The latest CDs reviewed.

A Lively Mind Perfecto

Paul Oakenfold, the James Blunt of superstar DJs, continues to make an extremely good living recording and playing big-boned dance music that has long since abandoned any notion of innovation or excitement. Yes, he fills stadiums wherever he goes and yes, A Lively Mind will clock up a fair amount of sales. But, really, there is absolutely nothing about this turnip which will withstand the test of time. Every single aspect of A Lively Mind, from the attention-grabbing notion of a song with actress Brittany Murphy (the turgid and trite Faster Kill Pussycat) and the usual array of showbiz grandstanding (collaborations with Pharrell Williams and Grandmaster Flash) to the awful trancing bump and grind (including, I'm not kidding, a track called Save the Last Trance for Me) smacks of acute desperation. He should stick to the DJ-ing. www.perfectorecords.com

Jim Carroll