I desperately wanted to like this record. Something was telling me 'This is the greatest album of the last few years'. So I listened and listened and relistened to it.

Track 1: The Light Brigade. Groovy. Doesn't go anywhere.

Track 2: London. Groovy. Doesn't go anywhere. Only 2 phrases. Random out-of-tune brass writing. Damn, I can't get it out of my head.

Track 3: Hello. Doesn't go anywhere. I swear I'll see Norman Cook leaping out at me in a minute.

Track 4: Hush. Random alien sounds. Still doesn't go anywhere.

Track 5: The Hooded Claw. Desperately wants to be the soundtrack for a superhero comic strip. Not you again, Norman: stop weaving your tunes round poor Simon's head: he might become - god forbid - MAINSTREAM!!!

Track 6: Marvellous. Actually, this is bloomin' marvellous. But it still doesn't go anywhere.

You get the idea. What start off as fantastic musical ideas - and I mean fantastic - are spoilt by far too much repetition, some completely misjudged sampling, and simply a barrage of too many of these ideas collaged together to create music with no sense of direction. I have no doubt that both collaborators are extremely talented, and there is no doubt that this record will become THE coffee-table must-have of 2001. I really did like some of these tracks, and several of them are insanely groovy: standout tracks include When You Leave, and Wonderful Tonight. But personally I don't think it's particularly well written. Either that, or it's too well written for me to understand.

And I probably don't want to hear the answer...

share

end of year feature musicOMH's 50 Best Albums Of 2009 From the nearly 700 albums we reviewed this year, which did our writers love the most? Introduction 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 20-11 | 10-4 | 1-3