IT'S BEEN a long time, baby. Fatboy Slim raved goodbye to the 20th century firmly established as the Oasis of dance music, filling stadiums - and beaches - with populist anthems that tapped into the psyche.

The original renegade master and purveyor of big-beat could do no wrong, global domination was his.

Four years after Half Way Between The Gutter And The Stars - and 18 months or so after a very public split then reunion with his wife, Zoe Ball - Slim is back in town. Palookaville to be precise. And what a dreary, barren, lonesome place it is too.

Apparently, Fatboy Slim, aka Norman Cook, has decided to work with real instruments to produce 'proper' songs (a strange boast for a musician).

Amid the mish-mash of dance, hip-hop, pop and rock, it's hard to see any sort of progression from where Cook left us last.

The Fatboy, in the main, sticks to his tried and tested formula: repeating a phrase a zillion times at break-neck speed before dropping in a stuttering sample to liven up proceedings. Four years ago, it sounded fresh, but now it's about as exciting as hooking ducks.

A collaboration with Blur's Damon Albarn on Put It Back Together provides a whiff of invention and a welcome change of direction. But his lovesick ode to Mrs Slim, Push And Shove, is an unconvincing attempt to convince us everything is now rosy in the Fatboy love nest.

Slim pickings indeed.

Updated: 08:40 Thursday, October 07, 2004