How to follow the phenomenally-successful The Chronic album must have caused superstar rap producer Dr Dre more than a few sleepless nights. Five years on, for 2001 he's gathered a plethora of prime, new rap talent around him, including his prodigy-of-the-moment, Eminem, and Xzibit (who duet on boombastic anthem "What's The Difference?"); and is reunited with former compadres Snoop Dogg, Kurupt and MC Ren. While the lyrical preoccupations remain the same-sex, sess (marijuana), girls, guns and cars-the predictably flawless production has been cranked up way beyond the G-Funk formula that found him fame. "Still D. R. E. " is driven by the persistent pluck of a harmonium; "Light Speed" is all spooky, retro-future funk; and "Forgot About Dre" boosts kinetic, Timbaland-style beats with insistent strings and squalls of guitar. All in all, there's more than enough on here to satisfy the hardcore that Dre is back and business is booming. -Chris Campion Despite the number of guests on hand, Dr. Dre's decade-/century-/millennium-ending sequel to The Chronic is, like its predecessor, less a stack of posse cuts and more an elegantly seamless work from West Coast hip-hop's premier auteur. [+]

Although Swansea dance collective Hybrid have been heard to lament the deficit of emotional content in modern electronic dance music, the duo's second album Morning Sci Fi isn't exactly forthcoming in conveying the nuances of human feeling and frailty. While a punctilious adherence to the machine-like rhythmic strictures of progressive house arguably leaves little room for the temperaments of sorrow, anger and elation, it wouldn't be unfair to suggest that Hybrid clearly never intended to sound as clinically dispassionate as this. However, this failing (as they would see it) really works in their favour, for much of Morning Sci Fi sounds like the futuristic product of the breakbeat generation with a fear for the impersonality of the hereafter, clearly manifested in such starkly autocratic song titles as "Higher than a Skyscraper", "We Are in Control" and "Steal You Away". Darkly swooping strings from St Peterburg's Hermitage Orchestra deepen the creases on their furrowed brows while the stealthy bass twang of New Order's Peter Hook (on "True to Form", for example) and some ghostly industrial sound effects (perhaps Martin Hannett's work with Joy Division was an inspiration) add an engaging level of tension to Morning Sci Fi's brutally wintry soundscapes. -Kevin Maidment.

OK is one phrase that's universally known and understood, and on OK Talvin Singh tries for a similar global connection. A classically trained tabla player, he's performed with Björk and Massive Attack, holds his own club nights in London, and is the leading light of the burgeoning Asian Underground movement-in other words, a man of many parts. He brings them all together here-the Bollywood strings, the kannakol patterns of Indian music, and the skittering rhythms of drum & bass and jungle-to create something that is new and thoroughly vibrant. This is Britain at the millennium, drawing on its immigrants, full of Eastern promise, and ready to dive headlong into the future. An album of both intelligence and passion, it is more than OK; it's a complete marvel. -Chris Nickson.

With 17 years industry experience, innumerable remixes, several hit singles and eight albums under his belt, Dutch DJ/Producer Ferry Corsten knows how to knock up a tune. The bombastic title of his latest album, L. E. F. - Loud, Electronic, Ferocious - seems overtly aimed at quieting any doomsday critics that are still flouncing around prophesying the "death of dance music". The contents certainly state a passionate case for the genre's ongoing vitality and ability to reinvent itself, as Corsten lets loose a take-no-prisoners tirade of electro, trance, pop and techno. The visceral pulse of 'Are You Ready' opens the onslaught, preparing the listener for retro anthems such as the record's first single 'Fire' (featuring Simon Le Bon), and 'Into The Dark' (with Howard Jones), and a storming series of trademark trance cuts - 'Beautiful', 'Posession' and a reworking of old favourite 'Galaxia'. The fire dies slightly during the second half of the album, with the likes of 'On My Mind' favouring sentimental chord groupings and female vocals, and 'Junk' (a remake of 'Punk') showcasing Guru's worst rap performance since Jazzmatazz 2, though Corsten redeems himself with the fiery 808 State 'tribute' 'Cubikated' and an elegant finale, 'Freefalling'. Not a perfect set then, but feisty and capable all the same. -Paul Sullivan.

The precursor to 1982's commercial breakthrough, December, George Winston's 1980 Windham Hill debut boasts all the lyrical power and poignancy of its follow-up. A simple, clear recording for solo piano, Autumn finds Winston developing simple melodic motifs with studied left-hand underpinning, on hypnotic pieces such as "Woods", which moves from a brisk rhythmic figure to rubato minor-key runs. Leaving pauses and breaths in all the right places, Winston suggests the play of colour and light, the comfortable melancholy and the encroaching slow-down that characterises the fall season. Full of memorable themes, sure pacing and whiffs of classical grandeur, Autumn is a timeless album that belongs to the firmament of the new-age canon. -James Rotondi.

On Chant Down Babylon, Bob Marley's master tapes meet the next generation. Marley hardly needs help selling records, so these studio-engineered duets may reflect an honest attempt at linking his musical legacy with contemporary artists. Even those sympathetic to the concept, though, should wonder if it's wise to substitute new backing tracks for the original sinuous grooves of "Concrete Jungle" and "Rebel Music". (To the disc's credit, the rhythms of "No More Trouble" and "Rastaman Chant" are left largely intact. ) And as obvious as the connection between reggae and hip-hop is, Guru ("Johnny Was") and even Chuck D ("Survival a. k. a. Black Survivors") have nothing to add to Marley's perfectly chosen words. Finally, don't be surprised if your patience wears as several of Marley's sons help travesty "Kinky Reggae". -Rickey Wright.