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Swayzak

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Himawari

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(The Medicine Label/Sony)

It was brave of this London-based dub-house duo to admit their moniker is a play on the name of actor Patrick Swayze. But even more courageous is their tentative move into the world of techno on this hot-and-cold sophomore effort.

James Taylor and David Brown had scant connection with the London DJ scene when their shimmering minimalist debut, Snowboarding In Argentina, was voted Mixer magazine's Album of the Year in 1998, earning them a precious toehold in the US market.

Snowboarding's atmospheric blend of jazzy house and experimental dub, mostly recorded live, was a celebration of slinky synth and bent the ear of the dance crowd on both sides of the Atlantic.

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But complacency, it seems, is not in the Swayzak vocabulary as this time they dabble in everything from ambient techno (Doobie), acid (Mysterons) to house (Caught In This Affair) and even dub poetry (Illegal). The last-mentioned features rap bard Benjamin Zephaniah who visits Hong Kong for two shows next week.

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