Audio Remixers: Caelou; Protagonist; Beaumont Hannant. Recording information: A17 Sheffield England (02/1997/03/1997). Unknown Contributor Roles: Nigel Humberstone; Klive Humberstone. The opening title track is one of the most un-ITN-like things in years but given that Cobalt is the second Les Jumeaux album rather than an official ITN release it s more than understandable to hear aggressive techno rather than lush strings at the start. The Humberstones here again explore the more specifically dance-oriented side of their work with Dee de Rocha contributing vocals once more and flautist Henrik Linnemann appearing on one track the low-key loper Maline but otherwise entirely the work of the two brothers. One of their rare vocal appearances occurs here as well being a cover of Strange [not the Wire track but an otherwise unknown number] but mostly as always the Humberstones let their music do the speaking for them. As on Feathercut you can t really mistake the music for anyone else; enough hints of expected ITN touches - orchestrations careful keyboard arrangements and so forth - appear throughout. But similarly to Feathercut the feeling is of a wholly separate aesthetic sense instead of simply being an indulgence treated with the same care expected from ITN s official releases but focusing more on trip-hop and ambient chillers than neoclassical drama. Interestingly the CD also features a number of remixes from other artists of Les Jumeaux tracks including Beaumont Hannant s slow moody take on Cobalt s Futur and a version of Feathercut s Cyflo by Germany s Lunatic Eclipse which slyly slips in dialogue from An Ambush of Ghosts as sample material over the semi dub/hip-hop backing. Something of a mixed bag at points in the end but Cobalt still has much to offer of its own merits nonetheless. ~ Ned Raggett