Super Furry Animals: Guerrilla (Creation)
With mainstream success beckoning, it's a relief to realise that Super Furry Animals haven't compromised one iota on their quirky, individual style. Guerrilla might boast the infectious Northern Lites, which limbo-danced into the Top 20, but it also has the tightly-coiled Do Or Die, the unruly noise of The Teacher, and the wilfully weird Chewing Chewing Gum. The dreamy Some- things Come From Nothing and the Beatle-y Keep The Cosmic Trigger Happy consolidate SFA's position as the undisputed leaders of new psychedelia, while Turning Tide and Fire In My Heart hint at higher chart positions to come. The oddball whimsy of Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home) only adds to the intenstity of this magical pop trip.
By Kevin Courtney
Various artists: First Bite (Bassbin)
You may be still waiting for that first drum & bass Number One, but the sound of the underground is already all around you, from High Street shops to the ads on the commercial break during The Bill. This taste of what the Irish drum & bass community has to offer is, then, quite a significant state of affairs. Marshalled and compiled by the good folk behind the Bassbin club, First Bite tantalises, teases and even occasionally provides some terrific moments. Sure, as with any compilation of this ilk, there are a couple of duds in the wash - but tracks by such noms-de-guerre as Vendetta and The Gappy Foundation fire away happily on all cylinders. The future is bright; the future is underground.
By Jim Carroll