Various Ninja Tune XX
By Jesse Ship
Best known for founding their fan base during the infancy of sampling in the early ’90s, or the “gee, aren’t we clever?” days by founders Matt Black and Jonathan More (aka Coldcut), this massive 20th anniversary release is mostly made up of cutting edge electro-, bass- and dubstep-inspired tunes and remixes. Low End Theory bass bin shakers like Daedelus, Eskmo, Poirier, Toddla T and the Bug appear in a big way, although it still has a dab of nerdy, jazzy, yet soulful, bedroom pontificating many associate with the label, like Floating Points Ensemble, Andreya Triana and Jaga Jazzist. The label is using this release as an opportunity to show the world what it’s been working on lately rather than what it did in the past. It’s time to move on and Ninja is keenly aware of this. As a label, Ninja Tune still has the impeccable taste of an eagle-eyed, young crate-digger, and is using the compilation, a year in the making, to show the world that Ninja Tune still has it. The compilation does make some concessions to the glory of the past, with familiar Amon Tobin and Coldcut remixes getting facelifts by the likes of the Orb and Switch, obscure cuts by a rarely heard, dub-y, ethereal Diplo, with “Summer’s Gonna Hurt You” (Diplo 2010 Remix), a joint Bonobo and Speech Debelle track titled “Sun Will Rise,” and stalwart UK rapper Roots Manuva getting remixed by Hot Chip for a built for the dance floor lyrical ride on “Let The Spirit.” Along with the six discs, the set includes a book, posters, lifetime memberships, six seven-inch singles and more.
(Ninja Tune)
