When label co-founder Damon Albarn asked Terry Hall to make a solo album, The Hour of Two Lights was set to be produced by former Fun-Da-Mental member Mushtaq. However, it soon became apparent that this pair had an instant musical rapport, so the project rapidly became a joint effort. All manner of musicians and styles are jumbled into the mix, but Hall and Mushtaq keep these disparate elements under control, shaping a unique sound. They suggest "contemporary nomadic" as a possible filing category, with numerous guests combining various Eastern European, North African and Middle Eastern backgrounds to create a hybrid music that makes Hall's disenchanted, slow-coach delivery even more unnerving than it was on his work with the Specials and Fun Boy Three. Strings swoop in directly from Cairo, supporting silvery oud, trilling ney flute and rattling goblet-drums, all laid down on a humping bed of traditional drum breaks. Most of the tracks find Hall duetting with a succession of guest vocalists, but where comparable projects would feature various pop star pals, this outing's collaborators are mostly complete unknowns, swapping lines in Arabic, Hebrew or Romany. Hall keeps his own morose couplets simple and abstract, avoiding any specific references, even though there's an implicit political content to these sessions. It's a shame, though, that the sleeve doesn't feature more detailed credits, broken down into song-by-song listings, particularly when there's such an impressive roster of guest musicians on board. --Martin Longley
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