Jazz based funky beats (supposedly many are played live). The album achieves an organic sound that one rarely finds, even in the world of Ninja Tunes. Every tracks sounds totally different and all are clean and melodically interesting. They do some totally ambient, some dark trip-hop type stuff, and some fast grooving jazzy stuff.
Play:1, 3, 10
1) Fast bongos, a piano hook, warm synths, burbling bassline…a very full sound. 2) Slinky keyboard and organ lines. Very smooth and jazzy. 3) Hard drum kit beat with hints of various Indian instruments and blurby synth noise. 4) Very slow ponderous cut, bordering on trip-hop. Lots of winding acoustic piano lines. 5) Rich, thick bassline with funky drum breaks. 6) Very dark slinky “trip-hop” cut with lots of ambient noise. 7) Essentially ambient. Tambourine noise with electronics and scattered samples. 8) 8-minute long cut. Starts off real slow and quiet and builds to a climax around five minutes in. Lots of nice melodic lines and funky breaks. 9) A lonely drum break that is joined by bass and occasionally a bit of horn or strings. 10) Beautiful cut!! Close to fila brazilia, but warmer and more organic. A large sweeping build with funky electronic drums kit, strings, and pulsing synths. Gets dark in the middle, a new bassline enters, and then the track breaks open again, accompanied by cut up Japanese vocals “Ogenki desu ka—Are you well?”
-Mike, i.e. The Professor