MIXED REVIEWS...

The Dope Smugglaz.
Dope Radio.

A mixture of disco, funk and hip-hip, the Dope Smugglaz bring a flavour of their DJ'ing sets and package it nicely on one album. An album full of twists and turns, the band use some clever samples, including a tidy little version of Malcolm Mclarens 'Double Dutch'. The Monday's Shaun Ryder guests on the fantastically named 'Barbajagal', and the band seem to be setting new standards of crazy track names with tracks such as 'Instructions for use (translated from the Japanese)' as well as 'One 4 the Laydeez'. All in all, good stuff, and well worth shelling out on.

Etienne De Crecy.
Tempovision.

French funkster Etienne, one half of Parisien duo 'Motorbass', one third of French label Solid and the brains behind the highly acclaimed 'Super Discount' finally releases an album under his own name. One of the key figures behind the French house explosion of the 90's, the album takes off where that left off, and is eleven tracks of deep French house with an added touch of disco. And very nice it is too. If you don't own any French House now's your time to get some. Well worth investing in.

Jill Scott. Who is Jill Scott?
words and sounds vol. 1

An album that fuses R&B, jazz, blues, and hip hop, 'Who is Jill Scott?' is Jill Scott's debut album, and is, in one word, stunning. A fresh, vibrant sound, the album simply blew me away the first time I heard it, and it just gets better and better every time you play it. Philadelphia born Scott is flavour of the month at the moment, and as well as a recent appearance on 'Later with Jools', she's being played by some of the more influential names in dance music, such as Gilles Peterson and Trevor Nelson, as well as making appearances on numerous compilation albums including top duo Masters At Work. The 18-track album really is a rare find of quality, especially when there's so much crap out at the moment masquerading as R&B, and I've (literally) never had it out of my CD player. Go and buy it now.

Space Raiders.
Hot Cakes

Possibly the best band named after a bag of crisps (all right, probably the only band), Space Raiders hail from the lovely, sunny, picturesque town of Middlesbrough,* and have been on the go for a good couple of years now. Their latest album 'Hot Cakes' is a laid back, funky little number mixed with 70's glam that the band seem to do in a way that's all their own. And it works very well. I like it, its different, and if you find yourself in the position of having a spare few quid to cough for new tunes, then you could do worse than invest in this. *Please note. This is sarcasm.

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