Amidst the tsunami of forgettable techno-one of the negatives of the spread of digital technology-comes a memorable work of vision and passion. Taking a year off from touring to recharge, the UK trio of Rollo, Sister Bliss and Maxi Jazz on their fourth album emerge with a range of powerful songs that span from the eerie trip-hop sensibility of “Not Enough Love�Eto the pounding Balearic dancefloor grooves of “We Come 1�Eand the dreamy ambient pudding of “One Step Too Far�Ewhich features the vocals of longtime Faithless collaborator and sister of Rollo, singer Dido. “If the last albums were us being introspective, then this is us more open,�E Bliss told djmixed.com. Despite their name, with Outrospective, Faithless offer reason for continued faith in electronica as it searches for direction a decade since bursting onto the pop scene.

LENNY KRAVITZ/Lenny
(Virgin)

If any artist can be accused of betraying early promise, celebrity child Lenny Kravitz can. Since breaking in the early 90s as the decade’s answer to Jimi Hendrix and Prince all rolled into one, Kravitz has become increasingly self-absorbed and formulaic. And notwithstanding a layoff of three years since 5, the singer-songwriter doesn’t seem to have made stylistic progress. Lenny finds him treading the same old ground, firing off funky, but by now clichéd acid rock riffs that recall late 60s psychedelia without the cultural context to give them meaning. Techno-tinged “Dig In�Eis the first single off the album, while “Bank Robber Man�Eis based on an incident in Miami last fall, when Kravitz was mistaken for a bank robber by police. Verdict: Kravitz-who plays every imaginable instrument on the album-demonstrates on Lenny why a surfeit of talent and a deficit of taste is the worst of all possible worlds.


CICALA MVTA/Deko Boko
(Respect)

Another offering from Japan’s offbeat Respect imprint, Cicala Mvta (pronounced shikala moota) sounds as unusual as their name, which means “mute cicada.�EFounded by former practitioner of Japan’s chindon marching music, Wataru Ohkuma, the group combine the brass band strains of chindon with free jazz, progressive rock, and elements of Gypsy and Kletzmer music. The result on their second album Deko Boko is an unlikely yet winning sound that recalls the days when chindon groups were a common sight in Japan, but would also be equally at home in a trendy downtown New York jazz club. Ohkuma’s clarinet collides with distorted electric guitar, booming tuba and propulsive chindon drums for an effect that is disarming yet stirring. With Deko Boko, Cicala Mvta-who created a stir backing Blur across Europe last summer-show that the Japanese underground not only apes what’s going on in New York or London, but is also busy mining its own musical traditions.