Maxwell: "Embrya" (Co- lumbia)

Second helpings from the Nu-Soul brother and if you're someone who was hooked by the slinky sounds of his debut Urban Hang Suite, you won't need an introduction to what's on offer here. Maxwell is soul's brightest star, the shy chap with the magnificent voice who provokes enthusiastic comparisons to Marvin Gaye. Along with the likes of Erykah Badu and D'Angelo, he's writing a new script for soul music in the 1990s. Embrya is sultry and charismatic, an album where each track mesmerises and enchants. The music throughout is simple and streamlined, retro soul-jazz-funk streamlined and stripped to allow Maxwell's voice to take control. Spirituality and relationships dominate the themes with that great soul yelp setting the mood and the tone throughout. It can be sweet for a track like Matrimony or passionate for the likes of Luxury, but it rarely misses the mark.Jim Carroll

Deep Dish "Junk Science" (Deconstruction)

From Iran via Washington DC, Sharam and Ali are best known for tracks like DeLacy's epic Hideaway, their own anthemic Stay Gold and associations with trance-lite merchants like BT and Sasha. This debut will change that perception. Junk Science is warm and beautiful, steering with ease from waves of floor-filling euphoria to more becalming waters, where the classical notions of their material take over. Tracey Thorn revisits Missing on The Future Of The Future while the spin on Sushi is simply divine, reminding you of why house music is so seductive in the first place. Deep Dish try out many styles but succeed in threading each influence into an unique landscape; the expression "music for mind, body and soul" was invented for albums like this. Jim Carroll

Fatboy Slim "On The Floor At The Boutique" (Skint)

Norman Cook knows the score. The former Housemartin who discovered a golden dance-floor touch has deftly chartered a smooth passage for himself through club culture's myriad of twists and turns. As Fatboy Slim, he's the big cheese of big beat, the chap who gave Cornershop a Number One with his gut-busting remix of Brimful Of Asha and who gives regulars at the Big Beat Boutique in Brighton many big nights out. This is a snapshot of why Cook is in pole position in the big-beat grand prix. On The Floor . . . oozes energy and panache, jumping from the wired sounds of the Incredible Bongo Band to the booming strut of old-school Jungle Brothers. Block-rockin' beats and then some. Jim Carroll