Harmonic 33 : Extraordiary people (Alphabet Zoo)
Opening on something that sounds like tacky 70's TV scifi-sounds and with liner notes talking about "doing the Zoo" on the moon, this promises weirdness of intergalactic proportions. Space is a recurring theme on Extraordinary people, but the aliens are into hiphop and funky jazz chords. Dave Brinkworth and Mark Pritchard -aka FarOut Records' Trouble Man -go very cinematic on a release that could easily have fitted into to a traditional Ninja Tune rooster. Do the Zoo would not have raised suspicion had it been on Wagon Christ's Musipal album. Rainsong offsets heavy bump beats with a fairytale staccato flute loop. Where have they gone is again based on a heavy hiphop beat, but strings are the melody providers here. Far way places throws down a melody line fit for a James Bond movie (Sean Connery era and Caribbean setting) and yet again, doped-up beats are in effect. Good for chilling, the Extraordinary People EP is spacy sunny hip hop. It raises smiles by its kitchy audacity and drives the dancefloor through thumping beats. One for beatniks and beatdiggers alike.

Cinematic Orchestra : Man with a movie camera DVD (Ninja Tune)
This is the latest project of Jason Swinscoe and his excellent Cinematic Orchestra -a score to Dziga Vertov's 1929 silent movie classic Man with a movie camera. The movie itself was quite innovative at the time through it's hectic cutting and technologically advanced editing effects. Cinematic Orchestra update this with reinter-pretations of most tracks from their superb album Every day, re-recorded over 4 days to a VCR copy of the movie. We are taken through images of a positive, sunny, vibrant and VERY productive urban Russia society -smiles on all lips and no mention of tortured Gulag peasants. So maybe this is an indication of Communist censorship, but the images are poignant and have a very human touch. This is exacerbated by Cinematic Orchestra's score. The inaugural music scene is Dawn and the end of night is sublimely complemented by the beautiful fragility of a string and bass melody. The city awakens, Burnout cues the start of a sunny day -and the transition between these two pieces is magnificent, an emotional ride of melancholic pleasure. Title track Man with a movie camera shuffles through speedy and repetitive factory action, whilst a cover of the Art Ensemble of Chicago's Theme de yoyo is backdrop to a sport and athletics montage, one of the more fast-paced moments of the movie. Man with a movie camera remains a black and white silent movie and it does take patience and an above average interest to sit through the entire 66 minutes. But The Cinematic Orchestra work wonders to create utterly beautiful moments of strong emotion and the DVD is worth the buy just to zap to these treats. It also has a nice few extras - live performances from Cargo in London and a short feature about the making of the movie.

4 Hero : Life Styles (Harmless)
Raregroove activists Harmless launch a new series of artist-cum-selector compilation, where established artists get to stroll down their own personal music memory lane and put it all on record. First up are drum&bass pioneers turned broken beat'ish head-honchos 4Hero and their Life:Styles selection proves what we already knew: that 'futurejazz and related genres'-artists are soul fans at heart. Best of the bunch is the sumptuous Etheal Beatty track It's your love, featuring the hooking bassline sampled by ao. The Troubleneck Brothers on Back to the hip hop. The deep-thought loungebar jazzfunk of Nancy Wilson's Sunshine also pleases. A trés funky bassline drives the Mighty Ryeders' Evil vibrations -which would have made a lot of sense on a Jamiroquai inspiration compilation. So quite a few nice tracks, but a little too bland and lacking the groundbreaking music that makes you go 'hey what the..?' ...and also make a truly great soul compilation. And album never manages to show us exactly what particular side of the soul spectrum was the basis for Dego and Marc Mac's seminally superb albums. 4Hero's Life:Styles success will thus mostly be with track-headhunters -who are advised to go for the double CD as there are fewer songs on the vinyl release. Oh, and the liner notes are, quite stupidly, the same on both formats. So Dego : why can't I find that elusive Cesar Mariano song on my vinyl LP. Huh?

Madlib : Shades of blue (Blue Note)
Madlib gets a green light to pick and mix from the Blue Note vaults and so what does he do? Does he steal, con, invade, hi-jack, hold hostage a selction of Blue Note faves and classics? Well, no. The seasoned hip hop-jazz producer bows to pick out, dust off and polish up good tracks, making many shine in a new light. Cutting them up whilst mercurially maitaining the soul and driving vibe of the original track. Adding perfectly layered hip hop beats and scratches. Funking up what needs to be funked and letting the rest simmer majestically as counterpart. Monk Higgin's Slim's return kicks it all off and ensnares you with funky uhm snares and scratches. Donald Byrd's Stepping into tomorrow is another gem, with Madlib adding a touch of genius drum breaks to that classically cool bassline. Please set me at ease is on a delicious laidback headnodder tip with vocals by M.E.D. But Shades of Blue is a wave experience -you go from superb work and true elation to quiet indifference. Ronnie Foster's Mystic bounce plods along without offering much in the way of variation or excitement -and with it's rocksolid and downcut bassline, better was expected from Madlib. Stormy keeps the hammonds uneasily at the fore and Madlib's work is lost in the screeching annoyance. On these weaker songs, Madlib respects the original too much. The best tracks are those where he goes full out and layers them heavily with is own sound. Moments of pure joy, but Madlib would be best served by shedding his inhibitions and going ape with all the sounds and samples in his arsenal.

Gil Scott-Heron : Black wax (Snapper Music)
Twenty years after its production, Robert Mugge's feature on soul musician, poet and "Godfather of Rap" Gil Scott-Heron is re-released on DVD. Digitally re-mastered, the DVD offers the full original documentary which includes monologues by Gil Scott-Heron, centred around a poetry and music live evening with his Midnight Band and that unforgettable boom-box sing-along to Washington DC on the banks of the Potomac. Added to all this are excellent extras : audio of Gil Scott-Heron reciting poetry and a fantastic live performance of The bottle in Jamaica. It's interesting how the release of Black Wax coincides surprisingly well with the cementing of today's new world order -Whitey on the moon surely delivers a message adaptable to the Iraq war and the Mars plans. It is a damning confirmation that nothing has really changed since 1982 and the Reagan years. It is also a glorious tribute to Gil Scott-Heron, proving that his thoughts and vision, expressed through music and poetry, are immortal, just as relevant today as they were 20 years ago. As a beautiful portrait of an inspirational artist, the Black Wax DVD should be required learning for anyone with a passing interest in black history, socio-political affairs or jazz and blues music.

Matthew Herbert Big Band : Goodbye swingtime (Accidental)
Matthew Herbert's much-publicised big band project finally yields an album on the dub-organic click-house genius' own label Accidental. Herbert has composed most of the music on Goodbye Swingtime and although this is a very different from his previous work, his touch is felt throughout. The project builds on Herbert's usual dogmatic approach to music -all samples are man-made, from tapping teeth to tearing newspapers. The album is also very political, with a firm focus on the Iraq war as anti-war messages roam the entire album, helping to set Goodbye Swingtime in a firm context, which is handy as the music yields no red thread. Passages of beautiful music are interlaced with a degenerate anarchy with the seemingly only purpose of unnecessarily showcasing an innovative spirit. The album only reaches its full potential when it shuns its experimental identity and concentrates simply on the music. Yet even the off-kilter mayhem becomes endearing as the album gains with every listening. Matthew Herbert takes big band jazz into new realms of possibilities and Goodbye swingtime is a stimulating album in many respects. A stronger focus on music and substance rather than message and style on a sophomore album would create a sublime record. For now, Goodbye Swingtime is definetly worth the detour.

William Gibson : Pattern recognition (Penguin Books)
Excellent post-scifi author William Gibson returns with a tale of branding, mystery internet footage and a worldwide quest to solve a mystery. Cayce Pollard is sickened by effective advertising -she actually reacts physically to it, which makes her very good at deciding if an ad or logo is effective. She is hired by a London agency to track down the makers of the 'footage' -a series of anonymous movie clips posted on the internet that have generated an enormous cult following. It's all very Gibson'esque, but especially the branding and internet mystery-angle (the Ring, anybody?) helps to add a marvelous dimension to the story. It creates every cyberpunks wet dream -the idea that the world of datastreams is an world that flows in an out of reality -and that, very Freudially, we all both penetrate and are penetrated by cyber-reality every day. And it works wonders as you really are dragged into this novel. One of Gibson's few weaknesses has always been an inability to maintain fascination and excitement until the end of his books. The reader is drawn into a spiritual and other-worldly realm, but in order to keep a minimum of plot consistency, Gibson always reverts to more traditional events and explanations -which deflates the mood of his work. Pattern recognition is essentially no exception to this, but Gibson does fare better in this case. The novel is set in recognisable, contemporary surroundings (London and Camden in particular are very vividly and well spotted) and the down-to-earth nature of any conclusion is therefore not inappropriate. Instead of lifting us to immeasurable heights only to leave us in freefall, Gibson this time creates a more balanced and floating journey. And a perfect Gibson story would really be one with no ending -where we are puzzled to the brink of insanity and left hanging there. Utopian, but Pattern Recognition will take you places you want to go -a fantasy voyage fused with social commentary well-rooted in a firm reality-base. A wonderful book if you dive deep and let your imagination float freely.

North West Metropolis : Expressions EP (Unexpected Records)
The Netherlands have been amongst the few European countries not to join in on a future jazz or broken beat-infused hip hop vibe. This changes with the entry of Amsterdam collective North West Metropolis, whose Expressions EP will definetly rival the established elite of forward-thinking hip hop styles. NWP is blunted pumping beats in a Digable Planets or Common style with punchy and often melodic vocals, floating a down-to-earth vibe. This debut EP is reportedly inspired by the 1920s 'Amsterdam School' of architecture and the sextet mercurially adapt thoughts about architectural structures to the structure of life and its moments. Check the beautiful line : "let's build spacious places where the times are ageless" on Self expression -nuff said. NWP have a great talent for writing thoughtful and thought-provoking lyrics in positive hip hop vibe and soulful deep beats are added for en exquisite result. The Expressions EP is one of those records that make you feel at peace with life and the world around you, so needless to say, you need this. Netherlands : twelve points. Les Pays-Bas : douze points. Nederland : twaalf punten. Now where's the LP?

Various : Future sounds of jazz vol. 9 (Compost Records)
FSOJ is now the longest running compilation series in electronic jazz music. But rather than exhaust genre focus and dilute quality, selector Michael Reinboth delivers his best instalment yet, with apex quality throughout. From the thumping breakbeat and driving drums of Triplane's Something to get excited about, through Alexander Kowalski's sublime slice of broken Detroit tech Along and the broken soul of Season (aka Offtrack's Dirk Rumpfh) with vocals by Ernesto. Andreas Saag throws in the moody twilight anthem Leave me now in his Stateless guise. Monassa's Days and nights is a superbly windy and atmospheric slice of drum&piano interactive bliss. The sound of the compilation is remarkably hard when compared to especially the FSOJ Vol 7 and 8 (Peter Kruder's infectious Root down on vol.7 excluded). Reinboth broadens the FSOJ spectrum from its future jazz roots to a new evolution of broken sounds, digging out the refined cream of the genres, but still manages to introduce many previously unreleased and exclusive tracks. Future Sounds of Jazz Vol.9 illustrates the wholy grail of a compilation : to present the very best of a genre whilst broadening the listener's mind. Possibly the best electronic jazz compilation to date.

Dwele : Subject (Virgin)
Ever since Jill Scott, no soul artist has had such an instant impact with his debut album. In the midst of PhillySoul-fever, Dwele represents Detroit gleefully with his rich soulful sound. Words, words.. this is just pure soul, from the upbeat Quincy Jones style on Find a way, through the soothingly slow Twuneanunda and the off-beat smarts of Lady at Mahogany. Production is layered and smooth, but Dwele always seems to find an edge to his songs, which makes them potential timeless classics. He strums along on his guitar on Day at a time and memories of Edie Brickell albums resurface. Some critics have dubbed Dwele's lyrics subjects and messages a little naive. But Dwele's candour in keeping things simple whilst exhibiting great maturity is actually one of the most endearing things about both the man and his music. Subject is an utterly beautiful album and this release will thankfully and finally put an end to Giles Peterson's endless ranting -"it's dropping, it's coming, watch out for Dwele et al". Only disappointment is that much-touted (Peterson again) and excellent track Angel is not included. But Subject is yet another album that reaffirms that the neo soul wave is rivalling the quality and spirituality of its old soul roots. Only beef : doesn't Money don't mean a thing sound a little too much like British boyband Blue?

Plej : Electronic music from the Swedish left coast (Exceptional)
Gothenburg outfit Plej drop their debut album on British label Exceptional Records and you'd initially think that some of this was a Metro Area production : opener Lay of the land has the same style, sound and structure as the New York duos seminal house-not-house releases. But Electronic music from the Swedish left coast is really a sunny and light-hearted deephouse affair that borrows subtle elements from both disco and clickhouse. The distinguishing factor is, not surprisingly, a Scandinavian jazz tingle (think Swell Session and especially Hird) on tracks like Evum and Paus. Song, Thrill and especially You are really just as much pop as they are deephouse and a distinct electro feel looms on Jabo's night out. There's even a smooth downbeat click on Soulset. So much ado about Metro Area on some tracks, but plagiarism is not the word here -rivalry is. Smooth, tight and meticulous production and instrumentation flyes this one high, although it is a little too pop sometimes. Lay of the land, Evum and You are absolute gems and will definetly place Plej on the house map. An fitting soundtrack to outside summer drinks but seems to go well with cold winter days as well. Being from Sweden, it would have to, really.

International Pony : We love music (Skint)
Germany and France were a thorn in each others sides throughout much of the 20th century. World wars, disputes over the Rhineland, rivalries for control of the European Community, you name it and these two have argued over it. Today things are more hunky-dory between the two great European powers. Enter International Pony : a 100% German trio who sound impecably french. A heavy use of vocoders à la Air or the old school electro hip hop (watch La Haine for a breakdancin' perspective) is fused with 4/4 bassline funk au gôut Daft Punk on International Pony's debut album We Love Music. They even manage to work a little Spanish flavour in with the enthralling, superb filter-house anthem A new bassline for José. There's also more than a hit of Avalanches in this whole mix. From the snappy soulful vocals, scratches and sunshine emotion of Hangin' around through the laidback melodic cocktail-downbeat of Meet some friends, We love music sublimely retains a trademark sound whilst incorporating elements from a myriad genres and sounds ranging from 80s synths to the very latest house basslines. Anything your heart desires is here, from slow moody gems to upbeat electro and house with a twist, all broken up with semi-tacky but loveable radio jingles. The Pony are international in more ways than one; they embrace pan-European influences while producing music that will have all peoples dancing. We love music is simply fantastic -we love this album!

John Tejada & Arian Leviste : Fairfax sake (Playhouse)
Tech-heads worldwide invariably wet themselves at the prospect of new material from John Tejada. Things get very wet with Fairfax Sake, a fresh instalment in the tech/microhouse guru's long-time collaboration with Arian Leviste. After Tejada's excellent work with Takeshi Nishimoto as click-jazz project I M Not A Gun, it's no suprise that the Fairfax Sake approach to a Cologne-like sound is blessed with an intricate maze of variables and syncopated subtlety. The album retains a solid structure, the lack of which was the weak element of previous Tejada releases. Melody segments and chords fit organically with the beats, which are a perfect tightrope walk of filtered bass and kick programming. Best are the beautiful opener Faux obsolete and the flying Modern scene, where the depth of the synth soundscapes are sublimely complete and harmonious. The only weak link is Harmonic Turbulence, which loses its plot and becomes a confusing affair. Fairfax Sake impresses through meticulous production and a driving atmosphere. The most complete Tejada album yet.

Bias : Worry beads (Canteen Records)
The inaugurating track announces the return of DJ Bias and even if you were unaquainted with this DJ and producer before, you'll find yourself wondering where he's been all this time. Worry beads is one of those records that instantly grows on you. It's jazzy DJ Shadow-style sampler-hip hop fused with a trip hop vibe and covering an emotional span from upbeat joy to downbeat melancholy. The EP builds a solid bridge between a very emotional, cinematic mood and uplifting positive rhythms. The Charmer is sensuous female vocals with a driving, sorrowful melody. Sunrise is actually an excellent themesong for sunsets, a punchy beat that will have all heads nodding . Lucky strike sets the scene for what I presume is the Vietnam war with haunting helicopter samples and vocals :"I wanted a mission and for my sins they gave me one". Many songs on the EP are based equally around beats and acoustic folky guitar chords, which makes this an interesting experience. Worry beads is one of those few records that stimulate the mind and also work well at late summer afternoon backyard barbecues. With so many levels, there are many reasons why you should buy this -and no reasons why you shouldn't.