence and, of course, song titles which double up as greyhound monikers. Karl Hyde's unique lyrical babble may never better the "lager shouting mega mega white thing" of old, but he makes a fair stab at, doing so here with some highly, off kilter rambles. Unless The Prodigy's soon to come album is a real monster this could very well end up as techno album of the year.
Various Artists "Future Funk"
A&M, 540 495 2 (2 CDs, 148 mins) Dial a track code 1421
If your definition of funk runs to Kool & The Gang, James Brown and if you're feeling particularly adventurous Curtis Mayfield, this compilation may not be your (pig bag. Future funk, as defined by the movers and shakers here, is where techno, drum & bass, hip hop and the other left field delights of today collide, collaborate and co-exist. All the tracks' here are big on beats and atmosphere, come with extra large helpings of funky jazzy hip hopping sauce and are quite capable of causing maximum damage on the dance floor of your choice.
As one would expect, the extra large names deliver the goods in style Goldie, Leftfield, Underworld (with Born Slippy) and The Chemical Brothers showing why they can now be considered the grands fromages of dance in 1996. But lesser hyped tracks like T-Power's Mutant Jazz (the coolest downbeat intro in the world blending into an exhilarating breakbeat) and Rob D's Clubbed To Death (mixing and matching Elgar strings with a pumping and searing hip hop beat) are just as effective and worthy when played out.
