I got Ninja'd today. Picked up both for US$22, which is what I would've paid
for one Ninja just a few months ago. God bless the Ninjas for treatin' their
American fans so good! Here's da scoop:
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Coldcut - More Beats & Pieces - Beats Atomic Moog to pieces. For those
wondering what happened to the Coldcut of JDJ, they're baaacck! Daddy rips it
up with the first mix, in classic Coldcut style, with samples both old & new.
Comes with a Quicktime video that is brilliant at times, confused at others.
Starts with an idoru hawking a DJ Toy, then fast forwards thru a flurry of
images, some good (love the "Cold Cuts / World of Cheese" shop, the Star Wars
Death Star destruct graphics, the negative image of the TR808 Start/Stop
button), some bad (hate the riot scenes - what the fuck has this got to do with
the track?). Ends with More & Black rendered as cartoonish CGI critters that
jump out of a box & into a video game called Cold Kong. Mostly very good, it
just takes awhile to piece together the internal logic. I just got one
question: will the next single be called "Black Beats & Pieces)? ;-) The other
mixes:
Tortoise provides a mellow synthy mix that bears little resemblence to the
original. Smooth.
Kid Koala does a choppy scratched up mix which I ain't too keen on, mostly cos
I don't feel the rhythm.
Q-bert (Scratch Picklz) does a much better job of scratching it up on his mix.
T-Power, even on a bad day, has a certain something about what he does. Not
that his Meet The Weasels Mix is bad, it's just different from his other work,
but still definitely T-Power. It sounds kinda lo-fi, being heavily sample
based, with occasional ambient pads, minimal bassline, and great stereo
panning. A must for T-Power trainspotters.
Beans & Pizza Strictly Kid Teeba Jam, featuring an all-star 'tables jam, is all
over the place. I'd love to see/hear it live, fersure.
Anxiously awaiting Coldcut's full-length.
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Amon Tobin - Bricolage - Mr. Cujo's 1st full length for the Ninjas, eagerly
awaited, but purchase deferred until it showed up US domestic (had to wait
until my local shop unloaded their import copy). Clocking in at 79:21,
this CD is serious value for your $, people. Blow by blow:
Stoney Street - opens with cloying strings, then breaks into a hopping upright
bassline and a jazzy feel with serious lowend and some interesting jazz in an
understated D&B style drum programming. Nice.
Easy Muffin - mellow triphop that wouldn't be out of place on the Neotropic
album.
Yasawas - as in "Yes, I was", perhaps? More mellow triphop with steel
guitar and bits of D&B poking through, building to a quiet freneticism.
Creatures - faux Denny-ish animal sounds, trumpets, a too-fast-to-be-upright-
bass bassline, D&B drums, & cryptic vocal samples.
Chomp Samba - slightly different from the single version, more bass & weird
vocal samples.
The New York Editor - "this is jazz"...indeed. The drumming/drum programming
on this is amazing. Wow. Tom Jenkinson, eat your heart out.
Defocus - the trademark Amon Tobin fretless bass sound with some other weird
yet expressive sounds.
The Nasty - dark, omininous trip-hop.
Bitter & Twisted - more dark, ominous trip-hop.
Wires & Snakes - does this sample "Papua New Guinea", or the source of FSOL's
sample? Take the intro from PNG & add some laid-back D&B beats & some soulful
synth blowin' and you've got the basis for this track. I like it.
One Day In My Garden - Sergio Mendes does acid & discovers drum & bass.
Infuckingcredible.
Dream Sequence - no, not the cliched upward pitch shifting music that they play
on soap operas to accompany the vaseline on the lens dream sequence. If the
last track didn't coax your bong out of retirement, this one might, though it's
trippy enough that you really don't need to smoke to get off. Ambient D&B with
languid sitarish drone melodies.
One Small Step - moody D&B with a quiet intensity, it has raging emotions just
beneath the surface that never quite explode.
Mission - a soundtrack for enacting pagan rituals to. Where's my goblet of
blood?
Verdict? Not as accessible as Adventures In Foam, but certainly more
adventurous. It's a difficult listen, but unlike most difficult listens, I
loved it on 1st listen (usually takes 5-10). 9 outta 10. Must buy "Joint
Ventures". Must buy "Joint Ventures". Must buy "Joint Ventures".
Anyone got the "Mission" 12"?
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Now for some assorted remixes from the Ninja crew:
Coldcut - Little Fluffy Clouds (Heavyweight Dub) - this was on the recent
"Orbscure Trax" rarity. I'm not familiar enough with the Orb's opus to know
when this was done, but I suspect it's old, though if it is it has aged well.
Not a radical reinterpretation, just different beats, a new synthline, and a
few Coldcutisms thrown in. Worthwhile.
Coldcut - Psyche Rock (Psyched Out) - from the Pierre Henry/Michel Columbier
remix project "Metamorphose - Messe Pour Le Temps Present", on FFRR. Coldcut
makes a sublime mix of synth squidges and fast (but not D&B) beats over a
soothing muted organ. A must for Coldcut fans.
Coldcut's Computer + Hex - Psyche Rock (Chopped Up) - I think my problem with
this mix is that I'm not too fond of the source material, which has bells
playing the same melody as one of those execrable 50's hits ("The Game Of
Love", maybe?).
Funki Porcini - Jericho Jerk - also from Metamorphose, this 5 minute mix is
just too damn short. Mr. Porcini's skittering beats careen about underneath
reverb-drenched synths to create the aural equivalent of drinking beer &
coffee. This is the best thing I've heard from him yet (I've got both albums
& I've seen him live twice). In fact, I'm listening to it for the 3rd
straight time, which isn't something I do often.
Dazzit
Che