The actual solo debut for Ashley Beedle is a fusion of Afrocentric jazz textures and tribal-disco rhythms with science-fiction mythology gained from equal parts Sun Ra and Juan Atkins. It's perhaps the least danceable album his name has been attached to, though much like the contemporary work of Kirk Degiorgio's As One (the vastly similar... Read More

Like so many groups that started with the "acid jazz" sound, Slide Five moved into the electronic realm. This album mixes the live sound of the first album with electronics, creating trance-like, danceable tracks. Some of the standout material on the album comes from the previously unreleased EP Flash, namely the gumption-filled track "Heavy... Read More

There's worldbeat, and then there's worldbeat. Psychic Karaoke starts off with "Chariot," during the seven-minute course of which you get to hear Middle Eastern percussion, a string section, bruising breakbeats, a Cockney rapper, and Natacha Atlas warbling like a dancehall muezzin. So much for track one. And it only gets better, at least for a... Read More