Primal Scream: Exterminator (Creation)
The final release on the now-defunct Creation label is a noisy affair, as Bobby Gillespie lets out all his pre-millennium tension in a burst of white noise and electronic crackle. Almost a decade after Screamadelica, Gillespie is feeling all hated-up, and Kill All Hippies, Swastika Eyes and Accelerator make swift work of enemies and eardrums alike. Pills opens with chanting monks followed by a fractured fiddle sound and Gillespie's righteous, angry rap. Blood Money is Black Sabbath meets Orbital in a jazz club, while Insect Royalty is a teeming swarm of stinging techno breaks, swooping around malevolently in search of hellish restitution. Everyone will praise this final f*** you to the old century, but no one will actually listen to it.
- Kevin Courtney
Amplified (Arista)
Q-Tip and A Tribe Called Quest were the unsung heroes of hip-hop's first golden age. While both The Low End Theory and Beats, Rhymes and Life were as good as anything others were producing, the cash always went elsewhere. Already making a mark in the US charts, the solo Q-Tip is unlikely to have to rely on praise alone to pay the bills. Amplified is as funky, jazzy and organic a piece of work as we would expect from the former Quest man. The ever-present groove and bounce ensure that tracks like Things U Do and Vivrant Thing are sweet and sassy. Hip-hop's next golden age should see Q-Tip in a starring role.
- Jim Carroll