Die Moldau CD

Released right around the time when America's corporate-sponsored "electronica" non-movement tried to kick off, the Hackers soundtrack represents both obviousness and unexpected half-turns as it makes a mad dash through its celebratory, Newsweek-friendly A list. No requisite Crystal Method or Dig Your Own Hole tracks, as would become the norm in subsequent years, but the predictable heavyweights -- Prodigy, Orbital, Underworld -- are all here, ostensibly so the sniggers would be kept low and so that lesser-known embarrassments such as Plastico and Machines of Loving Grace could be brought in just under the radar. Enjoyable, then, if one is prepared for gaps of imagination. ~ Dean Carlson