It would seem that whatever season of drought many had been experiencing regarding Michael Brook releases has finally succumbed to the rainy season. 2006 saw the release of both a long-anticipated solo album, RockPaperScissors, and the soundtrack to Al Gore's enviro-documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.

So far this year is also progressing along at a prolific clip. In addition to his new soundtrack to Sean Penn's film Into The Wild, we also have the latest of his studio releases. BellCurve is an interesting and satisfying listen. It is a retooling of sorts of last years RockPaperScissors, and as such any praise will be met with some qualifications.

I don't mean to scare anyone away, but we're going to be using the word "remix" here to describe the record, so you might as well get used to it. But it's not going to be used in the same way as some of the more obvious genre choices use it. BellCurve is a stylistic overhaul of last year's release, more as a producer's re-imagining. No, it's not loaded down with funky clubs beats, and neither has it been thrown to the downtempo lounge hounds. These are more straight board mixes that could easily have been the final versions in some cases, or additional album material in others.

James Hood is the man at the helm for this album re-working. But the biggest compliment I can give him is that it still sounds like a Michael Brook album. It's as if an epic movie had been made about the RockPaperScissors world, and this was the soundtrack. It touches on all the main themes from the previous record, but altering them just enough weave them together into a more consistent palette. And although I'm not privy to the process for this release, I would be willing to bet that Michael Brook still had a heavy approval role before this was finalized.

The record is largely an instrumental affair, starting with an introductory track that leads into a new version of "Strange Procession." The style is very reminiscent of the original, with some slight background and rhythmic additions. The album, in general, is mixed together from track to track, and from here moves on to an instrumental reworking of "DarkerRoom". This is one of the key points of this new release. Where before the track centered around a spoken word poem over a dramatic musical bed, the piece has been re-worked to fit in with much of the mood of the rest of the record. It would be unfair and inaccurate to just call it "chillout" or "ambient", but hopefully that does give you an idea of how many of the tracks have been subdued in order to establish an album-length flow.

Some tracks such as "Tangerine II" and "Even Doges In The Wild" display a few more remix touches than others (such as the underlying synth arpeggios, and additional beats) but it's never to the point of distraction. Again, the goal seems to be to tightly weave everything together into a more unified sound world. The record swells and glides, until finally it closes with a stunning and extended reworking of "Want" featuring the vocals of Lisa Germano.

The problem with recommending this album is that, at least for me, it negates the need for the previous album from which it draws its genesis. Personally, now that I've heard this release, this is much more what I would have liked for RockPaperScissors to have been.

BellCurve is a grand and lushly cohesive record. You can gladly get lost in it for days. Before, you were asked to alternate between varying different styles and moods, and it was all gratifyingly done. But at times it could feel like a film festival of shorts when all you really wanted was to just sit down and watch a single movie. BellCurve handily fills that bill.

But recommend it I must. For those who remember Brook's work from the 80s, as well as his collaborations with Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, this will be a very welcome release indeed. If you don't already have RockPaperScissors, I would easily recommend this record first (and then you're free to decide on your own if the other is still needed). If you already have the previous album, this is still magnificent and compelling enough to merit your attention.