Ninja Tuna

Mr. Scruff – Ninja Tuna
Reviewed by Sadie O., 3/23/09
Eclectic and lighthearted electronic funk/jazz/etc from UK producer. Lots of seriously warped beats, lots of blatty grunty electronics, lots of funk. Mostly instrumentals – the guest vocals vary widely in ginchiness, IMO. Made me feel happy when I was stressed and depressed, so I’m a great big jiggly fan.
No FCCs detected. I love 7, hella dig 2, 3, 6, 10, 11 and 13.
1. 1:41 sound bits and repeated “test the sound”, hip hop riddim and sound collage.
2. 5:28 ***funky drums, jazz piano and female vocals – sweet! Odd ethereal backing vocals take a solo towards the end, then something like a dub version for a minute.
3. 5:14 ***uptempo, glitchy and almost light and goofy, with hints of salsa. Syncopated funk starts up about a minute and a half along.
4. 6:31 *very slightly skewed midtempo jazz, relaxed yet clubby. Gets funkier and dancier for a bit, but still skewed and lopassed. Nice rubbery bass. You might want to consider dropping acid to this.
5. 6:01 **uptempo, almost classic rock’n’roll beat, but slightly off. Blats! Delightfully gooey and ooky. Noodles away and comes back larger.
6. 3:56 ***downtempo glitchy electronics with hip hop vocals from Roots Manuva. Chorus is nice and odd.
7. 3:43 ****very downtempo and relaxed finger-snappy groove – until the farts start. It’s the dance of the giant fartbuckets, and it’s what’s for breakfast.
8. 5:54 **lopassed midtempo riddim with increasing funkitude. The male vocals say so. Suddenly goes completely lopassed midway through.
9. 5:04 *midtempo soul strut with mild blats, breathy “modern soul” female vocals.
10. 6:45 ***completely mackerelled beat… croony male vocals. sucks for 40 seconds, then gets completely funky, grunty and googly!
11. 5:51 ***diddly little keyboard intro, then yummy jungle funk. Ah yes, there IS a kalimba….
12. 5:32 **lopassed funky beat (I’m sensing a pattern), relaxed male soul-jazz vocals. Love the percussion, not so hot on the vocals.
13. 5:30 ***relaxed Latin percussion and trumpet, cuica! Cheesy in all the best ways. You know those old Cuban outfits with ruffles all the way down the arms? You will actually grow ruffles listening to this.