Who'll rock the world?

the eve of the Brits Awards. Hands are wrung, brows furrowed, laments

lamented. ''It's all facile cover versions and creaky croakers these

days. Where is the next wave of fresh UK musical talent that's going to

wow America and rock the world?'' It's certainly not on the Brits

nominees' list, a fearful round-up of old lags and chirping young

himbos.

But fear ye not, groovers, there is good new stuff about, most of it

emerging direct from Britain's specialist dance record emporia. For

instance, in the few brief months since August, Glasgow's

long-established 23rd Precinct store has quietly metamorphosed into a

nationwide Scottish chain of dance-record retail-outlets, plus three

inter-linked labels, 23rd Precinct, Limbo, and Kore.

At the hub of this activity is shop co-owner and sometime-DJ Billy

Kiltie. As half of Mukkaa, Kiltie is also responsible for one of Limbo's

best releases, the superfine progressive-house stomper Buruchacca, a

disc which -- via mail-order sales and overseas licensing deals -- is

raising the temperature on informed dancefloors from Italy to

Scandinavia, Japan to the Benelux countries. But it's on 23rd Precinct's

Scottish shopfloors that their singular success has been founded.

Over the next six months, Kiltie plans three releases per month from

each of his labels, and most of those record-makers will have come to

23rd Precinct's notice either through having sent demos to the shops, or

through actually being 23rd Precinct employees. Should you pop in to buy

Deep Piece's Bup Bup Biri Biri, for example, you could well be served by

the shop-assistant-cum-DJ who made it, Michael Kilkie.

Every Scottish DJ of note is a frequent visitor, too, of course, which

explains why top Glasgow disc-spinner Harri is to make his Limbo debut

with another corking single, Skelph. Guest DJs from outside the city

also find themselves inescapably drawn, with Manchester's Luv Dup Twins

scheduled to record for one of Kiltie's labels soon.

Oddly, 23rd Precinct's successes have so far been more widely saluted

outside Scotland. Limbo singles earn joyous reviews in all the

London-based dance publications, and from international superstar DJs

like Mike Pickering and Andy Weatherall; Pete Tong hymns the labels'

releases on Radio 1. At home, they have until now been unsung prophets.

''But our profile will rise because we're continually getting nibbled

at by the major labels,'' says Kiltie, resolutely failing to swoon at

the prospect. ''We've had individual licensing offers from the majors,

but aside from licensing one Havanna single to a deConstruction

compilation LP, we've resisted. We want to keep it Scottish. Selling-out

would be good for cash-flow, but it's more important that we keep our

credibility with Britain's other independent dance record shops. We've

all been under pressure from the majors not to stock vinyl and move to

CD, which is only 5-10% of our sales.

''But it's the indie labels based in shops which are keeping dance

alive as the majors fall out of contact with it, cutting jobs on their

dance subsidiary labels, losing day-to-day touch with their artists.

With some notable exceptions, dance gets lost on corporate labels. Plus

the majors can't make money on 5000 sales, which we can, and they're not

in at street level, in the clubs at weekends.''

What should you (and the majors) look out for in 23rd Precinct over

the next few weeks? Aside from Skelph and Buruchacca, upcoming boss

Limbo tunes include Ethnic Prayer and Best Served Chilled, both by

Havanna, who are soon to tour Italy, incidentally. Plus there's Solo's

re-working of Farley Jackmaster Funk's Love Don't Turn Around, featuring

the vocals of Mary Kiana, who was recently heard in the mainstream

British charts with the first new Scottish dance act to achieve any

cross-over success, TTF.

America is in Billy Kiltie's sights, too. ''We get feedback from

American shops who want our stuff, but can't at present get it because

there isn't a working US export and distribution network for dance

music. Techno has nevertheless grown in the past six months.

''Progressive house has still to hit them,'' he says with relish.

Maybe Britpop plc's future has already been secured . . .

But finally, those 1993 Brits Award winners in full! Best British male

-- Ivor Novello. Best British female -- Pearl Carr. Best British band --

Nat Gonella and His Orchestra. Best British LP -- The Sound of Music

soundtrack. Most up-to-the-minute naughty night-time discotheque

rumba-foxtrot dancing-song for teenagers -- Cherry Pink and Apple

Blossom White by Perez Prado. Best video -- Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.

Best British newcomers -- Queen. Best international band -- Pee Wee King

and the Golden West Cowboys. Best international newcomers -- Grand Funk

Railroad. Special award for lifetime achievement in unrock/unroll --

Rolf Harris.

Rock is dead. Again. Long live the contemporary dance vibe.

New releases

Alexander O'Neal, Love Makes No Sense (A&M) -- a dazzling compendium

of styles and genres, or confused mish-mash? The former, methinks. From

new jack swing to eternal Marvin Gaye (circa What's Goin' On), all soul

is here.

Bryan Ferry, Taxi (Virgin) -- languid-yet-puckish,

quizzical-yet-lofty, Bry's back with an album of covers 20 years after

These Foolish Things. Sadly, however, Bry has failed to notice the

searing social innovation that is karaoke. His mannered

re-makes/re-modellings thus appear much less sophisticated than of yore.

Harry Connick Jr., 25 (Columbia) -- boy-genius revivifies standards

twice his age. Result? Undying bliss.

Various, From Ripley To Chicago (Instant) -- ''26 originals which

inspired Eric Clapton.'' In fact, without Messrs Berry, Wolf, Diddley,

Rush and Waters, there would have been no Eric Clapton. Dig the grist

powering Eric's wrists.

Van Morrison, Best of . . . Volume 2 (Polydor) -- documenting the

inner torment of his blue-eyed gospel years (1984-91), plus two angrier

Them tracks from 1965-66. For curious Van-virgins.

The Left Banke, There's Gonna Be A Storm (Mercury) -- baroque strings

and clavinets; pristine harmonies; pure pop melody. Between 1966 and

1969, the Left Banke re-wrote the Book of Cool, but the world only

noticed when the Four Tops did Walk Away Renee. Hear this and Suede will

never sound the same.

Various, Best of Blue Note Volume 2 (Blue Note) -- a back-catalogue

trawl (Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan) which bodes well for next

month's debut album from US3, the dancefloor sample-meisters who so

memorably re-worked Garland Green's Canteloupe (as Cantaloop) and have

since been allowed access to Blue Note's entire archives.

Candy Dulfer, Sax-a-Go-Go (Ariola) -- raucous funk blurring the

distinction 'twixt sex and sax. Clad in fishnets, lycra shorts, push-up

bra and slingbacks, Ms Dulfer seems to have Maceo Parker on her mind:

one day, all saxophonists will be like this.