KAVANA: Will You Wait For Me (Virgin) - Plastic pop pin-up Kavana takes himself very seriously with this cheesy electro-ballad. I expect I will spend the next few weeks flicking through the stations on the car radio trying to avoid this mind-numbing drivel. (3/10) PB

TRAVIS: Writing To Reach You (Independente) - Returning fresh following a sabbatical, these Glaswegians may have tamed a little but they still know how to churn out decent guitar pop tunes. This is one love song that won't make you cringe. (7/10) JS

GUS GUS: Ladyshave (4AD) - With tongues firmly placed in cheeks, I hope, Iceland's eccentric electro nine-piece are transformed into sexual deviants for this first slice of action from their eagerly anticipated second album. (7/10) JS ALBUMS

TLC: Fan Mail (La Face Records) - This is girl power, US style. Hard-hitting electronic rap beats punctuate the proceedings with plenty of sassy homegirl attitude. The cover claims the band are the biggest-selling female trio of all time. That's as maybe but only five per cent of their last album's 10 million sales were in Britain. This is a very American album and unlikely to relate to street life in the UK as it does in the States. That said, this stands head and shoulders over the swing R 'n' B pap which Radio One peddles. (6/10) PB

JOHN "00" FLEMING: Licensed To Thrill (Automatic) - Crazed resident DJ at Heaven's Wildlife, Fleming's mix of progressive houses and liquid trance has earned him plaudits from club moguls everywhere. However, it's the sheer energy that makes this album stand out, particularly on tracks by Sean Dexter, Twisted Angel and his very own stormer Where Did You Get Those Pills? If this doesn't tempt you into a vigourous dance routine, you must be dead. (7/10) JS

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.