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Join the Dots

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Stereolab - Dots and Loops | Cornershop - When I was born for the 7th time
The Prodigy - The Fat of The Land

Stereolab - Dots and Loops Elektra/Warner

Well, it�s taken six albums, but finally Stereolab have finally realised that those bleedin� awful bubbly noises had to get the arse. And about time too. Maybe it�s because of this that Dots and Loops is their best long player to date. Recorded onto hard disk in Dusseldorf with Mouse On Mars and in Chicago with Tortoise�s John McEntire, this album concentrates more on the more laid back, organ based �Lab sound than Kraut-Rock guitar drones and metronomic beats, and it is in the rhythms that this album is so successful and so different from its predecessors. �Parsec� basically defines the �futurist-retro� epithet Stereolab have been tagged with, with it�s easiest of easy listening tunes married to the very �now� rhythms of drum�n�bass. Single �Miss Modular� is a jaunty little number, with it�s addictive horn line and is as effortlessly catchy as only the �Lab know how, as is marimba drenched �Brakhage� which opens the set, while songs like �Contronatura� even employ disco beats. The bass-heavy �Prisoner of Mars� and lovely, bittersweet �Ticker-Tape of the Unconscious� are other standout tracks. The occasionally dreary Stereolab of old shines through briefly on �The Flower Called Nowhere�, but the overall feeling of this album is that this is the album the groop have been striving for all these years. - Chris Butler

Cornershop - When I was born for the 7th Time Wiiija/Shock

www.cornershop.com The signs were there on 1995's Woman's Gotta Have It, but here on When I Was Born For The 7th Time, Cornershop's transformation from indie noise-racketeers to experimental hip hop funksters is complete. A change for the better? You bet! Once weedy single 'Brimful of Asha' is dispensed with early on, this album turns in the occasional flashes of brilliance. 'Good Shit' is doped up bhangra-baggy, Justin Warfield's rap on 'Candyman' adds an edge to the mellowed out hip hop tune, even countrified ballad 'Good To Be On The Road Back Home Again' is bearable like most country music isn't. the indian language version of the Beatles' 'Norwegian Wood', makes a statement about reclaiming western culture's appropriations of other musical forms, but it really just sounds a little silly, especially considering the number of syllables the punjabi word for 'wood' has! The list of guests on this album is impressive - the aforementioned Justin Warfield, the late Allen Ginsberg on 'When The Light Appears Boy', sounding like someone muttering to himself in the midst of a bunch of indian musicians throwing a party, and Dr Octagon collaborator, The Automator makes several appearances in the producers chair. In the end though it is 'Norwegian Wood' which sums this album up - great ideas, but they just don't all work entirely in practice. - Chris Butler

The Prodigy - The Fat of the Land XL/Sony

When the first thundering beats of 'Smack My Bitch Up' kick in, you know that after a three year wait between albums, The Prodigy have returned with a vengeance. While the other most anticipated album of the year, Oasis' 'Be Here Now' continued in the same staid, formulaic rut we've come to expect from them, The Prodigy have elected to broaden their sound. The techno/rave elements are for the most part gone and hip hop and breakbeats now provide the rhythms. Mega singles 'Firestarter' and the punishing 'Breathe' are here in their element, and highlight the way that vocals are much more integral to the Prodigy sound now. Only the reasonably laid back (for the Prodigy, anyway), dubby 'Climbatize' (great name) is completely devoid of vocals. It is the collaborations which provide the best vocal contributions to this album, with Kool Keith rapping on the industrial hip hop of 'Diesel Power' and Kula Shaker's Crispian Mills on 'Narayan'. Mills' thin voice oddly suits the harder-edged sounds around him, and the massive, multi-tracked mantra (who says I can't alliterate with the best?) he sings is simply awesome. 'Smack My Bitch Up', despite the dodgy lyrics rocks like a bastard, while 'Mindfields' is arguably the best track on offer, slowed down and menacing with Maxim warning 'this is dangerous!' Cripes. There isn't a great deal to fault here, apart from the thrashy cover of L7's 'Fuel My Fire' and 'Serial Thrilla's techno/metal. These songs aren't complete disgraces, but really, had they been dispensed with the album would have been all the more stronger for it. They only really serve to highlight the fact that the Prodigy, for all their greatness can be fallible. The question remains though - can you see past the hype? I would argue that you can and should. Just forget the hyperbole, this album is easily strong enough to stand on its own. Psycho-somatic addict insane indeed! This is funky shit, man. - Chris Butler