SINGLES

ROBERT PALMER: True Love (Eagle) - While his trademark voice is as silky as ever, time seems to have slowed down his tempo a little. This slow, percussion-heavy effort lacks the raunchy power of his smash hit Addicted To Love. (5/10) PB JAMES BROWN: Funk On A Roll (Eagle) - His delivery still as direct and funky as ever, Brown (pictured) dabbles in modern dance vibes . Here he mixes his usual soulful approach with the P-funk style preferred by the likes of his old protege George Clinton. It feels good but not as good as his funk cuts from years gone by. (7/10) PB

ALBUMS

BIS: Social Dancing (Wiiija) - The Glaswegian trio have finally come of age with their second album. Maturing into the band they always promised to be, Bis have retained the vibrancy and hooks of their debut The New Transistor Heroes. Now they've added disco and backbeats with singles Eurodisco and Action and Drama, returning them firmly centre stage of the pop arena. Vocalist Manda Rin will hit a chord with her female following by opening her heart with Shopaholic. However, the inspiration seems to run dry as the 13-track collection comes to a close.The constant cross-over of styles which is so awesome on the opening tracks becomes their undoing at the end. (8/10) CL PAUL OAKENFOLD: Resident (Circa) - One of Britain's top club DJs celebrates two years as resident at one of the North West's hottest dance nightspots, Liverpool's Cream. I've always found that Oakenfold's smooth style and ability to keep a relentless pace makes his tapes great listening for long, dark motorway drives. This double CD is a mixture of fierce instrumental techno like CJ Bolland's The Prophet and odd remixes like a great reworking of Mansun's Wide Open Space. Listening to this explains why thousands of people flock to Cream. (8/10) PB

JOHN MAYALL AND THE BLUESBREAKERS: Padlock In The Blues (Eagle) - Someone with the experience and skill of John Mayall shouldn't need help from anyone to sell good blues records. Unfortunately it's the story of his life that others have always stolen his limelight. In the '60s his was the band that people like Eric Clapton and Mick Fleetwood left to become superstars. On this album Mayall says he's not bitter about the way others stole the limelight and sticks to no-frills blues. But it seems he still needs the help of a superstar to get his records sold and John Lee Hooker more than fills the gap. Whether Mayall is providing the piano backing to some simple rocking blues, playing smoother numbers or just foot-stomping with Hooker, he just seems to get on with what he likes best. (7/10) PB

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