Antidote
Earlier in the '90s, if the beats were funky, the scratching ferocious, and the rapping mediocre (or nonexistent) you could bet pound notes to crumpets you were listening to U.K. hip-hop. While U.S. hip-hop had gotten s-l-o-w and low (the better to accommodate its increasingly acrobatic wordplay), in Britain rock-the-house values still persisted. So now that fresh beats and turntablism have made a comeback stateside, old-skool Brit revivalists like the Wiseguys (a.k.a. Touche, a.k.a. Theo Keating) suddenly sound of the moment. OnThe Antidote,  his sophomore effort, this wiseguy comes correct with an album that splits the difference betweenFatboy SlimandBlack Eyed Peas. The first single and second track, "Ooh La La," which accompanied a popular Budweiser commercial in Britain, boasts a chunky beat and a simple, mindless hook, setting the pattern that the rest of the album follows. It's a surefire formula, and Touche does it better than most--though a bit more of the fervid scratching that animates the leadoff track, "Re-introduction," might have made thisAntidoteeven more soothing.--Jeff Salamon