Lee Graham Bridges

1) Howie B, Turn The Dark Off (Island). What should be said about Howie B first and foremost is that he is reinvigorating a dying scene. While Turn The Dark Off may be less in the burdensome "electronica" category due to its lack of techno cliches, it is this exact originality that breathes life into authentic techno and gives new meaning to the word "progressive". This album is the yin to the yang of Music For Babies, his last album, which was an ambient set, and unfortunately, not nearly as representative of Howie's personality in composition, which can be seen through his extensive work with Massive Attack, Bjork, Tricky, U2, and Brian Eno as well as Turn The Dark Off. Here the rhythm is set in motion, and it is the beats that make this album such a dazzle. It's only too bad that Turn The Dark Off can't be ranked higher than #1--this one is a must have. Check out http://www.howieb.co.uk for more info.

2) Aphex Twin, Come To Daddy (Warp!). Richard James has developed a routine of one-upping himself on every record he produces. To describe the evolution of the music he has produced would take too long; it suffices to say that Richard D. James, the last one, showed an enhancement of the dynamic, frenetic qualities of Aphex Twin repertoire. In addition to this, Come To Daddy supplements the music with a dose of pure insanity, proven by the wild screaming and promises of "I will eat your soul" in the main mix of the title track, and tracks like "Funny Little Man" as a whole (the madness is beyond description here). Come To Daddy demonstrates the creative ingenuity that will ensure James always has an audience without being spoiled by the grubby hands of the mainstream.

3) Voodoo Child/Moby, The End of Everything (Elektra). The widely revered Moby revived an older monicker to present the side of his music that always appears (even on his proto-hardcore guitar oddity Animal Rights) but never fully develops on his other records. Most tracks unfold very slowly, reach their climax and fade without creating much fuss. "Reject" is an 18-minute long ambient set comparable in its sparseness only to his Underwater disc included with some copies of Everything Is Wrong. "Slow Motion Suicide" is a humbling, unforgettable track. The End of Everything, as Moby intended, is a hidden gem in the glut of electronic music on shelves today.

4) Negativland, Dispepsi (Seeland). While Negativland do perform actual songs on the album, it is the sound collages that make Dispepsi one of the best albums of 1997. Clips from commercials, talk radio, promotional voiceovers and the like serve to poke extreme fun at American advertising and commercialism and the ways they interface with everyday life, although most of the joke is on the soft drink industry. Distorted, juxtaposed celebrity voices and other soundbytes repeat to an annoyingly hilarious effect, as background music switches back and forth and continues slightly off-beat underneath it all. An absolutely brilliant album.

5) Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, The Boatman's Call (Mute/Reprise). Nick Cave, the prince of darkness from "down under" returned early in the year with the "Bad Seeds" to produce a maturely beautiful album of minimal texture. Simple melodies effortlessly produced from piano, bass, and occasional drums accompany Nick's rich, authentically moving vocals as he sings tales of lust, love, and loss. "Idiot Prayer" is an instant classic.