1 East Flatbush Project - Tried by 12 (Squarepusher mix) from Zen
RMX: Remix Retrospective
o An underground East Coast hip-hop anthem transformed into an
instantly classic Ninja Tune banger by the talents of Squarepusher.
2 Coldcut - More Beats & Pieces from ZEN CD a retrospective
o One of Coldcut's finest moments - an array of samples, chops
and cuts displaying the sound that their label was built on.
3 Kruder & Dorfmeister - Shakatakadoodub from Ninja Cuts:
Flexistentialism
o Deep baselines and heavily blunted percussion from the Austrian
duo that mastered this sound from the offset.
4 Mr Scruff - Get A Move On! from Keep It Unreal
o Moondog sampling dancefloor hit - GUARANTEED to get you,
your mother and your family pet dancing...
5 Saul Williams - Twice The First Time from Black Whole Styles
o Scored by lonely violins and human beatbox, this is powerful
world play from the spoken word master - Saul Williams.
6 Ammoncontact - Omniverses 1 from New Birth
o A lush string soaked outing from LA-based duo, Carlos Nino and
Fabian Ammon Alston - a hidden gem within the Ninja vaults.
7 Dwight Tible and the Life Force Radio - Equipoise from Equipoise
o Music from the outer region. SA-RA'S beat here is ridden by the
baritone vocals of jazz vocalist - Dwight Trible.
8 Luke Vibert - Get Your Head Down from ZEN CD - a retrospective
o Luke Vibert shows of the hip-hop side to his multi-faceted sonic
output, even to the extent of the Wu-Tang sampling hook that
guides this
jazz-tinged number.
9 Kid Koala - Drunk Trumpet from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
o Vinyl manipulation here expertly played by the turntablist -
Kid
Koala, dextrously (re)playing the trumpet through a
serious of rubs,
cuts and scratch techniques on wax.
10 DJ Vadim - The Terrorist from 'On The Wheels of Steel'
o Pre-dubstep wobble-terror set to around 90 bpm and featuring
the
raps of Motion Man from the Russian Percussionist himself
- DJ Vadim.
11 King Geedorah - Fazers from Take Me To Your Leader
o MF Doom with yet another alias - this time as King Geedorah:
the
space monster sharing his perspective on humans and
our planet. Some of
the best raps you'll ever hear.
12 Roots Manuva - Motion 5000 from Brand New Second Hand
o The most beautiful track from Roots Manuva's debut album.
Beautiful
string arrangements and picture-painting lyricism told
with that unique
South London swagger.
13 GHISLAIN POIRIER - Blazin (Modeselektor Remix) from No
Ground Under
o Berlin based duo Modeselektor re-construct a dancehall-pop
song into a heads down hard-hitting dancefloor burner.
14 Zero db - Te Quiero (Peter Kruder Deep Dub) from
Heavyweight Vinyl
o One half of Kruder and Dorfmeister lays down the sub-low
frequencies to create this funky little re-working.
15 Amon Tobin - Chomp Samba from Bricolage
o Terrifying, fierce, intricate and relentless drum programming
from the Brazilian native.
16 Cinematic Orchestra - All That You Give (Feat. Fontella Bass)
from All That You Give
o With help from the vocalist Fontella Bass, this beautiful
smokey-roomed jazz-bar backroom track sounds like it could
easily have
been made 60 years ago.
17 Wagon Christ - Saddic Gladdic from Sorry I Make You Lush
o Luke Vibert's up to his sugar-coated tricks again - wobbly
electro-funk acid kitsch, tight 'n' tidy drum programming, brightly
psychedelic and lush.
18 DJ Food - The Crow from Kaleidoscope
o A dark and melancholic downbeat excursion into the region
created
when low pitch contrabass meets skipping percussion
hits. Beautiful
sorrow.
19 Bonobo - Eyesdown (Floating Points Remix) from Eyesdown
o An absolutely incredible jazz-fused synth workout from the never-disappointing Floating Points.
20 Mr Scruff - Ug from Get A Move On
o Stomach rumbling low end frequencies and playful synths
ride throughout in this nead-nodder from the tea-connoisseur
himself
21 Andreya Triyana - A Town Called Obsolete (Mount Kimbie Remix)
from A Town Called Obsolete
o Dutiful, beautiful revision from duo of the moment Mount
Kimbie, who
turn the original's flex into a two-stepping, gentle,
graceful joy.
22 Flanger - Music To Begin With from Templates
o Syncopated drums and a stuttering jazz-ensemble form and
de-construct in this hypnotic exercising of music production
technique.
23 Daedelus - Welcome Home (Prefuse73 Danse Macabre Mix)
from Exquisite Corpse
o Daedelus gets the glitch-hop re-working from the ubiquitous
and brilliant Prefuse 73.
24 Hexstatic - Deadly Media from Rewind
o More chopped up cut-and-paste laying some social commentary
on the... err... Deadly Media.
25 Amon Tobin - Precursor from Supermodified
o Combining the hauntingly, dauntingly, flauntingly beautiful with the
harshest, huffiest, stripped and screaming beats around - darkside
psychedelia for twisted knickers and teflon dons.
26 DJ Food - The Ageing Young Rebel (feat. Ken Nordine) from
Kaleidoscope
o Ken Nordine's haunting voice beautifully prospers over this
shuffling jazz piece. Now that's what we call a collaboration.
27 The Bug - Poison Dart from London Zoo
o Massive production sweeps across the lowest bass frequencies,
through to some wonderful reverb-soaked mid-range sonics
topped with the
portentous vocals of Warrior Queen.
28 Bonobo - Kiara from Black Sands
o The standout track from Bonobo's latest offering. Vocal stabs,
rich strings and a neck-snapping beat.
29 Jaga Jazzist - Animal Chin from On The Wheels of Steel
o Multiple changes, switches, layers and textures of sounds from
the 10-piece Norwegian math-jazz-electronics outfit.
30 Daedelus - Hrs:Mins:Secs from Hours Minutes Seconds
o Doom-impending time-based terror-electronica from the usually
lighter Daedelus. Brilliant.
31 Spank Rock - Put That Pussy On Me (Diplo Tonite Remix) from
Decent Work For Decent Pay
o An electro beat, a guitar lick sample, and some crude lyrics.
Simply fun.
32 Amon Tobin - Kitchen Sink (Clark Remix) from Kitchen Sink
o Mesmerising bells-and-beat re-working from the criminally
under-rated Christopher Clark.
33 DJ Food - Scratch Yer Hed (Squarepusher Mix) from Refried Food
o Another drill-and-bass funked-out outing from the man with
nimble picking and slapping fingers.
34 Anti-Pop Consortium - Volcano (Four Tet Instrumental) from
Volcano
o Anti Pop Consortium triggered their comeback in 09' with this
grainy, hyper-melodic refix from Four Tet.
35 Antibalas - Talkatif from Talkatif
o The spirit of Afrobeat reincarnated as a hard-hitting collective
of musicians in New York City.
36 The Bug - Jah War (featuring Flowdan) (Loefah Remix) from Jah
War
o Another genius Kevin Martin moment in the Ninja Catalogue,
The Bug
is on fire here; licked by Flowdan and remixed into
half-step fury by
steppa king Loefah.
37 Funki Porcini - Long Road from ZEN CD: a retrospective
o Sublime moment of dense Cinephonia from revered film maker,
musician
Funki Porcini with a sensuous cut of stoned jazz fried, trip-hop.
38 Grasscut - Muppet (Nathan Fake Remix) from Muppet
o Mr Fake coaxes euphoric layers of sound out from under the
surface,
packing in soaring builds and lush synth melodies, giving
a whole
new
angle to the original.
39 New Flesh - Stick And Move (Radio Vocal) (Feat. Blackitude)
from Stick And Move
o Big cut from UK hip-hop crew New Flesh featuring Blackitude.
Self
proclaimed 'dancehall afro-punk', like Roots Manuva gone
2-step.
40 Up, Bustle & Out - Emerald Alley (Indian Morning Theme) from
Compared to What / Emerald Alley
o Bristolian three-piece Up, Bustle, Out recruited legendary soul
diva Fontella Bass for this superfly joint of Ninja badness.
41 Fink - Sort Of Revolution (Sideshow Dub) from Sort of
Revolution
o Brighton based avant-folk man Fink gets fully loaded with sub
bass
heat on this King Tubby-haunt of a dub version from his track
'Sort of
Revolution'.
42 Pop Levi - Blue Honey from Blue Honey
o The record sees Levi pay tribute to the sun drenched sounds
of west coast America, and Zeppelin-heavy guitar riffs.
43 Coldcut - Timber from ZEN CD: a retrospective
o Sawing timber, car engines, vocal chants - audio-visual
cut-and-paste in its advent. Another nostalgic number from Ninja
Tune's
head honchos.
44 DJ Food - Freedom (Fila Brazillia Mix) from Refried Food
o Hull based production team Fila Brazilia turned out this exquisite downtempo edit for DJ Food's 'Freedom' way back in 1996.
45 Dwight Trible & The Life Force Trio - Antiquity from Love Is
The Answer
o Hip-hop's super-human producer J Dilla sees a beat released
on Ninja Tune. Enough said.
46 Wiley - Gangsters from Playtime Is Over
o Utterly infectious, hook-infected breakout tune courtesy of
pioneering UK MC Wiley, plucked from his massive Big Dada LP.
47 Fog - Pneumonia (Coldcut Mix) from Zen RMX: Remix
Retrospective
o Coldcut tackle freak-folk/hip-hop band Fog's 'Pneumonia'
and turn it
inside out into a kaleidoscope of turntable cut,
scratch and nagging
melody licks.
48 The Long Lost - Woebegone (Flying Lotus' Like Woe) from
Woebegone
o Alfred Darlington and his lady Wife Laura set up The Long
Lost in
2009, this a delicious pick from their debut set, refixed
by none other
than Flying Lotus.
49 Roots Manuva - Clockwork from Brand New Second Hand
o On a record packed with highlights, here's another from
Rodney
Smith; a hot smoked nugget of nimble flow,
low-end-theory and narcotic
electronics.
50 The Infesticons - Hero Theme from Gun Hill Road
o Mike Ladd's alter-ego, hip-hop posse The Infesticons set the
scene
for the Gun Hill Road LP with this swaggering stomp in
wordplay and
bounce.