Soundtracks for imaginary films are all the rage these days, of course, but Barry Adamson was doing it long before it was popular or profitable. The latest offering from the former bass player with Magazine and Nick Cave's Bad Seeds is as bleak as we've come to expect from this maverick character, blending sleek, cinematic electronic music with doom-laden funk, occasionally brightening the mood just a little with an injection of sleazy soul. At its best, the music's daring fusion of jazz and pop brings together the moods and manners of film noir and blaxploitation movies, in pieces such as Whispering Streets and Black Amour. Infused with Adamson's mordant wit and dry humour, the King Of Notting Hill radiates with the confidence of its creator and yet somehow the end result is not nearly as satisfying as it should be. A good third of the tracks here feel like half-finished experiments rather than finished ideas, while the melodramatic vocals have a tendency to stray ludicrously over the top. You can't help feeling that Adamson's career has strayed into something of a rut - and that to kickstart it again, he really needs to try something new.
