Various Artists: A Night At The Playboy Mansion selected and mixed by Dimitri From Paris (Labels/Virgin)
If you were going to have a French disco party at Hugh Hefner's mythical pad, who else would you get to spin the tunes but France's top disco DJ, Dimitri From Paris? This is a delicious selection of house, disco and latin grooves, with just a dash of fromage to get the Playboy bunnies shaking their fluffy tails. French house has always been heavily influenced by 1970s disco - viz. Daft Punk, Cassius, Stardust, anything on Roule Records - and Dimitri pulls out such original nuggets as Salome De Bahia's Outre Lugar, Cerrone's Give Me Love and Ashford & Simpson's Found A Cure. Every DJ in town will be scrambling for the unmixed vinyl version, so they too can host their own poolside party.
- Kevin Courtney
The Cult: The Singles 1984-1995 (Beggars Banquet)
With Britain in the grip of Thatcherism, and in thrall to New Romantic boys in cummerbunds and fluffy shirts, the time was right for The Cult. Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy dared to wear biker gear while everyone else wore their mum's blouses, and they had the bottle to play loud, riffola rock while everyone else was lisping along with their synths. The Cult were Bon Jovi without the preening, ZZ Top without the beards, Led Zeppelin without the dodgy Tolkien references, and they swaggered through the late 1980s with hits like She Sells Sanctuary, Fire Woman, Love Removal Machine, Rain and Edie (Ciao Baby). Inevitably, The Cult became dinosaurs too, breaking up in 1995, but a reunion tour is on the cards, so dust off that leather jacket.
- Kevin Courtney
The Jayhawks: (Columbia)
The sentimental among us may hanker after the memorable alt.country days of The Jayhawks, but since Mark Olson moved on his former partner in song, Gary Louris, has reinvented the band as a slightly roots-influenced, but supremely pop sensitive combo. Smile is a mighty endorsement for his change of direction and further evidence that when it comes to intelligent, crafted pop songs, the Americans are well ahead of the posse. Once again it is the ballads, such as the Beatleish Mr Wilson and Better Days, which soar and score, though more muscle-rippling efforts such as Life Floats By and the closing Baby Baby Baby also catch the ear. The blend of the voices is exceptional, as is Bob Ezrin's clean production; the idea of reconstituting The Jayhawks gets better with each track.
- Joe Breen
