Ninjatunes Compilations/DVD
This is large. very large.
Anyone who has any interest in leftfield dance music over the last 12 or so
years must have a Ninjatune release somewhere amongst their collection.
Amazingly this campaign is the first time the label has ever done a full
retrospective of their greatest hits, umm - so what was Xen Cuts 3 CD set then?
All that aside... these compilations are still worthy of space on anyone's
shelf.
When Ninjatune started I was originally wary of their releases, at the time I
was mainly interested in instrumental hip-hop, and Mo'wax filled that hole
perfectly. Any Ninjatune stuff I heard always came over as too serious/jazz/self
indulgent based and so I stayed clear, but through sheer diversity and single
minded approach to quality, the label are now firmly established and provide a
vital link to sounds that would otherwise fall by the wayside. They have found
their way into my collection far more in recent years as several acts have
refined their style and come into a golden period (Herbaliser, Solid Steel
Compilations especially for me). This then comes as a welcome insight into other
areas of the label's sounds .. but doesn't seem to have included any of the
labels sub-label output (no Big Dada, no N-Tone - but I suspect that's the
point)
Consequently this set comprises of the label's big hitters of recent times -
what no chocolate weasel?
In other words, the tracks that most folks will know and may have even heard on
the radio .. so we get the hits from Mr Scruff, Coldcut, Cinematic Orchestra, DJ
Food etc etc... in fact the list is so damn fine I recommend you take a trip
over to the label's excellent website and get the full tracklisting, if that
doesn't get you frog marching down to your local megabore then nothing will.
So does this compilation work ?
Eell for me its the best and the worst of the label all wrapped up in one
gorgeous package. Yes there are the big overly muso jazzy bits-n-bobs that put
me off, but, as these are single tracks and not a whole album they are far more
enjoyable. I have subsequently realised that I now need more of the label's
releases in order to fill my soul with more sensuous aural pleasure. How can
anyone not swoon to the epicness of All That You Give by Cinematic Orchestra,
and 'something wicked' by the Herbaliser, or feel all fine-n-funky with a big
smile to the uptempo fun of Sweetsmoke by Mr Scruff, and mellow to the ambience
of Funki Porcini The Long Road (a personal fave...)
Too much. Too much. Loving every minute of it.
Where things are probably more interesting for the Ninjatune diehards is the
remix set. These provide a tidy collection for those who don't have the
time/budget to collect the lovely 12" in the week of release and just want a
full 2 hours of deep house grooves, jazz riffs set to hip-hop beats, and all
round general weirdness... There are some stunning tracks. With the likes of
Ashley Beedle, Luke Vibert, Cornelius, Squarepusher etc all adding their
trademark sonic extras to the breaks and loops. special stuff. Even with all the
flutes and bongos and harps.
And there's more ..
The DVD collects a whole bunch of the labels videos. 35 in total. Can't accuse
Ninjatune of being tight can you? All this pleasure on one shiny disc, for the
record, the label likes to tell us that this DVD is double capacity of normal
DVD releases.
Having seen most of the videos I can say that the use of video jerky cutups and
old newsreels can become tiresome, but when these low budget promos are set
within the high art of blockheads Insomniac Olympics, and the breathtaking
computer grafx overload of Amon Tobin's Verbal (how come no Amon Tobin on the
remix set??), the chucklesome Cosgrove Hall animated Sweetsmoke, (who are
Skalpel.. I know... they are funny! Watch the video and see ..), the Gorillaz
style computer animation of the flute overdose that is Bonobo Pick Up, the
strange surreal Terry Gilliam style animation of Jaga Jazzist. then the presence
of the odd lo-fi promo is not as bad as originally thought.
If you watch the DVD in the order that Ninjatune have put them together then
highlights come thick and fast, as do the chilled out grooves. However, if you
want to control the order of viewing then the navigation is simple and dead
easy... and as far as I can tell there are a minimum of extras (Hexstatic has
done a 16 minute video mashup if that's your bag) . but when you get 35 videos
that cover many aspects of promo vids who's complaining... I certainly aint.
A serious contender for the year's best compilation.