Andrea Parker -- Kiss My Arp -- Mo' Wax -- 1999

Track List

1. Breaking The Code
2. In Two Minds
3. Clutching at Straws
4. Melodious Thunk
5. Som Other Level
6. Ballbreaker
7. Elements of Style
8. Going Nowhere
9. Sneeze
10. Lost Luggage
11. Return of The Rocking Chair
12. Exclamation Point!

    This debut album has been a long time in coming,but is most definitely worth the wait. Having been completed almost two years ago, it was caught up in a label dispute and only released now. The cuts on the album haven't aged a bit during the wait, the collection of dark electro rhythms, breakbeats and orchestral splendor is breathtaking. The beats clatter and the bass rumbles, but it's Parker's vocals which make the songs a coherent whole, her etherial musings providing a needed and wonderful contrast the almost disturbing nature of the beats. Although not a mind blowing lyricist, the vocals melt easily into the emotional roller coaster of lead single "the Unknown", the beats beautifully topped off by the strings of Will Malone (Massive Attacks' "Unfinished Sympathy).
    Parker's own cello work also features heavily on the masterful re-working of older single 'The Rocking Chair". Elsewhere, block rocking electro meets head on with chilling ambience to produce an effecting and original sound that you won't hear anywhere else. Even the nagging sound of kitchen knives being sharpened is sampled and thrown into the mix.
    Long time fans will be in rapture over this stunning collection of darkly taut sounds, those only familiar with Andrea through her recent mix cd as a part of the DJ kicks series will greatly appreciate this masterpiece. Whatever the case may be and whatever your level of fandom, this is an essential purchase.