Resolutions

Todd Terry is the hombre who put the "hard" into Hard House, a pump-out-the-jams freelancer with a mercenary bent and an unsentimental attitude towards the production of music. No surprise then, that Terry's latest opus is as tough as old Bootsy: the snare sounds alone are as toned as Madonna's midriff.

But then, he's a product of noisy, edgy New York, and accordingly, Resolutions is a profoundly visceral experience.

Todd's grooves are staccato, sinewy and sibilant, all studded with gabba-jabberings, vocoded sloganeering, processed bass-chunders and even the odd spot of ska gangsterism. From the opening 'Blackout' through the zippety-doo-dah centrepiece 'The Drive' to the closing 'It's All Good', the pulses race, and the maestro doesn't let the pressure drop below the 100 bpm mark until approximately halfway through the whole shebang, on the theremined b-movie skank of 'Todzilla'.

Sometimes though, on chest-beating bleatings like 'The Original Todd', the deckster's single-minded approach to his discipline can give you the impression you're listening to a techno'd up Ramones, a shortcoming highlighted by the beatitudes that occur when melody does enter complex but elegant equations such as 'Let It Ride'.

So, consider Resolutions a lengthy, sweaty, furious bout with an opponent two weights below your own. Like the best of pugilistic tournaments, it's exhilarating - until you get punchy. Come an' 'ave a go if you think yer 'ard enough.