Stephen Norrington, the man who, with a dubbed-out hard trance mix of New Order's "Confusion" in his film Blade made dance music click with mainstream audiences like Paul Verhoeven did with LaTour and Channel X in Basic Instinct, is back. No, I'm not talking about The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (though he did direct it), I'm talking about his intermediate independent film The Last Minute, a rags-to-riches-to-rags tale of London's young and hip. This soundtrack is refreshing for a hardcore dance fan, who more often than not has to take their dance music in film in tiny doses (notable exceptions this year: Lilja 4-Ever, La Vie Nouvelle, and Irreversible).
Hip-hop (El-P), ambient (Aphex Twin), smooth house, big-beat colossi, sultry noise, f***ed-up broken beat (Aphex Twin, again) and Palm's roster treasures Supreme Beings of Leisure all blend together in this mix, propulsive and conceptual. If you've seen the film, the album is the perfect complement, adding in little snatches of dialogue periodically. The highlight, ten years down the road and still going strong, is Leftfield's "Song of Life," which works on so many different levels, especially old-school Baby Ford-ish acid house. Don't miss it.
PROS: An excellent variety of modern dance music, even strictly big-beat fanatics will dig it.
CONS: Context is lacking if you haven't seen the film.