CD CHOICE: R.S.A.G., Organic Sampler, Psychonavigation

You may well wonder why a solo project from the former drummer with Kilkenny band Blue Ghost demands your attention. You've got other things to do, people to see and starry Next Big Things to check out. You don't really have time for a bloody drummer from the Marble City. Sure, he could be the new Phil Collins for all you know.

The first track on Jeremy Hickey's latest release as R.S.A.G (as in Rarely Seen Above Ground) is called Counting Down, and it lasts for just under two minutes. You can spare two minutes, can't you? That's the same time you'd probably spend waiting for a bus or stuck in your car on the road into town. Yeah, you can spare it.

By the time Counting Downhas finished pounding and pumping an exotic and mesmeric tattoo into your ears in the nicest and funkiest way possible, you'll be hankering to hear more. Take your time - you're going to be coming back again and again to this album in the weeks ahead.

There are many elements which make Organic Samplersuch a wow. Hickey's sense of scale and ambition is remarkable, and each track leaps out of its skin because the producer won't settle for the mundane. Here's someone who is determined to get what he hears in his head down on disc.

His grooves are extraordinary, a heavyweight percussive storm conducted by the lightest and finest of touches. Hickey's David Byrne-like yelp gives the album a touch of the Talking Heads, but there's nothing wrong with that.

Put all this together and you have tunes that are compelling, dramatic and exciting. Every track clicks into its stride, makes for the higher ground and hits the target. Other albums may shout about their merits, but Hickey is one worth listening out for.

www.myspace.com/rarelyseenaboveground

JIM CARROLL

Download tracks:Counting Down, The Climb, Moving Image