Another Late Night
While the international press seems to have covered every other electronica act but them, Fila Brazillia's Steve Cobby and Dave Pork have created some of the most lasting music in their hotly hyped genre. It's their playful indulgences, not to mention their smashing good taste, that make Fila so fine. The British duo maintain their majestic muse on their first-ever mix CD, Another Late Night, dropping aromatic funk, jazz, hip-hop, dub, and weird audio snippets in one of the best left-field releases of the year.
The record opens with John Barry's luscious "Persuader's Theme" before rolling through the Infesticons' rollicking old-school rap ("post my testicles on virtual e-mail"), Prince Alla's spacey dub crooning, Mr. Scruff's spooky '30s swing, the Beta Band's yawning stoner anthems, as well as tracks from a mangled cast that includes Marvin Gaye, Brian Eno, David Holmes, Nightmares on Wax, and Fila themselves on "Nature Boy." This is late-night, lost-attitude, can't-move music, a soundtrack for summertime bliss, going bonkers, or heading off to bed. --Ken Micallef