★★★★☆
The Digital Kid is Luke Solomon and The World is a sidekick made up of those that have yet to catch onto his techno-circling sound. As he gives his occasional superhero alias one final run-out and toys with a three-pronged, album/mix/12” format, it’s clearly not a case of getting defensive. Solomon is largely enthusiastic and soulful in his own way, the engine running furiously while attempting to make the ride slide through the gears. On other occasions he’s happy to judder along, doing good things with a pick-n-mix of grooves.
Sending house ambience into the sub-scientific, “VERTIGO” and “Shooting Star” are found hurtling with bare fuss, in a headspace recalling those old MTV videos of changing shapes and colours when they didn’t know what to do with a dance track. Taking it back to acid hangar hang-outs with a hipster lean (“Pass the Toothpaste”) and jackable roots pushed towards the future (“Ahhhrgh”, “Minority Report”), clubbers are told to lock onto the first loop before they’re sent spiralling over long and winding beats: “Angels Looking Down on Me” is saved from being an odd one out of waifish flouncing by the tech mutterings that envelope it.
The Digital Kid’s swansong (or is it?) leaves The World in his wake — playing down his digital experiment allows his techno variables a clear path to dance floor takeover, whatever the crowd.
File under: Music for Freaks, Jonny Rock, Subb-An