Sometimes I wonder how an electronic release becomes mainstream. Really. I mean, we know that Keith Flint's video freakshow is what broke The Prodigy, but what broke the Chemical Brothers? Or Roni Size, who's just magically caught on with his debut, New Forms, and his perfect timing? Those kids watching MTV's Amp, reading Spin, and digging on their local alternative station will find comfort in its extreme "differentness" from anything else they've heard. And for those kids, New Forms will be amazing. For you and me, though, it doesn't really get decent until the second half of disc one.

New Forms doesn't start out with much of anything that hasn't already been done this year. He's got the stumbling, off-kilter beats, Moog sounds and thumpity basslines, and he occasionally gets some faceless waif to moan over his tracks. The first few cuts sound like Phil Collins' drum machine circa "In the Air Tonight" on high-speed dubbing. Eventually, the record comes to life with "Heroes", a soundtrack to one of those early morning, half-conscious dreams. "Share the Fall (Full Vocal Mix)" comes on like Diana Ross & The Supremes in outer space, "Watching Windows" is a scratch odyssey that spins your skull, and "Morse Code" is the theme to a James Bond film from 2016.

The high point of the record, though, comes with the second disc, which believes in blending the supernatural with acid beats that stick. In fact, this disc is like an entirely seperate album, influenced by jazz more than wack funk, with the spaztic bassline and borderline freestyle boogie of "Hi-Potent" summing it all up nicely.

So, yeah. You could probably get something better for your money, but if you give New Forms some room to breathe and skip the first half hour, you'll probably like what you hear.

-Ryan Schreiber, November, 1997