Rare transmissions from Chicago house pioneer Larry Heard repressed! As the creator of such influential and timeless house anthems such as "Can U Feel It," "Mystery Of Love," and countless others, Larry Heard (aka Mr. Fingers, Fingers Inc., The It, Gherkin Jerks, etc.) hardly needs any introduction. His work is the stuff of legend, and though I consider myself pretty well-versed in his output, this reissue came along and I realized the man has a plethora of material I haven't even gotten to yet! Alien takes its title from the classic Ridley Scott film of the same name. It appears Heard was so into the film that in 1996, he decided to do his own soundtrack of sorts as his 3rd solo full length. As expected, the results are incredible - a master work of spaced out ambience and deep space house from the furthest corners of the galaxy (though far and away from the original Alien OST by light years). It's not exactly as dark as one would think for something inspired by Alien. In fact, listening to chilled out tracks like "Two Journeys" or "Cosmology Myth," you can almost imagine Ripley making peace with the alien or playing friendly with a face hugger. None the less, a awesome listen all the way through from one of the greatest to ever do it. Recommended.

• music label: Alleviated 1996 / 2014

reviewed by TKB 05/2014