What's so intriguing about the state of electronic music today? It's a question whose answer I've been pondering since the Chemical Brothers released Dig Your Own Hole on that fateful Eighth of April, 1997. It was a big day in music history, and probably an even bigger one for computer music geeks all across this great nation of ours. Yeah, the explosion occured that week, when the Brothers' LP ranked as the 13th best selling album of the week, according to Billboard's Top 200 Albums Chart. Oh, yeah. It's also largely responsible for making Astralwerks the brand- of- choice for many young techno freaks.

Now, I'm not saying that without the Chemical Brothers, electronic music wouldn't have hit as big as it did; what I am saying is that without their mainstream success, our selection of electronic stuff would be far more limited due to fewer outlets for music of the genre. Sadly, there's a lot of incredibly mediocre crap getting too much press while the majority of talent remains virtually unheard of.

Such is the case with Spaceways and their Trad release. A psychotic spin through the nether regions of exotic jazz and funk, these Bristol residents pay homage to the greats through their own metamorphosing of the legends' individual styles. But as it turns out, these folks have their own thing goin' on. Rather than utilizing strictly computer programming, Spaceways find it much more fulfilling to bring live bass, soprano, tenor and alto saxes, trumpets, flutes and pianos into the mix. It creates a sound that is distinctly electronic and yet, also distinctly jazz.

Not settling for pure, stylistic originality, Spaceways also rock the house with liquid funk and music you can step to. Yeah, the record has its flacid moments (the vocals on "City" and "Better" are more than a little irritating), but tracks like "At Home With The Snake," "Requiem for Ra," "Kurosawa Meets Slow Charlie," "Death of a Silent Planet" and the magnificent closer, "Tyner," make up for them easily. So, who reccommends Spaceways' Trad? I do. And that should be enough.

-Ryan Schreiber