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Trip-Hop

Alpha: Corin Dingley, Andy Jenks. Additional personnel includes: Wendy Stubbs, Helen White, Martin Barnard (vocals); Gavin Wright (conductor). It's easy to see why Massive Attack handpicked Bristol's Alpha (Andy Jenks and Corin Dingley) for their Melankolic label. Like Massive Attack, Alpha rolls out languid grooves dripping with strings, heart-tugging vocal turns, and luscious production. Jenks and Dingley are veterans of such underrated projects as Statik Sound System and Sugarboat, and the classy and assured COME TO HEAVEN speaks for years of experience. Following the Massive Attack model, several singers share Alpha's vocal assignments. Helen White's honey-sweet alto pipes carry "Slim" and "With," while Wendy Stubb's delivers "Rain" and "Nyquill" in caramel tones, and "Sometime Later" and "Back" soar on Martin Bernard's soulful tenor. White and Bernard split "Delaney," a slice of cherubic indie-R&B, to fine effect. Alpha's sample sources are often familiar. Gershwin, Bacharach/David, Memphis Slim, Herb Alpert, Bobby Gentry, Michel Legrand, Dusty Springfield, and Francis Lai are among those whose hooks and strings are pilfered and recast in these fresh, frothy arrangements. COME FROM HEAVEN has a nicely cinematic spin, evocative of '60s bijou marquees and '70s Soho chic. The centrifuged dub instrumentals ("Hazeldub," "AppleOrange") stand out, despite the quality of the vocal pieces, and pave the way for PEPPER, 1998's varied set of HEAVEN remixes.

Alpha: Corin Dingley, Andy Jenks. Additional personnel includes: Wendy Stubbs, Helen White, Martin Barnard (vocals); Gavin Wright