Killah Priest - One Step (Geffen)
Out on parole from the Wu-Tang, Killah Priest thrills us to the sound of rap as it should be. Armed with 400 years of social injustive, his lyricism is a sharp and slick historical polemic, with a backing vibe fit to move your booty. Musical as well as poetical, 'One Step' is a protest song in the truest sense of the word.

Gravediggaz - Night on Earth (Gee Street/V2)
Keeping in the vein of historical and social conscience, the Gravediggaz' 'Night on Earth' affects another minor blow for black consciousness. Musically it covers familiar ground, but it's good to see rap imbued with a political sensibility again.

Tin Star - Disconnected Child (V2)
Just when you think straight-forward techno music has lost its' visionary appeal, along comes a track to scramble your brain again. Tin Star's 'Disconned Child' is just such a track. It takes its' cue from the electric lo-fi of Underworld and gives it a new dose of psychedelic energy, layering it with piercing distortion while keeping Underworlds sense of momentum.

Electric Love Babies - Explore (V2)
Pleasantly dark electro trip-hop from the Love babies. A sacharin-sweet vocal reminiscent of the Sneaker Pimps drifts in and out of this downward melange. Haunting.

Pitchshifter - Genius (Geffen)
Pitchshifter have come a long way from their pole position in left-of-centre death metal. 'Genius' shows the boys adopting more of a zeitgeistean spirit courtesy of the Chemical Brothers and 'big beat'. Still lots of guitars and loud vocals, still easier to mosh to than to rave to, but altogether more accessible and catchier than previous outings.

Bag - Blue Suburban Skies (Universal)
Anthemic brit-pop tugging at the robes of Supergrass while donning a cap to recent acts like The Supernaturals and Stereophonics. Big sound, big chorus, even some decent melodies, but ultimately rather tired and pointless.

12 Rods - Gay (V2)
One of the strangest sounding bands I've heard in a long time. Imagine Ozzy-era Black Sabbath playing in a basement below a trip-hop party. Picture yourself on the top floor trying to get to sleep and you've come close to reconstructing the experience of listening to this disc. Close, but not quite there. Bizarre.

Future Bible Heroes - Lonely Days (Setanta)
This could have been a minor hit in the 80s. Light electro-pop with classical pretensions topped by melancholic female vocals. it's the direction New Order headed after losing their visceral edge. The 4 remaining tracks are actually more interesting than the title track. 'Love is Blue' would have been a better title choice, and could feasibly have been number one circa 1983.

Gus Gus - Polyesterday (V2)
Gus Gus receive a lot of attention in the press these days, to which one can only respond 'why?' Polyesterday confirms our suspicions at Sorted Central that Gus Gus are in fact the winners of a George Michael soundalike competition and their pet programming hamster.

Pelvis - Streetlight (Setanta)
This Dublin 3-piece have been causing quite a stir on the Irish live music scene in the past year or so, winning a coveted Hot Press award in the process. They are now signed to Setanta, the perfect home for their lilywhite compositions. Streetlight is finely crafted pop, the type we've come to expect from Irish acts like the Divine Comedy and Bawl, but with enough individuality to win them a firm fanbase.

JHNO - Fly (Delicate Ear)
Soft ambient meets drums-and-bass in thius appealing trance excursion by San Franciscan based DJ and producer JHNO. It's a hectic ride through various genres of electronic music, shifting gears all the time, but very rewarding and well-knitted together. The hand-painted acrylic cover is a nice touch as well, but I doubt there's enough for all you record-buying proletarians out there.

Catchers - Call her Name (Setanta)
Strong choruses and good overall songwriting elevate the Catchers out of the realm of ethereal shoe-gazing indie pop. 'Call her Name' is tinged by the hand of a mature author, well able to sustain the song for the 6 minute distance. Brings to mind the better moments of the Go-Betweens.

Days of the New - Touch, Feel and Stand (Outpost)
This owes more than a little debt of recognition to Soundgarden. 'Touch, Stand and Feel' has Chris Cornells peculiar brand of composition written all over it, from the strained emotive mannerisms of the singing to the lazy groove-ridden riffs and acoustic embellishments of the music. Derivative, but quite a good song at the same time, especially as even Soundgarden don't do it this well any more.

Cuckoo - Non Sequitar (Geffen)
Loud, brash, American pop. Grungy guitars and exaggerated vocals. Futile.

Symposium -Average Man (Infectious)
Teenybob songs about relationships with lots of distortion and shouting and singalong choruses and jump up and down isn't it great... Symposium doing what they do best ie. being annoying. Go away, brats.