DEE JAY PUNK-ROC: Far Out (Independiente) - This is where techno and rap and been waiting to meet. There's fast-moving rock techno action with spacey sounds, a great depth of sound and a fast rapped vocal with a real urgency about it. The Punk-Roc (pictured) album Chicken Eye is worth checking out but this single is outstanding. And there's a remix of his other big underground hit My Beatbox, too. (9/10) PB

ALBUMS

HALF MAN HALF BISCUIT: Four Lads Who Shook The Wirral (Probe Plus) - Having whipped up a frenzied storm at their recent Meltdown performance at the Royal Festival Hall, Half Man Half Biscuit unleash their seventh album with renewed vigour. Probably their best since This Leaden Pall, it's business as usual as singer Nigel Blackwell continues to prey on the peculiarities and foibles of everyday living. With the driest, sharpest wit imaginable, nothing can be taken for granted. Opinionated weather forecasters get some stick in A Country Practice, and the millennium and Henry Rollins get a mention, along with visions of Elton Welsby in a French maid's outfit. All these experiments are pulled off masterfully and anyone who doesn't like this record may need a flask of hot tea to aid recovery. (9/10) JS

BEDLAM AGO GO: Estate Style Entertainment (Sony) - Life is by no means a bed of roses for Leeds-based Bedlam Ago Go. Catching that often used suburban street vibe with songs about death, drugs and paranoia, they hit out hard, using beatbox, hip-hop and dub. The only thing it lacks, apart from a psychiatrist's chair, is a parental guidance sticker. (7/10) JS

VAINIO VAISANNEN VEGA: Endless (Blast First) - My first live experience of Vainio and Vaisannen and their Panasonic outfit was when they opened for Suicide at London's The Garage recently. Their mimimalistic electronic soundscapes coupled, with their near-blinding visual effects, left my brain numb. Now, for legal reasons, the Finnish duo have dropped the "a" to become Pan Sonic and have recruited their hero, Suicide's Alan Vega. Unfortunately Vega's quivering, indecipherable moanings seem to go on about nothing at all. It's all very frightening and I'd advise anybody weird enough to want to buy this to keep the family pets well out of earshot. (6/10) JS

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