......Of passing interest , here's where The Verve's Nick McCabe finds temporary employment, remixing "Instant Love" in a gently dubby fashion that, thanks to a heady volley of bulging sounds and indeed an absence of Nick Drake impersonations, pisses all over the original. No "mad" bloke to contend with, regular scope for waving arms in the air, the chance that the Vengaboys might ring with a remix commission any day now ~ seemingly Mixmaster McCabe has it made.

NME (Arwa Haider) / 28.06.01
NEOTROPIC / La Prochaine Fois (NTone)

Concept albums generally set off 'painful self-indulgence' warning sirens. Concept albums tweely inspired by childhood even more so - although that topic did fuel Dusted's brilliant 'When We Were Young' last year.
Anyway, youthful recollections are the deal with the latest album from composer and multi-instrumentalist Riz Maslen, who's worked as Neotropic since 1994 (previously collaborating with '90s dance pioneers Future Sound Of London and The Beloved). Plus, in time-honoured Ninja Tune multimedia stylee, an additional CD-Rom includes Maslen's moody film of the same title.
Neotropic's great strength remains her wide-eyed fusion of sounds, flitting through lush strings to dub and warbling vocals, gleaning music from background noise. Rather than blatant club stylings, there's a heavy folk tilt to her electronica here, with ex-Verve guitarist Nick McCabe adding melodies, and highlights including the sweetly whimsical 'Closer To The Sun' and excellent conclusion 'Memories', which works in a deliciously mellow rap from female Australian MC Shorty.
Admittedly, the concept is not without stabs of pompousness; the cluttering 'Money For Old Rope' sounds like just that. Like listening to someone else's flashbacks, 'La Prochaine Fois' isn't immediately punchy; you'll need to persevere for its hazily sensual chill-out revelations.
NME rated : 6/10

Mojo Magazine (Ben Thompson) / July 2001 Edition
NEOTROPIC / La Prochaine Fois (Big Dada / Ninja Tune)

Far from the homage to late '90's pomp-rock the presence of McCabe and sometime Manic Street Preachers string arranger Sally Herbert might lead you to anticipate, this insidiously bewitching record actually pitches its tent in the greenbelt surrounding Underworld's Stagger. From the opening seesaw harmonica through Still's cheery "na na na nas" to the ominous cloud formations of In Reverse Order, there is a playful quality to Riz Maslen's bucolic soundscapes which belies her apprenticeship playing keyboards with The Beloved and singing on Top Of The Pops with Future Sound Of London. And McCabe's guitar playing (imagine a part-time member of Fairport Convention coming excitedly to grips with the twiddly bits in The Doors' The End) is certainly a good deal livelier than anything Richard Ashcroft has put his name to lately.