FATBOY Slim, aka Norman Cook, had his street cred damaged last month when the New Labour pinched his Right Here - Right Now tune to celebrate their victory at the Hartlepool By-Election.

Cook and his record company protested but to no avail. It seems the rules of such things allow political entities to use whatever music they like. Later this month Cook's current tour calls on Cardiff uni pushing his latest album Palookaville on the Welsh public.

"What's Palookaville? Palookaville is a mythical, nonsense destination coined by Marlon Brando," explains Cook.

Obviously sensing a change in the water and perhaps acknowledging that dance, if not dead, is at least flagging, he has changed tack.

Rather than the sample-based songs that first made Fatboy famous, Cook decided he wanted to work with real musicians.

"My biggest inspiration was probably the time I spent with Blur," he says, having last year produced two tracks for the band's Think Tank album. "In the past, I've been used to working alone in the studio, slaving over a hot computer, trying to make music that had a human feel.

"Being around Blur reminded me that sometimes, all you need is humans.

"It's a lot quicker and a lot more fun and because you can bounce ideas around, you end up a sum of parts that is greater than what you could have achieved on your own.

"So I guess that was the gateway to Palookaville."

Fatboy Slim plays Cardiff uni on Saturday, October 23. For more info surf to www.fatboyslim.net.