SINGLES:

MOLOKO: Sing It Back (Echo/Chrysalis) - A relaxed housey garage tune with a great vocal. At times the music drops away to let the female voice dominate, but it remains a highly danceable track. (7/10) PB

MONSTER MAGNET: Space Lord (A and M Records) - What starts off as rock-tinged acoustic blues eventually degenerates into sub-Black Sabbath heavy metal. A racket like this could only be excused if they were taking the mickey. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that they are. (4/10) PB

ALBUMS

LIZ PHAIR: Whitechocolatespaceegg (Matador/EMI) - Singer and songwriter Liz Phair shot to US fame after appearing on the front cover of Rolling Stone after the release of her second album Whip Smart. Her latest opus, written over four years, is a showcase of her songwriting talents and conversational rambles, mixed with a brash sexuality which underlies each nuance. There are sparkling little touches like the hand-claps and tinkling bells on Love Is Nothing. On other songs like Polyester Bride she unravels little stories about love and life, while on others she uses Morrissey's trick of fooling the listener into thinking they know what she is going to say next, before going in a completely direction. Love songs come to the fore, along with one beautiful mother and daughter tale. which is embellished with techno-like organ sounds. A masterful and well-thought out album. (9/10) PB

KULA SHAKER: () - I've given up wondering who Kula Shaker think they are. This album shows they still don't know whether they are hippies, rockers, travellers or simply dreamers. Song titles like Mystical Machine Gun can be very hard to take seriously, but they seem to sing about the said weapon with heartfelt compassion. Some of the material is old - they showcased the majestic Sound Of Drums when they played Blackburn last May. At times they sound like The Who during their experimental years - with spirited harmonised vocals soaring above clashing chord changes. SOS sees them back at their rockiest, but lyrics like "men became the spawn of Satan driving round in cars" will surely see them ridiculed, as will most of the Indian-influenced sounds. Track six ??? is where they pull all the disparate elements together and unite East and West in the manner which George Harrison tried to all those years ago. A melting-pot of madness from a mixed-up band. (7/10) PB

THE PRODIGY: The Prodigy present The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One (XL) - Not so much a mix album as a collection of snippets from Prodigy mainman Liam Howlett's record collection. This is rather like Jive Bunny but without the annoying monotonous backbeat. Included here are ace clips of acts as diverse as Jane's Addiction, Chemical Brothers, Renegade Soundwave, Sex Pistols, Grandmaster Flash,Barry White, The KLF, Beastie Boys and Primal Scream. As a concept, this album fails miserably because there is just too much chopping and changing. But if Prodigy fans expand their horizons by buying a few records by these classic acts, the world will be a better place for it. (5/10) PB

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