Various Richard X presents X Factor Volume 1

• Words: David Hemingway
• Label: Virgin Records
• XLR8R Rating: /10

Richard X has joked that he was going to name his debut It's Just Two Records Stuck Together. As Girls on Top, he has previously spliced tracks by TLC/The Human League and Adina Howard/Gary Numan to produce the most covetable of "bootleg" twelves. X Factor appropriates, samples, parodies or covers tracks by Mazzy Star, Chaka Khan, The SOS Band and The Human League, but X's witticism would do the collection a disservice. His best recordings transcend merely fusing acappellas and instrumentals to highlight the common aesthetics between '80s soul, electro-pop and the futuristic R&B constructed by Rodney Jerkins et al. X makes the odd misstep, but his collaborations with Liberty X, Javine, Kelis, Tiga and the Sugababes are a joy.