SINGLES

CLINIC: The Return Of Evil Bill (Domino Recording Co) -- Whoever Evil Bill might be, he's inspired a gritty bit of lo-fi alternative rock which falls somewhere between the twisted angst of The Violent Femmes and the country-tinged alternative rock of Gomez. (7/10) PB

LLAMA FARMERS: Same Song/Movie (Beggars Banquet) -- The melodic indie popsters haven't had the impact predicted for them when they emerged late in 1998. But they show they're more than capable of a thoughtful ballad here with a folky, graceful ditty called Same Song. A heavier guitar sound is adopted on second track Movie, an edgy if plodding piece of alternative rock. (7/10) PB

ALBUMS

ELASTICA: The Menace (Deceptive Records) -- Five years after their self-titled debut album , Elastica have made their long overdue return to the indie fold. Dogged by the split with guitarist Donna Matthews and singer Justine Frischman's relationship with Blur's Damon Albarn, they have at last focused on their music. With a refreshed line-up and back to their former best, Elastica have unleashed this excellent 13 song collection. Surprisingly, with the tracks being collated from right across that messy period and subsequent rebirth, the package gels well together. Showing a little more musical maturity than in their previous work, traditional sounding tunes like Mad Dog are mixed alongside other tracks like Image Change and the brilliant My Sex which reveal a much darker side to the band. (8/10) CL VARIOUS ARTISTS: New Woman 2000 (Virgin/EMI) -- A collection of modern love songs with artists such as Gabrielle, The Corrs, Boyzone, Melanie C and Precious. There are also appearances from established artists like Tom Jones, Diana Ross, Roy Orbison, Michael Bolton and Tina Turner. The inclusion of Kelis' Caught Out There is somewhat baffling, as its refrain of "I hate you so much right now" doesn't count as a love song in my book. And whether prospective lovers would be impressed by pop pap from Britney Spears or Steps must be open to question. But it's a reasonable middle-of-the-road collection. (7/10) PB

VARIOUS ARTISTS: Hard House Anthems (Nukleuz/Virgin) -- This double CD, mixed by BK and Fergie, is an unrelenting mixture of driving house tunes which still have enough happy bounce to prevent them being too fierce on the ears. Many tracks are instantly recognisable, although the names of the tunes and artists may be lost on those who are not dance trainspotters. Highlights here include Perpetual Motion's tough anthem Keep On Dancing, Camisra's Let Me Show You with its Jerky Boyz sample and the dark electronic rhythms of Scot Project's U (I Got A Feeling). (8/10) PB

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.