Ming Star

Album Review

Manchurian producer Jon Brooks is at his best when he sounds like French lounge-hopsters Air, which he does on much of his debut album. The cinematic "Bakerloo," which occurs, well, cinematically, as main title and end credits, has a particular quality similar to the Virgin Suicides soundtrack. "Kentish Town" would also make superb film music, meandering along with a moody and dour pulse before exploding in a storm of drums and cymbals. But somewhere it all goes wrong. Brooks decides that moody isn't enough, and instead goes for downright evil on "Stalker Song" and "Colcannon," both of which rely on tired spoken-word samples and less-than-imaginative, harsh beats that unfortunately break up the otherwise pleasant proceedings. Brooks returns to his initial muse for the closing four tracks, but by that point the whole thing is more or less tuned out. Take the time to program the few stinkers out of your CD player and Ming Star gives you a nice seven-song selection of breeze moments. But be careful — there are land mines out in that poppy field.