Back To Mine

Comedowns, it used to be any old reggae 12" or Francoise Hardy tune would do, presumably because when you were sledged out on drink and drugs there was little to compete with the calming aesthetics of your dishwasher filling up with water. But the teeth-chattering, plugged-in child of Mitsubishi post-excess demands more these days; for starters, he'd much rather have the likes of Faithless inviting him back to their place and putting on some Dido and Alex Gopher records. Which isn't as bad as it sounds. Avoiding the trip-hop-for-tourists stigma of their own albums, Rollo and Sister Bliss offer an unpredictable -- yet intensely selected -- collection of songs, ranging from the dour and deranged -- the Tindersticks, Mazzy Star, and Bent -- to undervalued sandcastle classics like Sub Sub's "Past" and Dusted's "Childhood," a brilliantly dubby successor to the Chemical Brothers' "The Sunshine Underground," giving you a cross-faded full hour that seeps into your bones so well that home appliance re-sales are likely to go through the roof. Fancy that. ~ Dean Carlson