Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars

Released on 6 November 2000 by Skint in the UK and a day later by Astralwerks in the US. It features Macy Gray, Ashley Slater, Bootsy Collins, Roland Clark and Roger Sanchez. The title is referenced in Weapon of Choice and alludes to a line of Oscar Wilde's: we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. Sunset (Bird of Prey) samples Jim Morrison, and Star 69 and Song for Shelter sample Roland Clark's I Get Deep. An edited version drops Star 69.

Cook said he tried to make a less radio-friendly album, and that he would rather be at number nine than number one. Reviews were generally positive. Robert Christgau wrote that this was where Cook achieved the nonstop stupidity that breakbeats alone could never bring him. Pitchfork's Rich Juzwiak thought it showed that big beat had reached come-down time. In 2006 Tim O'Neil of PopMatters called it extremely underrated.