Generalisation

Not content with merely nudging a fledgling Skint Records along the way to being one of the world's most successful dance imprints, the avuncular Damian Harris has obviously been determined all along to wow us with more than just his business skills. It's been a long time in the offing, mind you - tracks like 'Stigs In Love' and 'Devil In Sports Casual' have been floating around in one guise or another since the early days of Skint.

'Reach Out' is the immediate downtempo highlight of Generalisation's eleven tracks. With the Macy Gray-alike Linda Lewis providing some much-needed vocal relief, this is a beautifully swoonsome string-ed beast of the summer - hear it before it starts to waft out of every fashion franchise and fast food outlet you pass by.

From here on in however, Generalisation pegs it straight to the dancefloor and no messing about. The twisted breakbeat and staccato cuts of 'You Take' showcase Harris' mastery of the ebb-and-flow dynamics of feet on floors. The aforementioned 'Stigs In Love' still manages to kick like a hallucinating mule even three years on. 'General Of The Midfield' tells the story of a giant wooden shrew, lined with Kit-Kat wrappers and filled with small voles, stoats and wood pigeons bent on smashing the documentary monopoly of the lion/zebra hierarchy. No, it really does.

Thankfully we get little of the 'look at me, aren't I zany!!!!' bullshit that plagues so many examples of the genre - but it seems it's hard to resist for the Skint boys - 'Drunk Country' is pretty much as the title suggests, and as such it's a throwaway pratfall of little lasting interest.

Other than that, the General is in commanding form, rarely tempted to travel the path of the obvious hook or the cartoon sample. Which, in a world where Bentley Rhythm Ace are kings, can only be A Good Thing.