It was last updated on Tuesday, June 08, 1999

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5-Exceptional 4-Must Buy 3-Very Good 2-Reasonable 1-Poor Add N To (X) - Avant Hard PHOTO CREDIT: JOE DILWORTH Released 19/04/99 And the weirdest record of 1999 award goes to… Add N To (X)! Avant Hard is stranger than a strange man’s strange bits, yet still manages to get inside your head and so you walk around the street saying the line Metal Fingers In My Body repeatedly, Fatboy Slim style. Avant Hard is one of those rare experimental albums which is actually good, and is a pleasure to listen too, even though its hard to do so - you can’t play this record anywhere, anytime (like Space Raiders) - some of it is just too bizarre - like the horse sampling madness of Ann’s Eveready Equestrian, but when all put together, this is a splendid disc. Great artwork too! B*Witched - Blame It On The Weatherman Released 08/03/99 This is a surprisingly catchy fourth single from the Irish foursome, who have just made it big time on the USA chart. If this follows its predecessors to the top spot , the girls will be well on the way to surpassing the Spice Girls’ chart success (They managed to get six number ones in a row, but didn’t go straight to number one with Wannabe - B*Witched’s C’est La Vie did debut at number one). The song itself is not fantastic, but it is backed by remixes from Amen & Chicane. Now, long-time surfers of Mackie’s World will know that we have been supporting Chicane since Offshore [original version] yet three years on, a mediocre Blame It On The Weatherman remix is completely surpassed by the truly excellent Amen remix of the week! B*Witched Live November 1999 - 24Hr 0115 912 9230 18 - Newcastle Arena 19 - Birmingham NEC 20 - Manchester Evening News Arena 22 - Brighton Centre 23 - Cardiff Arena 26 - Sheffield Arena 28 - Glasgow SECC 30 - Wembley Arena Click Here For More On B*Witched Beautiful South - How Long’s A Tear Take To Dry PHOTO CREDIT: TOM SHEEHAN Released 08/03/99 All Beautiful South songs sound the same - so if you like their previous singles, then chances are, you’ll like this, but I am starting to get bored with them now. The ex-housemartins were fantastic for the first four or so years, but now they sound a bit dull - they need ex-band-mate Norman Cook to add a bit of excitement to their singles. It will certainly be a massive hit though, and it comes with a superb promotional video where all the band members have been turned into old style cartoon characters reminiscent of Flintstones & Scooby Doo. Click Here For Old Single Reviews Ben & Jason - Hello Released 04/99 Brilliant debut mini-album - very Radiohead - very good. Certainly the best non-dance record of the month, it keeps you listening all the way through - with no overwhelming desire to skip any tracks, it goes from strength to strength, and finishes way too soon - a full album is expected this millennium - and going by this release, Ben & Jason could be very big in future - and could well be future Mercury candidates. Ben Folds Five - Army PHOTO CREDIT: CHARLIE GROSS Released 04/99 Click Here For Album Review One of America’s finest bands - the Ben Folds Five threesome release Army - the first taster of forthcoming third LP The Unauthorised Biography of Reinhold Messener. As with everything the band have released in the past, Army is fantastic - with Ben Folds’ trademark piano taking pride of place in this story of what we assume is Ben’s life. Definitely worth a purchase, though many will wait for the album’s release instead - so this will no doubt not be as big a hit as it deserves - in this country anyway. Having said that, the trio have had three hit singles in the UK, so you never can tell. The trio embark on the UK leg of the massive world tour to coincide with the release of the album in early may, with more dates expected before the millennium. Ben Folds Five Live - 13 May 1999 - London Forum Three-quarters of the way through a set that lasted twice the length of the excellent new album, you really need to go to the bog.  But you can't.  Because Ben Folds Five won't let you - after each song, you yearn for a dull track, so you can get rid of them beers you had during the poor support act (Fur Slide - a band that boasts a drum and bass track played with real drum kit and real bass guitar.  Slowly.).  Unfortunately every track is so good that you couldn't possibly leave - the quality of the performance is exquisite - almost indistinguishable from the album versions (compare that to a lot of bands around nowadays, where the producer of the record and a computer are responsible for 95% of each track).   The stage antics of the lads include taking a camera off a member of the audience and proceeding to photograph each member of the band, before returning the camera.   This was all part of a great show, which also encompassed Ben accidentally breaking his piano half way through.  Fortunately he was able to fix it without too much trouble - to much applause and cheering from the audience.  The set featured almost every track from the new album, plus all their classic album tracks and hit singles such as The Battle Of Who Could Care Less.  I would recommend Ben Folds Five live to anyone, and the new date pencilled in for December @ The Royal Albert Hall will certainly be something special Beth Orton - Central Reservation Released 15/03/99 Central Reservation is a tremendous follow up to 1996’s Mercury nominated debut, which led to Ms Orton receiving two Brit awards and sales of over 300,000 world wide. The whole album is instantly recognisable as Beth Orton - every track well written, well produced, well miserable! All tracks are perfect to chill out to, though Coudn’t Cause Me Harm stands out over all the others, and will no doubt be a future (hit?) single. Click Here For Single Review Dot Allison - Mo’ Pop PHOTO CREDIT: CHRIS CLUNN Released 15/03/99 Dot Allison has been receiving rave reviews in the UK clubbing scene as her beautiful records are ideal for come-down time. Mo’ Pop EP is the debut solo single from the ex-One Dove lead singer, and will be followed in May by the hotly tipped Afterglow LP, which will certainly be tough competition for label mate Beth Orton’s Central Reservation at those aforementioned chill out parties Fatboy Slim - Right Here Right Now Released 19/04/99 Here we go again - every month or so since we began there’s been a Norman Cook related record topping our charts - from Santa Cruz ‘back in the day’ all the way to Right Here Right Now - with loads of Mighty Dub Katz, Fatboy Slim and Freakpower releases in between - not to mention countless remixes. This could well be his biggest hit to date - after Praise You’s number one entry in January (plus top 100 in the ‘States) the Fatboy is looking for another chart topping hit - only this time he has real competition in the form of Armand Van Helden. The two are doing a traditional Blur-Oasis type battle and both releasing their new singles on the same day - though the result is difficult to predict as both have had chart topping hits this year - with the New York house master’s U Don’t Know Me considerably outselling Praise You - though Fatboy Slim’s track must have been given much more radio airplay. Although both Right Here Right Now and Flowerz are fantastic tracks one assumes more people will support Norman Cook as he’s British, and you know what we’re like! Also Norm has much more fans here than Armand does - he’s the epitome of trendiness at the moment, and has managed to stay cool even though he’s sold out - as nobody takes his music seriously anyway, it’s OK for his records to sell everything from Coca Cola in the ‘States to both Adidas and Nike over here (The first artist ever to soundtrack adverts for the two rivals). The main problem for Fatboy Slim in this war of singles is that he is too popular! Unlike Armand Van Helden’s new 2Futur4U LP, You’ve Come A Long Way Baby has spent 4 weeks at the top of the UK chart and gone double platinum - if everybody has the album, relatively few will buy the single, right? Well, you would have to be a fool not to buy this extended play record - the B-sides are amazing! Don’t Forget Your Teeth is one crazy track which should really be a double A-Side, but the real gem on the record is the original version of Praise You. Written in the pre-Fatboy Slim, pre-Big Beat days and is so not Fatboy Slim! It has a woman on single the lyrics and you can hear Norman trying to get that weird vocal effect he achieved on Praise You ’99 but he can’t quite manage it. A must for anyone with good taste in music, and a perfect taster for A Date With Destiny - Norman and Armand in a boxing ring decking it out of each other - loads of trick and scratches are inevitable and a fantastic couple of dates which millions of clubbers from all over the world will want to attend (those that can’t will be able to watch on Sky pay-per-view and listen to on Radio 1). The event takes place on the 16th and 17th of April, with warm up dates before and after featuring other acts to mark the Big Beat Boutique’s third birthday. Expect lots of hype! Click Here For More On Fatboy Slim Moby - Run On PHOTO CREDIT: SKID Released 26/04/99 Click Here For Album Review Moby is back with another brilliant taster of his a Play which is out May 17. Remarkably similar to last year’s Honey (though without the tremendous remixes of its predecessor), Run On will surely be a hit. In Moby’s attempt to score highly ‘Stateside the two singles have been stuck together in one big maxi single, which I would quite like to get my hands on! - just look at the tracklisting for US/Canada: 1 HONEY - Original Album Mix 2 HONEY - 118 Mix 3 HONEY - Sharam Jey's Sweet Honey Mix 4 HONEY - Aphrodite & Mickey Finn Mix 5 RUN ON - Extended 6 RUN ON - Moby's Young & Funky Mix 7 RUN ON - Sharam Jey's Always On The Run Remix 8 MEMORY GOSPEL all on one big CD, will will probably cost equivilent of 60p or something stupid like that - in England that would have to be spread across 3 CDs! We may not get those Sharam Jey remixes but on the other hand, those clever enough to buy the vinyl copy of Run On will get a Dave Clarke Mix. Click Here For Old Single Reviews Space Raiders - Don’t Be Daft PHOTO CREDIT: BOB CURTIS Released 15/03/99 Definitely the best dance album of 1999 so far - with no particularly fantastic albums on the horizon, this could well be the best disc to be released before the millennium - its better than Underworld and Armand Van Helden and, er, Vengaboys, put together. From the outset this album superb - you literally cannot stop listening to the retro beats and samples. The album is full of potential singles - everything is commercial, but in a great way - just as Fatboy Slim is commercial and trendy at the same time. Its difficult to work out which will be the third single, but it will probably be Monster Munch, as, like tracks such as Raiders Rock The Nation, Dance & Disko Doktor, it is immensely catchy. Infact the least single-worthy track is probably Laid Back - the last single! Click Here For Mackie’s World’s Exclusive Space Raiders Interview & Laid Back Single Review Stony Sleep - Khartoum PHOTO CREDIT: ALISON WONDERLAND Released 15/03/99 A stand out track from the brand new album, this makes a very good single. The song will probably be slated by Kerrang! and all those magazines, but it is a good pop-rock song - though it is all a bit too Nirvana perhaps. I think any grunge/rock fans reading should buy the single rather than the album, to get a taste of the band - if you don’t like this then you certainly won’t like the album. But if your anti-commercial-rock-music values are overwhelmed the insanely catchy Khartoum, then definitely buy A Slack Romance. Click Here For Album Review