Category Archives: Reviews

Rodney Smith aka Roots Manuva releases his third album for Ninja Tune’s baby brother – Big Dada. Mr Manuva manages to surpass himself once more with that distinctive voice and experimental riddums. Two singles: ‘Colossal Insight’ and ‘Too cold’ have already graced the shelves in rekkid stores across the planet featuring some superb remixes alongside the originals. Now Roots is a real marmite situation, you either like his style of vocal or you hate it. This dude has written some brilliant songs in the past and there are plenty more to be devoured from this album.
I think Roots Manuva has matured even more with this release. Some of the beats are very original and he proves that he’s still not scared about rhyming about the real deal in this messed up land we call home. If you still haven’t bought this gem then at least give it a listen – Roots Manuva fans will love it.

Jax

Part 2 of New Flesh fame unleashes his first solo album on the Big Dada label. This album has been work in progress for a few years now as he is been kept busy with New flesh and various other side projects. The album is rammer-jammed with superb guest vocalists entwinded with very fat sounds ranging from Grime to Reggae to Detroit fuelled rhythms.The double A-side of ‘Get Square feat. Fallacy’ and ‘Will It Ever feat. Sandra Melody is already getting some great response in the press and on the floor – and i’m sure the full deal will receive the same praise on its release at the end of Sept ’05. The beats are fully loaded and he’s really gotten the most from his vocalist side-kicks. Well worth checking out.

Jax

Former member of Rednose Districkt, shows how well this young talent can work on his own. He’s picked a fine selection of vocalists which include Jneiro Jarel, Cee-Major, U-Gene, Lady Alma and others. Not only that but you won’t stop shaking your hips to the deep grooves that Sublime has put together, which will rock any dancefloor or sound just as nice on your headphones. Kindred Spirits just continue their domination of things soulful.

Simon Harrison

I’ve been looking forward to hearing D’nell’s debut album for along time now, ever since Young Lee played the exclusive of “I Read About” on Basic Soul in March 2004. It’s been a long time but it’s been well worth the wait. D’Nell are long time partners producer, Dan Jones and beautiful vocalist Ellie Hajee. Featuring some wonderful grooves that continue to grow on you, even after listening to this for a week. Listen to “I Read About” and you’ll buy this on the album version alone.

Simon Harrison

How time flies when you having fun. I cannot believe that Russell is releasing her second album, when it seems like only a few months since “Under The Munka Moon” dropped. Russell has been recording guest vocals left, right and centre but I’m still not tired of one of the UK’s finest vocalists, in fact I want more. You don’t really need me to tell you this is an excellent album because we always knew it was going to be. So stop reading this, get out there and buy a copy.

Simon Harrison

I’ve lost count of Dominic Stanton’s aliases and releases but here is the latest instalment under Domu. I went to the release party of “Return Of The Rogue” back in May but thankfully this will be out soon. Believe me this is an absolute classic from the man who never seems to stop working. As we’ve come to expect from Domu over the years, you never quite know what’s coming next. Well I won’t spoil the plot for you because this is fantastic from start to end. This is sure to be one of the best albums in 2005.

Simon Harrison

Yet another corking album from the Compost stable and this time it’s from Eddy who is half of Eddy and Dus and Yannah aka Jana Valdevit. With a serious amount of musical history between them I always knew this would be good. With a mix-up of Broken beats, Jazz and Brazilian styles and top vocals from Yannah, make sure you pack this for your summer holiday because it’ll make perfect sense on a sandy beach in the sun.

Simon Harrison

As you may have gathered by the title, all of the ten tracks on Ernesto’s latest album have a blues influence. Mixing blues and electronic music may not sound good on paper but this is tastefully and beautifully arranged. Personally I’ve been hammering ‘another ten’ which featured on the 7″ single but ensure you check out the wonderful ‘Father’. Maybe more producers should move to Birmingham because it’s worked wonders for Ernesto.

Simon Harrison

This has to be one of the most eagerly awaited albums of 2005, ever since ‘Dust’ was heard last year. It is of course the follow up to the excellent ‘Cardiology’. Things kick off with another anthem in the making, ‘Landed’, but it’s not all about the big dancefloor tunes. There’s a proper mix up of styles and influences, which of course you would expect from a man of this talent. It may not grab you on first play but give it a few listens and you’ll be hooked for the rest of 2005.

Simon Harrison

Those in the know will have noticed that this was released first in Japan a few months ago but those top people at BBE have signed it for UK release. Ski had been around on the scene for years and it’s always great to hear the solo productions. For this his second album he’s brought in some heavy weight vocalists aka Amp Fiddler, Valerie Etienne, Earl Zinger and Chi Turner and they all sound fantastic. Most of the attention has been on the Amp Fiddler tracks which are ace but make sure you listen to the other vocal tracks because they are outstanding. BBE roll out another classic.

Simon Harrison

This is juan maclean’s debut album on James Murphy’s highly respected DFA label. The style is very LCD soundsystem, infact it could almost be a collection of lost tracks from LCD’s first masterpiece. Firing along at a dubbed out discotronic tempo, the production on this album is second to none. Live instrumentals fused with sample based beats – It’s all very tight indeed. “Tito’s Way” was recently lifted as the first single and the last track – “Dance With Me”, an epic tripped out burner is due to be their next 12″ release. Fans of LCD with no doubt appreciate this DFA sound. Slightly more toned down and minus Murphy’s vocal exploits – this is trademark DFA sounding stuff.

Jax

Can you believe it is five years since first hearing the groundbreaking ‘The Unseen’. How was Madlib going to follow up such a classic album? As you expect he just carries on what he does best, digging for rare samples, some of Madlib’s finest beats are here with fantastic vocals and lyrics which include guests MF Doom and Med. It may not be as instant as his debut but give it a few listens and it’s up there with his best.

Simon Harrison

Povo have been releasing quality singles on Raw Fusion for years and it’s great to finally hear their debut album. Approximately half the album is instrumental and the other half features quality vocals from Trine-Lise Vaering, Mark Linn and Ed Jones. There is the depth that you’d expect from the likes of Five Corners Quintet and Nicola Conte, where beautiful songs, modal rhythms and nu-jazz styles are all featured here. Vinyl junkies may have to swallow their pride though because the cd contains a few extra tracks including a lovely Nicola Conte remix of ‘You Are’.

Simon Harrison

Some of you may remember the single ‘All Ain’t The Same’ from 2004, which featured quality vocals from Joseph Malik. well here is the full album which features Malik on two tracks, and a whole host of guests including Alison Crockett, Def Harmonic and Jason Todd. Once the needle hit the record I was hooked, the lyrics and production are superb with some basslines from hell. When finished I was sat there wanting more. Don’t miss out on one of the highlights of 2005.

Simon Harrison

Kirk Degiorgio – aka As One – returns after what seems like minutes since his superb ‘Out Of The Darkness’ album was released on Ubiquity records in October 2004. This album is perfectly suited to Versatile records, and moves more to his deeper electronic sound but still manages to keep soul. Here features some future house classics like ‘rumours’, ‘response ability’ and ‘this precious life’ that would sit along side any Planet E and Underground Resistance release, and those are just the first three tracks.

Simon Harrison