by John Bush
Surely not the first Northern European to lose his head after escaping to sunnier climes, Ian Pooley intended his second album for V2 as an audio travelog (to accompany the pictorial one included in the booklet) of his visits, spanning Brazil to Barcelona and Malta to Montreal. As such, most of these tracks are warm disco-tech movers, reminiscent of Latin '70s dance-fusion (Azymuth, Salsoul Orchestra) and perfect for Ibizan beach parties. Some of the tracks are filtered very similar to the wave of Stardust inheritors, though Pooley's deft touch on the programming immediately rescues these tracks from being mere imitators. Two familiar-sounding tracks, &Coracao Tambor& and &900 Degrees,& feature Rosanna and Zélia. Though the music's undoubtedly not quite as exciting as the geography it was inspired by, Since Then is a breath of fresh air on a stifling summer day.