Mr Scruff presents Keep It Solid Steel (pt. 1)
At last we get to the animated ones first commercially available mix, having a reputation for a full length 6 hour mixes when he goes on on the live circuit tour (as he is now I believe ? ) the ninjatune massive have decided to give Mr Scruff his own sub-series of the Solid Steel releases to give the rest of the world an insight into what drives the mans obsession.
So this is vol 1 of 4. Bring it on, that's a lot of tunes we got coming on ..
In a complete contrast to the last Solid Steel mix by Amon Tobin where the mood was intensely dark and heavy, this is a lighter more relaxed affair all together, slipping back into the well established groove of Solid Steel. with its party hip hop jams, jazz, funk, soul, and even a little modern r-nb.
There are distinct subsections as the scruff takes the listener through various styles and grooves, the mix starts with the ska'd up tempo of Mungos Hifi and Big Youth classics which drops nicely and politely into a more mellow laidback hiphop section featuring Just Ice, Arsonists, Ultramagnetic MC's all spliced and diced with extra left hand curves such as uk beats of the Demon Boyz, which are interspersed with the radio friendly smoothness of Erykah Badu. Something that normally would prompt me to hit the next button, but I have to say her presence within this set is very welcome as the voice is special and provides welcome respite from the head banging joints.
I will admit that there is a fair bit of the more jazz tinged beats than I would usually like, (the piano lead Sarah Winton track, and the Dred Scott tracks are both a little too bland 80's jazz funk for me), and one of the best things about Solid Steel is all the extra movie/commercial vocal snippets which are normally cutup in the mixes, here though they are in short supply as I suspect that Mr Scruff prefers the music to stand up on its own and doesn't want to clutter the track selection with a bunch of unwanted extras. Each to their own I guess as these extras make the Solid Steel stuff standout from the usual glut of mixtapes.
Thankfully, it's not long before we get back to the old school loops to settle the nerves or something even better such as the uk hip hop sounds of new name to me '2day and 2moro' where fine big band loops and a slamming beat fill the space excellently for a few minutes before dropping madly into a massive 60's movie soundtrack type of orchestral funk, listed as Cappo 'Learn to be strong', which has a superb hammond organ keyboard line that is truly spine tingling. So, as you can see once we get into the depths of the 79 mins things become a lot more freaky with few of the names meaning anything to me (Peddlers, Luis Enriquez, Connie Price and the Keystones) but don't think for one minute that this detracts from the excellent track selection as these tracks could supply a fine-n-funky backbone to any party of choice.
The final section is all wired with subtle beats and mood swings featuring Borders Crossing, Prefuse73 and Tipper being particularly upfront and distinctly modern in these aural surroundings, with the finale being a wonderful other worldly laidback jazz groove of Pharoah Sanders who brings this first part to a rich velvety end. I will admit that there is a fair bit of the more jazz tinged beats than I would usually like, the piano lead Sarah Winton track, and the Dred Scott tracks are both a little too bland 80's jazz funk for me, and I never really felt the glory of Soul to Soul's 'Fairplay'. Also, one of the best things about Solid Steel is all the extra movie/commercial vocal snippets which are normally cutup in the mixes, here though they are in short supply, as I suspect that Mr Scruff prefers the music to stand up on its own and doesn't want to clutter the track selection with a bunch of superfluous extras. Each to their own I guess, as its these trademark sonic extras make the Solid Steel stuff standout from the usual glut of mixtapes.
As in Kill Bill, maybe when all four parts are out we can see the big picture and realise that Mr Scruff is a man of fine choice cuts, either that, or he is a man who has just too many fine records for his own good ?
bring on Volume 2 I say.