MR SCRUFF レコード& CD

Review: Following the re-release of his 2013 album The Swimmer, Cinematic Orchestra's Phil France provides the delicate parts of his modern classic piano composition "Joy Of Brass" to card-carrying Gondwana fan Mr Scruff and gets two exceptional remixes in return: the main remix shuffles with a soft, slow lolloping jack and some beautiful yearning chords soaring over the top in an almost Nordic cosmic style. His Bumpy Dub, meanwhile, taps into the bruk renaissance with a smoky halftime break and a bassline that borders on KOAN territory. In a nutshell? Scruffy's turned in two blinders here.

Review: Since moving to Rotterdam a couple of years back, Chicagoan DJ/producer Jamie 3:26 has begun serving up some seriously good original music, usually in cahoots with local lad, wizard keyboard player and fellow producer Danou P. The most eyebrow-raising cut here is a more surprising collaboration with UK legend Mr Scruff: the wonky, analogue rich, Ron Hardy-goes-to-Manchester style wayward house brilliance of 'Scrubb It'. Danou P replaces the Ninja Tune stalwart on the EP's two other cuts, both of which are excellent. Check first the immersive, dreamy, synth-smothered deep house hypnotism of 'Love Not', where Danou P's keyboard skills and musicality work in perfect harmony with the Chicagoan's dancefloor instincts, before admiring the more Brazilian disco-influenced elasticity of 'Earl Montana'.

Review: Mr.Scruff and Ninja Tune are both entities that need little introduction. Veterans of the urban sounding landscape they both go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly. Always creative with naming things, Mr Scruff giving a 'Ninja Tuna' title to this 3x12 is a jammed packed compilation of older tracks as well as different versions of desired and classic Mr. Scruff gems. Included among others are the unique 'Music Takes Me Up' featuring Alice Russell, the addictive quirkiness of 'Whiplash', the funked up, sample-heavy 'Rocking Chair', and the classic 'Nice Up The Function' with Roots Manuva. Mr.Scruff gives us a collection here that demonstrates his amazing ability to make catchy instrumentals while also being elite at featuring singers over his eclectic style. 'Ninja Tuna' is sure to be a favorite with anyone into music regardless of your background or experience in music.

Review: Many happy returns to Mr Scruff's third and most celebrated album, Trouser Jazz, which turned 20 at the tail end of 2022. To mark the occasion, the long-serving, Stockport-born DJ/producer has reissued it on blue and red vinyl and reworked the artwork a bit. It remains a genuinely kaleidoscopic, all-action musical treat that moves in a myriad of different directions, blending quirky and unlikely samples with good grooves, oodles of musicality and plenty of aural colour. Highlights include the jaunty, solo-laden breakbeat bounce of 'Sweetsmoke', the up-tempo soul-jazz of Seaming To collaboration 'Beyond', the 21st century jazz-funk of 'Shrimp', the jazz-flecked hip-hop of 'Shelf Wobbler', the horn-heavy nu-jazz excellence of 'Champion Nibble', and the sample-laden silliness of 'Ahoy There'.

Review: Dance music's most famous tea lover and cartoonist Mr Scruff truly broke through with his 1999 album "Keep It Unreal". 20 years on, it is still a fine example of sample mastery and musical playfulness with tracks about marine life, electro swing cuts built on snippets of Moondog material and plenty of weird and wonderful downbeat, breakbeat and broken beat gems in between. Our picks: "Midnight Feast" which recalls the intimate late night sounds of Portishead, rich and sweet "Honeydew" as it should be given the title and "Cheeky" - a timeless bit of deep house from the Manchester man. If only we all aged as well as this album.

Review: Mr Scruff's Friendly Bacteria album was something of a return to form; a sprawling, soul-flecked concoction full of broken beat, jazz, dub and classic house influences. Here, two of the album's highlights get the remix treatment. On the A, "We Are Coming" - a bumpin', basement-bothering bruk cut in its' original form - is turned into a warm and wide-eyed deep house shuffler by Berlin-based Max Graef. It's an excellent revision, which weaves the original samples and keys into a fuzzy, analogue-sounding groover. On the flip, Scruff himself extends and reworks "Feel Free", turning in a hazy nu-jazz rub built around rubbery double bass and snaking, muted horns.

Review: It's been some six years since Mr Scruff's last album, roughly the average length of one of his marathon DJ sets. Much has changed in the musical landscape since then, but the tea-loving Mancunian is still ploughing his own mixed-up, soul-influenced furrow. That means tracks that comfortably meld hip-hop, dub, jazz, dubstep, downtempo groovery and - most pleasingly - broken beat. It's actually the album's "bruk" moments - the Vanessa Freeman-voiced West London soul of "Come Find Me" and thrilling Robert Owens hook-up "He Don't", in particularly - that really set the pulse racing. Of course, confirmed fans will find plenty more to enjoy, from the baggy sweetness of "Render Me" to the classic Scruff-isms of "What", which sounds like something from his 1997 debut on Pleasure Music.

Review: It's been some six years since Mr Scruff's last album, roughly the average length of one of his marathon DJ sets. Much has changed in the musical landscape since then, but the tea-loving Mancunian is still ploughing his own mixed-up, soul-influenced furrow. That means tracks that comfortably meld hip-hop, dub, jazz, dubstep, downtempo groovery and - most pleasingly - broken beat. It's actually the album's "bruk" moments - the Vanessa Freeman-voiced West London soul of "Come Find Me" and thrilling Robert Owens hook-up "He Don't", in particularly - that really set the pulse racing. Of course, confirmed fans will find plenty more to enjoy, from the baggy sweetness of "Render Me" to the classic Scruff-isms of "What", which sounds like something from his 1997 debut on Pleasure Music.

Review: Ninja Tune's veteran producer Mr Scruff will forever be synonymous with his advocacy of tea, a penchant for long DJ sets and his Moondog sampling track "Get A Move On". Musically, however there is much more to the Stockport based producer than that track or indeed the somewhat risible student friendly sample stews like "Fish", which is demonstrated perfectly on this new 12" for the evergreen Ninja Tune label. "Be The Music" is a viciously uptempo house track, driven by urgent percussion , richly rewarding polyrhythms and gurgling sub bass borrowed from the digi dub archives. There's just the merest of hints of Mr Carthy's predilection for sonic cheekiness which should appease long term Scruff fans, but this is heads down territory. "Nervous Energy" operates at a similar tempo, but opts for a roughed up, dark side bruk feel that's straight out of West London circa 2001 which is complemented by the freeform synth wiggles that go full retard midway through.

Review: Culled from the opening moments of Mr Scruff's recent collaboration-heavy Friendly Bacteria long player, "Render Me" now has a chance to shine in the spotlight on a 12" that comes brandishing some true dancefloor potential. That's thanks in no small part to the pair of Andres remixes that hog the A-Side with the drummer from Detroit showcasing to the maximum why he's getting more and more remix commissions these days. In his hands "Render Me" becomes a languid, jazz brushed delight with the main version that bit better thanks to the retention of the vocals from Denis Jones. The Scruffster gets involved too, with a moody yet organic feeling 2-step 12" re-tweak on the flip which sits well next to Royalty and AD Bourke's total bomb of a remix that turns the track into widescreen electro-pop with extra Chicago house fizz for good measure.

Review: Ninja Tune's resident tea enthusiast Mr Scruff returns with the synth heavy 4 x 4 bump of "Wobble Control". Unmistakably the work of Scruff, it's up there in the canon of his finest work alongside "Ug". Obviously there's a copious dollop of wobbling bass present, though it's little embellishments like handclaps on the percussion and fuzzed out analogue flutters that make you smile. The flipside brings the East Coast of England meets the East Coast of the US as TOTH dudes Nickodemus remix Scruff's collab with the first lady of broken beats, Alice Russell. In their hands "Music Takes Me Up" gets transformed into a killer mid tempo digital skank characterised by plenty of glitch.

Review: For the latest installment in the ongoing Southport Weekender series, longtime friends of the festival Mr Scruff and DJ Spinna step up to the decks to lay down soulful selection inspired by their sets at the event. Scruff handles disc one, joyously flitting between 25 classic soul, funk, deep house, boogie and US garage cuts over the course of 75 enjoyable minutes. Given his obsession with six-hour sessions, you wonder why he doesn't play more short sets; he certainly has the skills and records to pull it off. Spinna's disc, meanwhile, is altogether deeper and smoother. Kicking off with some shuffling broken beats, the hip-hop/house producer builds a mix that touches on breathless vocal house, bumpin' garage and slick, liquid deepness.

Review: Although he's one of the most revered DJs in the UK with a wide following of like-minded eclectic music heads, Mr Scruff very rarely releases mix albums or compilations. It's for this reason that his edition of the "DJ Kicks" series is such a big deal. That mix itself - available on CD and digital download - is naturally superb, but his selections, which are showcased here in unmixed, DJ-friendly form, are also top-notch. Starting with the drowsy hip-hop soul of Max Graef's jazzy rework of Andreya Triana's "Gold", the Manchester veteran offers up a hot-to-trot mixture of downtempo soul (Sudan Archives), off-kilter Afro-tech (Tiger), ragga (Ding Dong), Floating Points style house (his own hook-up with CyberPunkJazz), drum workouts (Andy Ash), synth-powered proto-house (Alexander Robotnik), Latin beats and much more besides. Ace.

Review: Although he's one of the most revered DJs in the UK with a wide following of like-minded eclectic music heads, Mr Scruff very rarely releases mix albums or compilations. It's for this reason that his edition of the "DJ Kicks" series is such a big deal. That mix itself - available on CD and digital download - is naturally superb, but his selections, which are showcased here in unmixed, DJ-friendly form, are also top-notch. Starting with the drowsy hip-hop soul of Max Graef's jazzy rework of Andreya Triana's "Gold", the Manchester veteran offers up a hot-to-trot mixture of downtempo soul (Sudan Archives), off-kilter Afro-tech (Tiger), ragga (Ding Dong), Floating Points style house (his own hook-up with CyberPunkJazz), drum workouts (Andy Ash), synth-powered proto-house (Alexander Robotnik), Latin beats and much more besides. Ace.

Review: A soulful selection from the mighty Mr Scruff summing up his vision of the Big Chill Festival with a large dollop of Sunday Morning. From the beginning Mr Scruff has been a huge part of The Big Chill's success. Festival founders Pete Lawrence and Katrina Larkin are delighted that Scruff agreed to follow Pete's 'Big Chill Classics' with his own selection. Mr Scruff's genius for finding undiscovered gems will be further enhanced by this stunning collection. With rare tracks by Grady Tate, Donald Bird, Moacir Santos and classics by Odyssey, Rick James and D'Angelo alongside more recent cuts from G Love & Special Sauce, Sarah Winton and Nobukazu Takemura.

Review: A soulful selection from the mighty Mr Scruff summing up his vision of the Big Chill Festival with a large dollop of Sunday Morning. From the beginning Mr Scruff has been a huge part of The Big Chill's success. Festival founders Pete Lawrence and Katrina Larkin are delighted that Scruff agreed to follow Pete's 'Big Chill Classics' with his own selection. Mr Scruff's genius for finding undiscovered gems will be further enhanced by this stunning collection. With rare tracks by Grady Tate, Donald Bird, Moacir Santos and classics by Odyssey, Rick James and D'Angelo alongside more recent cuts from G Love & Special Sauce, Sarah Winton and Nobukazu Takemura.

Review: "Tell It Like You Mean It" is the first single taken from "An Announcement To Answer", Quantic's fourth solo album and his eighth in total for Tru Thoughts. This latest 12" offers listeners an insight into the direction he is taking for the forthcoming album, whilst still delivering the trademark funky grooves that have made Quantic a sure-fire floor-filler for DJs worldwide.