Reviewed by Andy Cooper

The first Raving Loonatics album on N-Soul back in 1993 was a groundbreaking classic and set the trend for sampling preachers and laying them over various types of dance music. Since then no one has done it better than Scott Blackwell and friends, making 'Episode Two...Hyponcrite' the most welcome follow up collection so far this century! It's musically well rounded with some epic trance from Slyder (aka Cloud2Ground), funky house from Maximillion, banging hard house (what else?) from AJ Mora, jazzy drum'n'bass and some cool trip-hoppy stuff from Stefan Nelson and Greg Young (aka Virus). The set kicks off with the challenging "Pounding Music Culture" questioning the ethics and influence of today's music scene. "Bound" is a powerful and graphic description of Lazarus' exit from the grave, while "Don't Stop" encourages older generations to empower and encourage the younger. Maximillion's DIY mix of "Fire In My Faith" provides an interesting end to the CD: different players seem to react to it in different ways! Very strange. You'll have to try it for yourselves! All in all, a fine collection of words and music suited to many different (public and private) acts of devotion and praise.

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