Latest CD releases reviewed

Skalpel
Konfusion Ninja Tune ***

Skalpel's self-titled debut was a downbeat jazzy beauty, showing that Warsaw-based producers Marcin Cichy and Igor Pudlo knew what to do when it came to matching slow-motion grooves and smokey ambience with the vintage East European jazz which cast a shadow over their work. Konfusion sticks by and large to that same blueprint but, seeing as how there was little wrong the first time around and that there's still plenty to work with, you can understand why they've remained in the same space. Skalpel's skill lies in creating beguiling and intricate atmospheres from the most simple of sources, using the double-bass thump of Long Distance Call, the brassy bravado of Test Drive and the soulful stretch of Deep Breath as stepping stones for a new take on distorted funk. Truly, a hugely satisfying signature sound. www.ninjatune.net Jim Carroll

AUDIO BULLYS
Generation Source/Virgin **

You have to feel a slight pang of pity for these Bully boys. After seeing their Ego War debut endlessly compared to Mike Skinner's debut album as The Streets in 2003, the London duo must now look on again as another compare-and-contrast exercise renders their bolshie geezer-rap all the more redundant. Whereas Skinner has gone on to perfect the art of subtle, poetic charm wrapped in greasy chav paper, the Bullys prefer a more direct, inelegant and frankly belligerent approach. Occasionally it works: turning Nancy Sinatra upside-down on Shot You Down was highly inventive, and there's a John Lydon-esque sneer and snap to the title track. But the rest of the album is thoroughly dumb, with any attempt at introspection or insight ending in an unsightly mess, such as I'm in Love and the truly dreadful Made Like That. www.audiobullys.co.uk Jim Carroll