Michael Hutchence: Michael Hutchence (V2 Records)
The INXS singer's death in 1997 had all the ingredients of a true rock'n'roll tragedy, but sadly his posthumous solo album has few of the elements needed to leave a lasting legacy. Hutchence was a pop star of the old school: flamboyant, arrogant, addicted to fame, sex and drugs, but when you strip away the glamour and examine the music beneath, there's not much going on beneath the swaggering beats and showy guitars. Hutchence could certainly walk the walk, and here he swishes through such second-rate pop fodder as Get On The Inside, She Flirts For England (who could that be about, I wonder?) and the prescient Don't Save Me From Myself. Bono duets with Hutch on the final track, Slide Away, which, paradoxically, is one of the few songs which doesn't sound like a poor Aussie cousin of The Fly.
- Kevin Courtney
The Plague Monkeys: The Sunburn Index (Crosstown Music)
Ireland's answer to The Cocteau Twins return with their follow-up to Surface Tension, and suddenly the obvious comparisons don't seem so obvious any more. The music is still ethereal, ghostly and slightly melancholy, and Carol Keogh's voice still sounds like delicate porcelain, but the musical scope has widened beyond the parameters of student-friendly indie. It takes a while for The Sunburn Index to burn through to the sensibilities - track, Last Bus, witters on about technology, while Doppler Effect tries too hard - but Rogue Gene, Sea Change and 256 Shades Of Grey show that The Plague Monkeys are broadening their palette to cover an ever-expanding range of emotions. They're not there yet, mind - Po- lar Magnets (Parts I & 2) and Exit are introspection-bynumbers - but The Plague Monkeys are definitely evolving.
- Kevin Courtney
Various: David Mancuso Presents The Loft (Nuphonic)
David Mancuso didn't invent house music or even club culture, but he did throw one hell of a party every Saturday night in his New York loft apartment. These early 1970s events became the stuff of legend, instructing a generation of DJs, producers, promoters and clubbers in the fine art of having a good time. Most of all, it was about the music - feel-good anthems, new sounds, laid-back grooves and more besides. From Risco Connection's warm-hearted Ain't No Stopping Us Now and Loose Joints' classic Is It All Over My Face to Manu Dibango's driving Soul Makossa and Ten City's inspirational Devotion, Mancuso would dip and dive into many corners to come up with the perfect dawn chorus. If you're doing nothing this Saturday, get this and throw your own house party.
- Jim Carroll