(... But Is It Art)

This is yet another case of an artist whose history goes much deeper than his discography. Nigel Hayes' story began in London's rare groove scene, before he began hanging with Glasgow techno stalwart Funk d'Void and moved to New York to work at Joe Clausell's Dance Tracks record store. This variety of influences all adds up to some seriously fine musical moments that can be enjoyed from a number of viewpoints. The main vibe is definitely a jazz-house style. But right from the synthetic funk of the opener, "Shriek," a much broader understanding of sound is obvious. The dirty loop of "Detonate the Charge" winks at the European techno-dub of Basic Channel, only with a beat that would be more at home at Body & SOUL. Elsewhere, the cross-pollination is less apparent, and the music suffers. "Ode to Odyssey" is a standard house groove that relies on a poor bass solo for its hook, while "Apocalypse" and "The Question" show that Hayes is not as proficient with breaks as he is with 4/4. Still, the disco house of "Back Together" has a realness often lost in the thousands of similar cuts, and the piano drone of "Makes Me Feel Real Good" makes the whole track worthy of investigation. So on final tally, Hayes certainly scores more hits than misses on his long-awaited debut.