HomelifeGuru Man Hubcap LadyReview

Homelife are describable in as much as they're a Manchester based collective formed around bassist Paddy Steer and including local heroes like Graham Massey (of 808 State and Björk fame), Andy Diagram and others too numerous to name, but describing their music is a different matter. If I was writing a press release for them it'd have to go something like...'imagine Sun Ra, Joe Meek, Brian Wilson, Fela Kuti,, Martin Denny and George Clinton having a scrap in a second hand record shop and you'll be half way there', but it falls way short as a description.

There's nothing calculatedly trendyin Homelife's ramshackle fusions; it all sounds like it just happened by accident, and by some quirk of fate the tape was running to capture it. Propelled by squelchy analogue synths, eccentric drumming and the tiny bashings of a thousand percussion instruments, Homelife's floating collective produce a richly exotic global fusion without coming across as the usual WOMAD worthies or cynical cultural magpies; bass clarinets jostle with glowing strings, failing drum machines, recorders and the creaky funk of ancient clavinets.It is astrange but potent brew.

As on previous albums (notably the fab Flying Wonders) songs emerge as though someone's actually writing them while they're being played; yet they're often perfect pop songs. Vocalist Faron Brooks is back to lend his honeyed Nashville twang to the forlorn, wonky disco vibe of "Harder" and the psychedelic tropicalia of "April Sunshine", while the title track's falsetto funk will bore itself into your brain and stay there for ever.

Likewise, the cosmic Toytown-esque fusion of "A Casa" and the rainforest groove of "Windytreehouserollerdisco" carry hooks so sharp you don't feel them going in. There are reflective moments too; the fragile oriental drift of "Big Tree" or the bizarrelywarped ballad"Strangers". There's even a hymn of praise to the much maligned banjo, which can't be a bad thing. Lovely.