Fame and fortune seems to elude Michael Head but perhaps we should be grateful for it since it leaves him making superb music still in a career that spans over 20 years. On "reinstated" from 99s splendid "Hms Fable" you get the best sides of his songwriting talents. Both the bacharach/lai pop of Pale Fountains pacific Street era coupled with his later merseybeat/love styling´s of shack.

Music for pussies producer Steve Albini once answered when he shared his thoughts about the genre powerpop. So, perhaps that makes me one then but anyone who likes melodies got to admit that the genre has produced some gems over the years. Richard x Heyman is one of the standouts in the genre. When he doesn´t tune his rickenbacker in his tabbey road studio in new york he goes out searching for homeless cats. So, maybe now i got you all concvinced that the man differs a bit from the average powerpopper. Out of my hands is taken from the mighty fine cornerstone and is overflowing with hooks,hooks my friends which is exactly what i need right now.

One of those superb rock instrumental tracks which I think my fellow musical taster Delicado would describe as "Miketastic". Led by a series of driven electric guitar sounds over an overlaid backing of mellotron string and keyboard pads, it's richly expressive. The LP contains several strong songs and could well be his best yet.

I am not familiar with the original by Francoise Hardy, but consider this version to be very hauntingly expressive. The artist's interesting and highly effective fusion of the middle eastern and western is as prominent as in her other recordings.