Latest CD releases reviewed.

COLLIE
Is Ainm Dom Xcentury/Universal Ireland **

One of the best things you can say about Collie is that he genuinely does not sound like anyone else. This is all very well if there's actually something new to be said, but here's where the Dublin-based rapper runs into trouble timeand time again. There's no longer anything novel about Irish MCs spitting lyrics in their own accents so, in-between the slang and the skits, what you're listening for is what connects the local to the global. Previous domestic rap crews like Scary Eire and Exile Eye articulated streetwise takes on the state of this particular nation, but Collie's views are far more predictable, mundane, bland and hackneyed. He's hampered rather than helped throughout by surprisingly lame production that blunts and dulls his occasionally sharp-witted flow, and makes him sound on occasions like a long-winded radio skit. Could and should do better. www.collie.ie