Crawling out of the end of the rave scene, the Prodigy's second album went straight in at number one in the charts. All the tracks have the unique stamp of Liam Howlett and the boys, from the hypnotic atmosphere of aggression and attitude on "Poison" and "Voodoo People" to the guitar-driven "Their Law" (featuring the now defunct Pop Will Eat Itself) and the breakbeat tech-house of "No Good (Start the Dance)". One of the few dance acts to retain underground credibility and huge mainstream popularity, Music For The Jilted Generation shows The Prodigy at their best. Any modern music collection seems barren without its presence. -Ed Potton.

Mind Elevation, the fourth album from Leeds-born DJ/producer and hemp hedonist George Evelyn, is another welcome hit of chilled beats, entrancing melodies and soothing soul-drenched vocals. While persevering with the use of live instrumentation, first introduced on 1999's Carboot Soul, Evelyn-a one-time judge of Amsterdam's High Times Cannabis Cup-has fortunately not sacrificed any of the dreamy ambience and looped samples that made 1995's Smokers Delight such essential post-club listening. He has though finally abandoned "Nights Interlude", an interpretation of Quincy Jones' "Summer In The City", that traditionally opened all prior Nightmares on Wax (NOW) albums. In its place lies "Mind Eye", a languorous spiralling instrumental groove that sets the pace way down low and stirs an entrancing breezy summer vibe that drifts throughout the album. Alongside the cool mix of mellow hip-hop, soulful r'n'b, and ambling ambient effects, comes the lilting if occasionally overstretched vocal talents of Chyne B. "Got To Know My Name", the most upbeat NOW track to date, sees her joyously waxing lyrical over an impossibly funky, retro-soul melody. Sadly her other contributions such as the r'n'b-lite "Date with Destiny" prove disappointing. But with the majority of the album bringing the feel of a joyous sun-drenched afternoon to your speakers, you can sit back and rest assured that Mind Elevation really does do what it says on the tin. -Christopher Barrett.

Furthering its reputation as a label that releases the best in experimental hip-hop and abstract beats, Ninja Tune brings you The Herbalizer. Led by South Londoners Jake Wherry and DJ Ollie Teeba, the band's second album, Blow Your Headphones, is a schizophrenic concoction of jazz horns, old school grooves, and punchy vocals that sits comfortably alongside the music of more illustrious stable mates Coldcut and DJ Food. As their name suggests, The Herbalizer have created a blunted, sample-laden record that offers a whole lot more then just background tunes for the new generation. Their music is an infectious and vibrant mix of cool influences. From the gun slinging introduction of the "Opening Credits" and the brassy funk of "Mr. Chombee Has The Flaw" to the lounge room freestyling of "Hardcore", Blow Your Headphones is a sonically textured album that sets a mood, not suits it. -George Lees.

A self-confessed "filmaholic" who often spends afternoons before sets in cinemas the world over, Paul Oakenfold has gone about capturing the sinister, malevolent mood of Dominic Sena's action-crime thriller with careful attention to both art and audience. His weave of cuts such as Dope Smugglaz dark and tense "The Word (PMT Remix)", Lemon Jelly's sunrise chill-out "Kneel Before Your God" and his own retro-electro collaboration with Afrika Bambaataa and The Soul Sonic Force, "Planet Rock (Swordfish Mix)" is smart and evocative, a glistening picture of LA's high-tech underbelly in 2001. Indeed, it's hard not to hear beautiful, wealthy people at gorgeous raves in bathroom stalls somewhere off the Sunset Strip as Oakenfold segues the sleazy "Stanley's Tune" into the neon techno of "Password". Headphones could well be the way to go on initial spins, simply because Oakenfold's mix is spiced with the sort of celluloid nuances and attentions that are big enough to make this different from, say, Perfecto Presents Another World but smooth enough to be enjoyable once properly processed. It's stealthy, imaginative and more varied than a single listen might suggest. -Steffan Chirazi.

It's been a slow, almost imperceptible evolution, but on Ultravisitor, the seventh album from Tom Jenkinson's Squarepusher project, we finally see this Chelmsford-based electronica guru shrugging off the rather primitive drill 'n' bass tag, and maturing into a fully-fledged musical auteur. Look at him on that sleeve, all serious stare and mutton-chop sideburns: this record feels like a conscious attempt to install Jenkinson into a serious musical canon alongside his obvious heroes John Cage, Miles Davies and Sun Ra. It's a good try, as over these 70-odd minutes of electro-rave mayhem and frighteningly complex jazz-fusion improv, Jenkinson shows absolutely no sign of slowing his dizzying inventive velocity. The flirtation with UK garage that formed the synthetic exoskeleton of 2001's My Red Hot Car is sadly absent, but pieces such as "Menelee" and "Steinbolt" demonstrate fresh fascination for all manner of mutant strains of electronic hardcore and urban junglism, and fill the gap admirably. Elsewhere, we find Jenkinson's passion for live instrumentation more pronounced than at any time since 1998's "Music Is Rotted One Note". This isn't always a good thing. The thrumming, masturbatory bass-soloing of "C-Town Smash" takes jazz proficiency into new realms of ridiculousness. But "I Fulcrum" carries the interstellar legacy of Sun Ra into as-yet undiscovered galaxies, and "Iambic 9 Poetry" proves Jenkinson's gift for melody remains gloriously intact, a perfect example of chiming instrumental clarity amid the deranged chatter of machine-code chaos. -Louis Pattison.

There's no shortage of quality chill-out albums around these days. Take Blue States debut album Nothing Changes Under The Sun, for example. It contains the sort of brilliant, uplifting music that should be soundtracking perfect sunsets and endless summer evenings. Blue States man Andy Dragazis takes his cue from the likes of Kruder & Dorfmeister and Air, fusing warm, bass-heavy beats with gentle acoustic guitars, sublime Hammond keys and quietly uplifting strings. Some tracks are lush and dreamy, while others are clear and refined. The album's roomy, cinematic elegance suggests a love for the work of classic soundtrack composers like John Barry, Ennio Morricone and Roy Budd. With its lazy melodies, enchanting strings and sexy keys, Nothing Changes Under The Sun is one of the most beautiful albums you're likely to hear in a long, long time. The summer will never be the same again. -Matt Anniss.

During their long reign as one of dance music's most endearing acts, the Orbital sound has rarely changed. The result: five albums of beautiful electronic space-symphonies, blunt dancefloor beats and eccentric cinematic themes. And so to album six, 2001's The Altogether. From the start, it's clear that this is no ordinary Orbital album. Gone are the space-opuses of old, replaced by rock-sampling instrumentals, what can be described as "techno skiffle" numbers and David Gray collaborations. Of the 11 tracks here, three are punk-sampling breakbeat romps (think 1996 hit Satan), two are full-on vocal numbers and one's a breakneck drum-and-bass tune about rioting (the Scott Walker-inspired Meltdown). Sure, all the familiar elements are here-tracks such as "Pay Per View", "Doctor Who" and "Shadows" are classic Orbital-but they're no longer the most dominant themes. While fans may find The Altogether uncomfortable listening at first, it's easily the Hartnolls' most varied album to date. Within its 60 minutes lies some of the duo's most inventive and enjoyable music in years. This is a real mixed bag, for sure, but one that demands repeat listens. [+]

This Tokyo turntablist is becoming something of a veteran scratcher, as Zen makes it seven solo album releases in about the same number of years. It's established that Krush has ears everywhere, incorporating scraps from across the genres, alternating semi-conventional rapping and singing cuts with all manner of sample-fests. The DJ host's invited a guest for every track except the opening "Song 1", setting an even pace, its loungey chimes caressed by flute trails. "Zen Approach" has Black Thought maintaining a languorous rapping pace, a bleeding bass tone melting his trainers. The inspired "Sonic Traveller" hacks into yet another channel, marimba and gong sounds colliding with crunch-beats, surrounded by bongo stutters and dubby bass retches. Company Flow spouts the most flared-up rap on "Vision Of Art", then Krush cuts to N'Dea Davenport's moderately conventional "With Grace" soul vocal, while Roots-man ?uestlove helps sculpt the visually evocative "Endless Railway", its resonant bells, faked Russian chorus and heavy machinery effects coming on like an Ennio Morricone soundtrack. -Martin Longley.

Fans of all aspects of Björk's career will be delighted with this concept album. The Palme-D'Or-winning movie-musical Dancer in the Darkgave her 18 months to produce this superb half-hour's result. It blurs all her staple sampling inventiveness (listen for a ball bouncing and shoes squeaking on gym flooring in "In The Musicals") with the sort of lush big band orchestral backing that made "Oh So Quiet" a hit. As in the film, each song builds from natural sounds that inspire Selma's fantasy world. "Cvalda" starts with machinery noise from her factory job, "Scatterheart" with the crackle of a stuck vinyl record, and "I've Seen It All" with a locomotive's engine rhythm (featuring a duet with Radiohead's Thom Yorke instead of on-screen would-be boyfriend Peter Stormare). "107 Steps" is cheekily just the Icelander singing numbers, and "My Favourite Things" isn't here from her delightful Sound of Music rehearsal. But those are minor niggles. Finishing in grand upbeat style with "New World", the music concludes with a nice link back to the motif from the brassy "Overture". It's taken the coherence of film scoring to deliver her most impressive work since Debut. -Paul Tonks.