Eight years between albums is a long time, even if you are running one of the consistently best and most innovative labels in the world.
Coldcut, cut-up music pioneers and founders of the
Ninja Tune label, last put out
Let Us Play in late 1997. That was a great record and was single-handedly responsible for pulling me into the world of Ninja Tune and the trip-hop underground of the late '90's. One could even say that record was responsible for the formation of
Fidgital in 1999.
So, after all this time, a few singles, remixes, amazing audio-visual tours, Coldcut are back with a new full-length.
Sound Mirrors dropped in Canada today, and I was quick to pick up my stylish die-cut packaging.
The album begins underwhelmingly, with the
Zero 7-flavoured trip pop of
Man in a Garage, featuring
John Matthias on vocals. Uh-oh. Not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but hardly what we waited 8 years for! Don't worry, though, the vinyl cut-ups at the end of the track are sign of things to come: This record gets better as it goes.
Track two brings fellow Ninja
Roots Manuva in to rap on some seriously infectious hip-hop.
True Skool has a great double time feel reminscent of
k-os's
Crabuckit, but without the obvious retro jazz touches, with more eastern pop touches, and a hint of dancehall. Hot.
Just for the Kick brings
Annette Peacock in to deadpan over an electroclash tech house beat. This is really fun, in a
Miss Kittin /
Princess Superstar kind of way, if they were produced by
Si Begg and
Basement Jaxx. Very easy to imagine this packing a dancefloor!
Beats get broken with the neo-soul
Walk A Mile featuring
Robert Owens, sounding a bit like
Vikter Duplaix with an upbeat
Silent Poets. It's just too bad the lyrics and chord progressions are so derivative of
Depeche Mode's
Walking in My Shoes.
Our next guest star is political spoken word artist
Saul Williams, who's worked with Coldcut before on the "Not In Our Name" project.
Mr Nichols is an orchestral downtempo tone poem supporting Williams' cutting commentary on suicide and American culture. A gorgeous quivering Moog melody takes the role of chorus, until
Soweto Kinch takes over with a too-short sax solo.
American indie-rock turntablist
Andrew Broder of Ninja Tune label-mates
Fog takes the lead vocal and guitar chores for
Whistle & A Prayer. The vocals remind me a lot of
cLOUDDEAD, but honestly, it's the turntablism and pizzicato breakdown at the end that saves this one for me.
First single
Everything Is Under Control pairs up the unlikely combination of
Jon Spencer (of
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion with rapper
Mike Ladd (of
infesticons and
Majesticons fame). The combination is a made-for-college-radio hip hop rock smash, a grower which I enjoy more each time I hear it.
More broken beat dancehall hip hop in
Boogieman, with rhymes provided by
Amiri Baraka, building from a minimal groove to an eastern-influenced jazz-funk-electro jam. This leads well into the very political
Aid Dealer, with Soweto Kinch back on sax AND rhymes. Definitely a high point on the album, Aid Dealer hits as hard with its beats as it does with its message. Afrobeat horns on jazzy breakbeats, warm synth pads, fragmented sax melodies, there's a lot to love here.
This Island Earth brings in neo-soul chanteusse
Mpho Skeef to deliver another political message. But it's no bad thing - this is also one of the best tracks on the record. A dancehall-flavoured broken beat groove drives the verses, but the choruses are in a 12/8 vaguely-gospel house. Imagine
Si Begg with
Jazzanova (especially
Mwela Mwela). Fantastic and surprising.
The album closes with two downtempo trip-hop numbers.
Colours the Soul is the song I wish Zero 7 or
Air would make, with gorgeous string arrangements, minimal guitar plucking and a very tasty soul sax section. Title track
Sound Mirrors shows us the moody and challenging side of Coldcut, and it's a perfect choice to end the album. It reminds me of
Red Snapper, but with beautifully sad and magnificent orchestration. Lovely to close with an instrumental after so many guest vocalists.
So how does it stack up? Is it the equal of
Let Us Play? Maybe not quite, but it's damn close. I hope this album will go on to inspire many new musicians the way the previous record inspired me.
Four stars.
