Dot Allison - Strung Out (Mantra)
Richard Fearless' missus releases the second single from her new album We Are Science. A throbbing, dirty bassline contrasts with the bittersweet wash of vocals and, despite first impressions, this record is very infectious. A classic pop melody with edgy production by Dot herself, Strung Out blends the current trends in electroclash and pogoing Black Rebel basslines, with electronic shenanigans. CD1 includes a new track and an interesting spin on Tim Buckley's Sweet Surrender, while CD2 is backed by a couple of banging remixes.

Nile - 3 In Tha Mornin' (Independiente)
The first single from her debut album Born sees Nile sultry, lustful and possibly half asleep. Well it is "3 in tha mornin'" after all. And she wants some lovin', poor thing. Despite its unnecessarily "down with da kids" spelling, it's actually quite good - sulky and soulful. There's a couple of good mixes from Swag and jazz meisters Koop.

Flaming Lips - Do You Realise (Warner)
The second single from Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots is grandiose, a bit like Spiritualize and Mercury Rev undergoing a religious conversion. Lyrically, it's sickly goody-goody nonsense dressed up as deep and meaningful - "do you realise everyone you know someday will die?" for god's sake. This gets irritating very quickly. But do they realise? Clearly not. MW 02 August 02