REVIEW : Leftfield Leftism (Columbia)

- Martin Bate

Leftfield are a UK techno outfit commercially viable enough to en-trance the chart-buying public yet engaging and imaginative enough to still maintain underground respect.

The opener, "Release the Pressure" is ragga-influenced techno which remarkably stays firmly on the right side of twee thanks to some Orbital style atmospherics mixed with the dance-hall melodies. Next up is "Afro Left", some African-influenced dance with accoustic guitar and tribal jabberings over thudding beats guaranteed to get your head bobbing. Two tracks in and already the breadth and scope of this album is clear.

"Melt" is beautiful - trumpets floating across a "2001" synthesised landscape - and "Song of Life" uses the drum loop from the Beastie Boys "Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun" as the backdrop for a haunting female vocal and slo-mo sunrise before breaking out the more traditional techno beats.

Then there's a dip as the first side runs out. "Original" sees Curve's Toni Halliday adding vocals, but both parties seem a little disinterested. This is followed by "Black Flute" whose harder beats and drones sit a little unconvincingly.

"Space Shanty" gets things back on track though with some top spiralling synths and a bouncing beat. "Inspection Check One" is a close relative of The Prodigy's "Poison" - all juddering dark beats and scary atmospherics. And "Storm 3000" continues in the darker vein with a cool trawl through something approaching Jean Michel Jarre with break-beats.

The collaboration with Sex Pistols/PiL main-man John Lydon, "Open Up" comes in at the end, sounding as fresh now as it did as a single 18 months ago, Lydon's caustic sneer married to an infectious techno brood. But the album ends on "21st Century Poem", a little bit of cod-politics despite a fine spinning and chiming backdrop.

Leftism is a varied and solid album which nestles comfortably alongside the last releases by The Prodigy and Orbital (although, sonically, it is closer to the open-eyed wonder of the latter than the adrenaline filled rush of the former). All three are albums demonstrating to the uninitiated just how human, exhilarating and mysterious dance music can be, away from the identi-kit pop pap that clogs the charts.

Leftism will be released in the United States the first week of July.