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Return of Mr. Scruff
By Rob Woo
"I got a call from Ninja Tune and thought 'oh yeah, you're that label that releases my albums occasionally, but not when I don't record them,'" quips Andy Carthy, aka Mr. Scruff, about his first new album in six years. Between touring and establishing his tea empire, Make Us A Brew (a spin-off from the travelling tea shop he would bring on tour). "I've been touring constantly," says the endurance-oriented spinner who loves to log time behind the decks: "six to seven hours is cool!"
"I almost forgot to make an album," Scruff quips. He worked on Ninja Tuna for three years, but he didn't forget his rolodex; guests include familiar favourite Roots Manuva, hardcore legend Danny Breaks and mainstays of the jazzy downtempo scene Will Holland (Quantic) and soul singer Alice Russell. The album maintains the diversity of previous guest-heavy efforts Keep It Unreal (1999) or Trouser Jazz (2002). "Collaborating keeps you on your toes, the friction and creative tension makes it really interesting because you are both not doing what you would normally do," says Carthy. 'If you've worked together before it's comfortable, which can be good, but when it's new you can really push it."
Ninja Tuna is distinctly Mr. Scruff, but with a more positive laid-back approach; the playful Hammond organ of "Donkey Ride" is a light-hearted composite of older tunes and later tracks include more adventurously orchestrated upbeat fare like "Kalimba." Russell's sultry vocals give a different energy to "Music Takes Me Up," like the Quantic Soul Orchestra live band with a Scruffy feel, while his sparse dancehall rhythm allows old friend Manuva to lay his patois poetry down on "Nice Up The Function," contrasting instrumentation to previous venture "Jus Jus." As Carthy philosophises, "I'm a raver and roots man."
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Ever the Gentleman Reg
 Five years after releasing his last album Darby & Joan, Gentleman Reg is as poised for stardom as ever, thanks to internationally renowned record label Arts & Crafts, and another smashing new collection of majestic pop entitled Jet Black....Read More
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Perceptions of Bell Orchestre
 Some bands have a distinctive guitar tone; some, a vocalist whose every vocal tic couldn't possibly belong to anyone else. With Bell Orchestre, the identifying sonic signifier is much stranger. Audible throughout 2006 debut Recording a Tape the Colour of Light, it re-appears on their new album, As Seen Through Windows, a sound that's part Indonesian gamelan, part European church bells, both fed through a funhouse mirror inversion....Read More
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Passenger Action Get On With It
 "It's what you're going through, and then you're like, 'Is this really a fucking song about this guy's other band being not together anymore? Get over it!'" Clay Shea has had some serious shit to work out in the last few years; as a founding member of Edmonton math-punks Choke, he spent 13 years literally defining technically proficient punk rock....Read More
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The Persistence of Psyopus
 "We've been called avant-grind mathcore. That's the best description I've heard," says Christopher Arp, guitarist for Rochester, NY's Psyopus. "We're trying to push the boundaries of music, so being a technically proficient band helps because we have the ability to do that." Odd Senses, the follow-up to 2007's Our Puzzling Encounters Considered, is the latest shove at music's limits from the hyperactive band....Read More
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The Legend of Black Lips
 The Black Lips are alive and well and recording in Berlin. Not two weeks after some routine indecent exposure nearly got them thrown into an Indian prison, they're in surprisingly high spirits. King Khan, who is collaborating with the band on an EP partly inspired by the ordeal, answers the phone when I call....Read More
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M. Ward's Times Aren't A Changin'
 For Matt Ward, 2008 was a big year. She & Him, his band with actress Zooey Deschanel, forced the Californian singer-songwriter into the spotlight, but now it's time to get back to normal, which for him means "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."...Read More
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Check out the hottest new releases in the country this week, including: David Bowie David Bowie: Deluxe, Fear Factory Mechanize, Hot Chip One Life Stand, Watson Twins Talking to You, Talking to Me, Yeasayer Odd Blood...
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