Articles
Hatchback
Dennis Wilson
Michna Top 10

Albums
Alpha Aesar
The Alps
Anduin
Beaten By Them
Bible & Henry
Bird Show
Bitcrush
The Boats
Boduf Songs
Budd & Wright
Callers
Derek Carr
Matthew Robert Cooper
Cristal
Dreamsploitation
Gore
Hatchback
Inverz
Monika Kruse
Lights Out Asia
Miya Masaoka
Michna
Model 500
Mr Cooper
Near The Parenthesis
Patron and Patron
Procer Veneficus
Raglani
Red Snapper
Max Richter
Roots Manuva
Michael Santos
Sempervirens
Shed
Sleepingdog
Spect. Lore / Underjordiska
Andy Stott
Taub
The Third Man
Uzi & Ari
You May Die / Gifts Enola
Zèbra
Zilverhill

Compilations / Mixes
DJ /Rupture
Diaspora: Cottage Ind. 5
Total 9

EPs
John R Carlson
Intrusion
Keenhouse
Joe Lapaglia
Model 500
Duncan Ó Ceallaigh
Frank Omura
Shigeto
The Sight Below
Steinbrüchel
Van Der Papen
Warez

Roots Manuva: Slime & Reason
Big Dada

Slime & Reason, Roots Manuva's fourth opus, is a fresh mix of bleepy synthesizer flourishes and head-spinning beats that blend hip-hop, ragga, dubstep, and funk, with the crowning touch, of course, Rodney Smith's distinctive vocal swagger. Potent hooks abound on the freewheeling, fourteen-song set (e.g., the hypnotic title chant of “Do Nah Bodda Mi” and the roller-coaster synth riff in “Do 4 Self”), and the music itself spans decades by merging funky hip-hop and rootsy, lo-fi dub into an arresting fusion.

The fifty-five-minute collection bolts from the gate with the blissfully skanky anthem “Again & Again” whose sing-song chorus quickly burrows into your skull and whose combination of infectious chant and bass-heavy groove makes for an irresistible four-minute intro. Soon after, a dubstepping lurch powers “Kick Up Ya Foot” and a burning synth swarm and a testifying Smith go toe-to-toe on “It's Me Oh Lord.” The album also features production work by Toddla T and Metronomy alongside Roots Manuva's own: prodded by a beautiful funk bass figure, Metronomy's “Let the Spirit” is invigorated by classic horn lines and a seductive electro-funk groove while “Buff Nuff” (one of three Toddla T tracks) brings loose-limbed swing to the release.

The album's mood isn't always so carefree. The lurching head-nodder “C.R.U.F.F.” paints a gloomy picture (“Way too much hurt and too much conflict”) while things turn serious on the electro-dub dirge “The Show Must Go On” when rootsy vocalizing expresses resignation (“You made me cry / with all your troubles and trials / Seems like we wasted all our time / trying to make it in this life”) while Smith recounts his own laundry list of regrets (“It was never my intention to be hurtin' you / and when you check it out who was hurtin' who?”). Such dramatic moments are rare, however, and they hardly drag down the mood of an otherwise spirited set.

October 2008