Various Junglized (Selector/Crammed/Fusion III)
Texas White On Blonde (Mercury/Polygram)Having previously covered Al Green's "Tired Of Being Alone" and employing vocals from Sly and The Family Stone's "Sister Rose," Texas can at least boast of having good taste. But White on Blonde tracks like "Good Advice" sound like watered-down trip hop, whereas "Breathless" sounds like John Lennon's mid-'70s haze phase. If Texas insist on being called a soul band they might want to consider sounding like one. 5.5/10 (Johnson Cummins) Various The Deepest Shade of Techno I + II (Fusion III/Reinforced/SSR/Crammed)Techno has been loaded with various meanings and cultural attachments, and in the sludge of all of the "music to go mental to" connotations, the style's original musicality is often forgotten. Techno is brother to house--it was, and often is melodic. In the early '90s, Detroit earlybirds like Claude Young, UR and Dan Curtin made sweeping atmospheric sounds and low, unctuous moods. Those tracks are on this 2 CD-pack with newer blips by artists like Octave One. Mixed by 4-Hero. Absolutely vital. 9/10 (Mireille Silcott) Pneumershonic Frequencies Of The Beast (Tray Full Of Lab Mice/Cargo)
Take one part Sun Ra, one part Jad Fair, two parts Captain Beefheart, a twist of Robyn Hitchcock, shake and then serve in Wesley Willis' dirty glass. Timothy Leary lookalike Paul Bourke sings free association lyrics about extraterrestrial life forms, hippies and the Bubonic plague draped over a soundscape of samples and free jazz. The lo-fi sound gives a nice perspective to the dementia that is going on around the songs. Mondo Weirdo! 7.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)
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The characteristic sounds of present drum & bass, fed to us by the French DJ Otis. Two tracks of rumbling sub bass from Basement's Subject 13 begin the steady climb, ending with the jump up jams of IQ Collective's Cockney gunshot anthem "Rebound" and DJ Phantasy's intense ragga-hard grip of "44 Mag" (lyrics about bodybags). Don't pass by Adam F's keyed-down "Circles"--proof that having been a keyboardist with the Moody Blues (!) doesn't necessarily exempt you from jungle's coolest ranks. 8/10 (Mireille Silcott)