Last Friday, I spent some quality-time with my new best buddy Keith - top music bloke at my favourite independent record store, Twist & Shout.

Keith, who used to have his own radio show, back in California, has been helping me in my quest for CDs of a dubby/trip-hop/Portishead-like nature.

*a quote from Time Bandits, said, just as I started typing this piece.

We've chatted before, swapping musical opinions and so forth. This time, he surprised me by being a big John Peel fan, and also knowing of the works of Mark & Lard. Apparently, he listens to the lads via the Internet.

We talked as we wandered around the aisles, picking out possible buys. This meant that by the time I got to the CD players (T&S's try-before-you-buy system), I was holding five albums, and also picked up an album I'd pre-ordered.

Luckily, I made it out of the store with only three CDs. These were:

Baxter - Baxter
This was the album I'd pre-ordered. Of the three I bought, it is the darkest, but still not a patch on Portishead's Dummy. I'm still absorbing it, as it has such a wide range of sounds and styles, all in one album.

Hooverphonic - A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular
This first album, by Dutch hipsters Hooverphonic, is possibly their best. I have their third (the latest) album, and that is far too smooth and glossy. This first outing, however, has much more depth and variance.

Waldeck - The Night Garden
These German chaps sound so like Massive Attack, for a short while, I thought I'd put the wrong CD in the stereo. They even use very similar sounds and vocal styles, and have two vocalists that match the two Massive Attack vocalists perfectly. Perhaps they should rename the band Der Massive Angriff.

Having said how much like Massive Attack they sound, I like this album a lot. It's well put together, with a nice dark edge to much of the music, and a joy to listen to.

I'll do a more thorough review of these albums, sometime, maybe.

*a quote from Time Bandits, said, just as I started typing this piece.