Lo Fidelity Allstars

Originally a six-piece band centered around DJ Phil Ward ("the Albino Priest"), with a lead vocalist (Dave Randall) who called himself the Wrekked Train, Leeds' Lo Fidelity Allstars were one of the flagship bands on Brighton's Skint Records -- the home of Fatboy Slim and spiritual center of the happy, accessible "big beat" dance movement -- during its late-'90s heyday. Unfortunately, their first album, How to Operate With a Blown Mind, offered sluggish, prog-rockish grooves that did less body-rocking than just standing around. The disc's only really memorable track, "Battleflag," featured the vocals of Brad Smith of Seattle duo Pigeonhed. So when Randall left the group shortly before a 1999 tour, it's hardly surprising that the group used a revolving door of vocalists for the followup. Don't Be Afraid of Love features appearances from Bootsy Collins, Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs), and Jamie Lidell (Super Collider), and is far tighter, both song- and groove-wise. The poppy instant classic "Feel What I Feel" resembles a collision between Meat Loaf and Basement Jaxx, while "On the Pier" features Collins abetting a twisted soul groove. Between those albums, Ward put together a superb volume of Skint's On the Floor at the Boutique DJ-mix series, juggling classics from Boogie Down Productions, Blackstreet, and Armand Van Helden, as well as Feelgood Factor's (a.k.a. Fatboy Slim) aptly titled "The Whole Church Should Get Drunk." The Lo Fi's compilation Abstract Funk Theory connected the dots between Mercury Rev, the Jimmy Castor Bunch, and Rhythim is Rhythim. (MICHAELANGELO MATOS)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide