Mr. Scruff – Ninja Tuna
The Scruffy one’s Tuna is finally on the menu, a few years after waving his jazzy trousers around, keeping it incredibly surreal and getting dubby on his debut. There are only a few silly track titles on this album and Ninja Tuna features a host of major musical players. Anyone familiar with Scruff’s trademark mammoth DJ sets knows that he doesn’t like sitting in one musical place for an extended period of time and the variety of styles on this album is testament to that fact. Highs include the addictive Alice Russell vocalised Music Takes Me Up, a discoid slow burner entitled Get On Down and the awesome Hold On, which features a fat bassline and vocals from Andreya Triana.
As expected, the packaging to the album features his ever present quirky artwork, this time in the form of scruffy doodles of the mighty Ninja Tuna. Those expecting cartoon musical grooves should look elsewhere, though, as this is a musically mature album from the veteran doodler that delivers in style and quietly reminds people that Scruff is still relevant and has his finger on the pulse.
- Mr. Scruff – Ninja Tuna
- by Jon Freer
- Published on November 24th, 2008
- Artist:
- Mr.Scruff
- Album:
- Ninja Tuna
- Label:
- Ninjatune
- Website:
- mrscruff.com
More from Jon Freer:
-
Anthony Collins – Doubts & Shouts
Wholeheartedly rejecting the proposition that ‘machine music’ should be opposed all that is ‘live’ and ‘organic’, this long player delves into both worlds and emerges with a pulse racing opus.
-
Jon Freers Winter ’08 Selection
Kicking off the reviews in 2008 include: A selection from Sonar Kollektiv, Joey Negro, Sven Vath, Kelley Polar, The Glimmers, DJ Dolores, Sascha Funke, Benny Sings, Spoonface, Miss Kitten, The Rurals, Seiji and various others!
-
Jon Freer’s City Guides – York
York sits at the converging point of two rivers, the Foss and the Ouse. These rivers stretch through the centre of the city and the riverbanks offer a lovely place for a respite after exploring the city.
-
Artist Profile: Calm
His tracks embody the beauty of life and the world that surrounds us. Stylistically, he produces material that can be placed in categories such as downtempo, nu-jazz and house, but like all musical greats, some of productions defy easy categorization.
-
Jon Freer’s Early Summer Picks
Featuring 25 pimpin’ albums from the likes of: Louie Vega, Lust, Joey Negro, Dimitri From Paris, Sally Shapiro, Âme, Adam Freeland, Kitsune, Simian Mobile Disco, Slam, DJ Kicks, International DJ Gigolos, Lefties Soul Connection, Shady Bard, and various other artists…
-
The Source feat. Candi Staton – You Got The Love
This record, a commercial success and a club floor filler, was my first introduction to electronic music, back in the late 80s. At the time, I was very young, but the track struck an important chord with me and showed me the emotional power of music.
Other recent features:
-
Sónar 2010 – Barcelona, Spain
The festival attracts a lot of outsiders, but the Mediterranean, Spanish and more specifically Catalan nature of the people makes the festival what it is. Catalan people are passionate and this passion is infectious. The atmosphere is electric in Barcelona as a city and heightened by music and intoxicants at Sónar.
-
Summer Party Naval Styles at Seven RestoLounge
Oysters, like wine are affected by terroir and these Miyagi’s flavor profiles ranged with one showing a cleaner, almost tropical profile and the other being more salty, marine driven. As I was devouring the seemingly endless plates put in front of us, I sipped on a glass of fine sauvignon blanc.
-
R4NT Radio March 2010
R4NT Radio March 2010 um wow it’s been far too long since the last edition edition, featuring: Hector Hernandez, The Infesticons, Blockhead, Gramatik, Emika, Thunderheist, Parov Stelar, Eddy Meets Yannah, Anti-Pop Consortium, The Slew, Lighterthief, Andreya Triana, Parasyte Woman, Mathon, Venetian Snares, and Funki Porcini.
-
O Restaurant & Lounge revisited
Calgary has a diverse set of urban communities, most of which have the ubiquitous strip mall watering hole. In the South West community of Marda Loop, a reinvention of this paradigm has been established.
-
Predictions 2010.. and beyond!
So 2010 eh? Almost but not quite (no year zero they say) another decade? It seems like just yesterday that the world was waiting for Y2K. R4NT started publishing in March 2001, so we’re not quite 10 years old yet, but in internet years we are already a senior citizen.
-
Invictus
No matter what, the reality of Nelson Mandela is something that deserves screen time. Should this film even remotely intrigue the masses to take interest in this figure, the world would likely benefit greatly from it.