"I had been wondering if there might be a way to include the warm, lyrical, beautiful, emotional sounds of strings with groove music," former Talking Heads frontman Byrne says of his latest album, his first since 1997' Feelings. "I want to move people to dance and cry at the same time." The first record under the Virgin umbrella for his indie label Luaka Bop, Look Into The Eyeball matches strings straight out of a '60s Motown arrangement with Brazilian and African percussion - a longtime fascination for Byrne - for a joyously danceable 12-song workout. Typical of Bryne's barbed but kindly lyrical depictions of the human animal is the unforgettable "Like Humans Do," which could stand alongside the best work he did with the Talking Heads. With luck, Byrne will grace Japan with a long-awaited tour for the new album.


MEKON / Relax With Mekon
(Toshiba EMI)

While it's difficult to recall amid the flood of styles that come and go with all too alarming frequency in UK pop, there was a brief moment about three years ago when big beat and digi-rock were it. Along with the Chemical Brothers, the Propellerheads and a few other acts, John Gosling's Mekon was one of the top groups purveying this throw-your-arms-up-in-the-air-like-you-just-don't-care blend of electronica and rock. His new album, all fat, raunchy beats, old skool breaks and zany samples, would have sounded fresh and funky at the time, but now it sounds way past sell date. Another indication of how difficult it is to make enduring music in the postmodern era of throwaway, cut'n'paste samples and too-hip-for-our-own-good references.


KEN ISHII / Millennium Spinnin' at Reel Up
(Sony)

I was taking off in Narita airport as this event was taking off in Shinjuku's famed Liquid Room last December. The thought that I was missing a top night was hard to dismiss, which this CD, a recording of the event, proves right. Mixing it up that night were several of Japan's finest, including Big Beatmeister Captain Funk, for whose recently released album the gig was in part intended. But it was for the robust grooves of the most famous Techno DJ from these shores that many punters turned out. While the album has old skool (YMO, via Malawi Rocks), a few funkier numbers (including an unusual moment of off-beat Jeff Mills) and even the odd samba or tribal rhythm, it's nonetheless shot through with the driving techno beat for which Ishii (when not acting as abstract alter ego Flare) is known. After a somewhat slow start though, the CD concludes on a personal favorite, "Dragon" by Jeffed, before fading out into the neon-filled Kabukicho night. Simeon Paterson