Beats International

Norman Cook has gone too far--the samples in his kitchen sink are just too blatant, too eclectic. Which is why this is the mixing record Coldcut only talk to interviewers about. Whether he's constructing a new rock and roll subgenre from blues, Burundi, and some kind of jump band or embellishing Herman Kelly's "Dance to the Drummer's Beat" with who knows what horns and African huzzahs or revivifying pleasant little tunes you can't quite place and are sort of surprised to hear again, Cook's music is perfect for people who like more stuff than they have time to listen to. When I play two records at the same time I just get chaos. But here nothing is forbidden and everything fits. The only people immune to music this all-embracing are copyright lawyers. (Grade: A-)