The Scourge of the Earth - My Pastie Weighs a Ton (Warner ESP)

The Black Dog is the sort of artist that, just as you are wondering what they're doing or where they've been, come back at you with the – always surprising - answers. Last time it was a set of remixes of Lalo Schrifrin's Bullitt theme. Yes, the 60's movie, recently used in the Ford Puma ad.. Now we are presented with a collaboration with Israeli vocal sculptress Ofra Haza, with a raft of remixes from Lazonby, Terminalhead, Scanner and an obscure genius masquerading under the pseudonym of The Scourge Of The Earth. I think I'll raise a few eyebrows when I "exclusively" reveal that said Scourge is the latest trading name of none other than The KLF's Jimmy Cauty. And it's a classic return to form - screaming babies, warplanes, tanks, bombs and all!

But Who Exactly is the Black Dog? They are very keen on "dis/information" so it's difficult to sort the wood from the trees. Black Dog definitely has nothing to do with the classic breakbeat diva track of the same name by D*Note. Or Plaid, the breakaway group who are currently enslaved to touring with Orbital. Or the grizzly action adventure film of the same name starring Patrick Swayze and Meatloaf. Oh no. Black Dog definitely IS behind the breakthrough elctronique albums, Bytes, The Temple Of Transparent Balls, Spanners and Music For Adverts (And Short Films). And the Dog is certainly behind obscure leftfield remixes of the likes of Bjork, Blondie, Neds Atomic Dustbin, the Moody Boys and U.N.C.L.E.. Or maybe it’s the other way round...

As for Babylon, the music is like nothing I've heard before. Egyptian downbeat, anyone? Ofra Haza's vocalisings, frankly, haven't changed much since Paid in Full. But at least here they're used in a fresh way, so maximum points to the Dog and "nul" points to Mystery Year favorites the Sisters of Mercy, whose Temple Of Love track with Ofra is pastiche Goth-rock. Regardless of all the celeb remixes on offer, the original shines through as the first pre-millennial single to raid the 20th century for emotion from every continent.

Scanner's remix is very standard - but shouldn’t be overlooked. Scanner's The Garden Is Full Of Metal album from last year was a gem. A multimedia ambient tribute to his friend Derek Jarman. For maximum DJ cool, skip to the Terminalhead mix, with which Nick Warren recently opened his set at Cream. Peter Lazonby is also in the mix on this CD and apparently described his interpretation as "my best work to date", although you should be the judge of that.

'Babylon' is a rare confusing epic. If the Jimmy Cauty remix can make it stand out into the mainstream, there’s a shock in store for all the ears out there glued to 1FM.