Mojo

“Play quietly” the liner notes suggest. We’re in ambient territory. Noted producer Chris Hughes (Tears For Fears, Robert Plant, etc.) has based this album on works by seminal composer Steve Reich, however, so it’s a genuinely intelligent deconstruction of rhythm and sound patterns rather than mere New Age meanderings.

Of course, one man and his Synclavier in 1994 is much less impressive than was Reich 20-odd years ago, but the computerised gamelan sequences, loops and phases are still both intriguing and hypnotic. And yes, this is the same Chris Hughes who drummed on Adam & The Ants’ Kings Of The Wild Frontier. Good for him. – CM