The Future Sound of London

Upon its belated U.S. release (a full five years after its initial U.K. issue on a tiny indie, and after three other Future Sound of London albums had been issued in the interim), Accelerator sounded almost retro. It's clearly by far the most conventional of the duo's albums, the closest to a straight-up hard techno set they ever did. Tracks like the opening "Expander" are almost anonymous; "Pulse State" honestly sounds like it could be by any one of a dozen contemporaneous techno acts. Two tracks, however, lift Accelerator above anonymity: the whirring, chattering pulse of "It's Not My Problem" sounds like Can on E, and the sublime "Papua New Guinea," based on a guest vocal by Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard, was (for 1991) something entirely new: ethno-ambient. This idea was subsequently run into the ground by far too many less-talented hacks, but even after being subjected to those knockoffs, "Papua New Guinea" still sounds majestic and fascinating. Accelerator is a formative album, but with enough to recommend it. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide