artist: Max Jasper Mezzowave country of origin: UK style(s): Ambient pop, dub, soul, world beat, drum 'n' bass, ethno ambient essential releases: The Hub (Metatron Records/Mute, 2001)

Every once a while an utterly brilliant album comes along that defies categories and offers little surprises at every turn. The Hub by UK musician and spiritual devotee Max Jasper Mezzowave is that kind of album. It beckons and gently embraces you while slowly twisting your head inside out every time you hear it. There are some pop song structures with vocals and lyrics, but the arrangements are almost hallucinogenic at times and certainly beyond conventional pop. There’s long, colourful passages of instrumental ambient sound and rich synthetic chords, but with no obvious roots in anything that’s come before. Add to that touches of white soul, drum ‘n’ bass, epic house, third world melodies…and it doesn’t stop there. His phrase “super sensory chillout” quite neatly sums up the liquid sounds of his music and The Hub is one of the of freshest pieces of ambient electronica to come out of the UK in the new century so far.

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