Richard D. James does his damnedest to scare you off from Come to Daddy, his 1997 album that was not quite EP, no longer LP, and probably a bearcat for Warners, his Stateside label, to market. "I! Want! Your! Soul!" rasps a hideous, digitally disfigured voice as the album opens, but what might be even more shocking is the distorted guitar chugging beneath. James had recently remixed Nine Inch Nails; was this how things were going to be from here on out, then? Fortunately, no. Given the cover photo, featuring a group of kids wearing James' Photoshopped visage, the lead track is like a scary trick played by the neighborhood's favorite dad as he opens the door on Halloween; after the severed limb turns out to be a mannequin's arm smeared with strawberry jam, it's all Tootsie Rolls and hot apple cider.

"Flim" warms things up by showing James at his most melodic, with delicate keyboard counterpoints entwining themselves around rhythms that scatter like beads of water across a greased skillet — possibly three of the most inspired minutes of drum programming in all of electronic music. "Come to Daddy (Little Lord Faulteroy Mix)" thumbs its nose at the very notion… read more »