Musicians Of The Mind Volume 2

Released on the then hot Guerilla imprint out of the UK, Musicians of the Mind is at once the product of Yet Another Brit Dance Duo Team and, in its own way, a fair enough creative effort from said team. Kevin Hurry and Kevin Swain are the two folks behind D.O.P. (short for Dance Only Productions); if their efforts aren't as immediate as that of their labelmates Spooky or the Bizarre Inc. team, their debut album is still a reasonable enough trip through slightly experimental but generally straightforward house-inspired tracks. "Oh Yeah" is the first track to rise above merely being there — like Orbital at its early, cleanest peak but without the jaw-dropping sense of dynamics, it's still a good floor-filler, with the appropriate drops, slight changes in melody layers and vocal samples all there and in place. Two earlier singles get 'remade,' as the credits say, for their album appearance, with generally good results. "Take Me" is on the one hand as obvious a house anthem as you can get (stuttering keyboard riffs, piano runs, etc.). On the other, it's slightly off-kilter enough, with the vocal sample providing the title being almost squeaked out through layers of production instead of being a typical diva move. "Future Le Funk," meanwhile, doesn't quite predict the late nineties French house explosion, but points for trying with the title, and nice bassline. When D.O.P. throw in material just off from the album's overall flow, it makes for a great change in context, such as the breakbeats, wordless chanting and staccato synth squelch that provides the base for "Dance Spirit." Most of the time, though, the duo are content to make good enough dancefloor anthems without taking things to the truly memorable level, for better or worse. If nothing else, the Sheffield art team Designers Republic come up with yet another killer cover.