Ninja Tune レコード& CD

Review: The Ninja Tune renaissance has been underway for around a decade now, with the UK imprint, founded by Coldcut way back when, firmly cementing its status in the techno, rave and future bass world post-millennia. So good is the heavier end of the stable output we really needed Julianna Barwick to come along and remind us of the imprint's more delicate moods. Known for her deep compositions that look to celebrate, explore and consider the human voice in its many facets, 'Healing Is A Miracle' is a perfect calling card for the artist in question. Utilising a spine-tingling vocal range, and taking us directly into worlds where sound itself is a form of art, not just when arranged, the record was apparently born from an improvisation session on her looping equipment, which in turn directs the construction of the individual tracks. The serene but complex, minimal but layered and heavily textured work of a synth siren.

Review: Tony Simon is a hugely prolific producer from New York who serve up a dazzling array of album 20 odd years ago. He found a fine home forth on Ninja Tune who are all reissuing them now on some great looking and sounding vinyl. The Music Scene once again offers up a dazzling mix of sounds and influences from across the world. Hip hop, downtempo, broken beat, jazz and more all feature in his beguiling musical brews as you jump from hypnotic lead to bristle beats and back again.

Review: Ben Bohmer recorded this new single on Ninja Tune live at Brooklyn Mirage on October 6th 2023. It comes as a limited edition and hand-numbered 180-gram vinyl 12" with an extended and alternate mix. Both feature Felix Raphael and both have a subtly uplifting prog-house effect that unfolds slowly over the rich, silvery drums and deft synth drones that are all constantly on the rise. The vocals are spine-tinging, soft and tender whispers that help make this a most angelic of sounds.

Review: Simon Greene aka. Bonobo is set to put forth yet another album from his own personal ether; 'Fragments' was born from actual sonic 'fragments' that were later repurposed into twelve full 'sonic affirmations'. A later escape into the wilds of California's deserts formed the bulk of this album's downtempo magnum opi; watch out for collabs with a foray of world-downtempo electronica acts including Jamila Woods, O'Flynn and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. One of his most heartfelt albums, expect all from lilting future garage ('Rosewood') to rave-nostalgic slow builds.

Review: Given the rise in popularity in new school jazz in recent years, it seems a fitting time to welcome back Ninja Tune stalwarts The Cinematic Orchestra. "To Believe" is not only their first album in some seven years, but also one of their strongest releases to date. Opening with the poignant neo-classical/soul fusion "To Believe", the set sees Jason Swinscoe and company attractively saunter between jazz-electronica fusion (Roots Manuva collaboration ("A Caged Bird/Imitations Of Life"), pastoral jazz epics (the sunset ready epic that is "Lessons"), gentle downtempo songs ("Wait For Now/Leave The World"), ambient jazz ("The Workers Of Art") and slowly unfurling dancefloor workouts (killer closing cut "A Promise"). In a word: stunning.

Review: When Marie Davidson announced last year that she would be, "retiring from club music", many wondered what she'd do next. Renegade Breakdown, her first album recorded with a full band (L'Oeil Nu), answers that question. It sees the Canadian artist and her new collaborators deliver suitably arresting, personal and ear-catching songs built on mixing and matching a surprisingly wide variety of musical inspirations, from Blondie, classic disco and mutilated heavy metal guitars, to Kraftwerk, Billie Holiday, Fleetwood Mac and Daft Punk. It's a big shift for the previously highly experimental artist, but thanks to her skill as both a a producer and performer, one that works magnificently well.

Review: Cardiff-born DJ and producer Elkka nonetheless presents a 'DJ Friendly EP' here, reaffirming the need to treat DJs humanely and with respect. This EP is, indeed, literally DJ-friendly (at least, it's certainly friendly to the kind of DJ wanting to electrify dancefloors and not clear them), charting just three monumentally depth-charging cuts, all replete with sassy vocal choppage, sizzlingly chargy lead lines and bass builds and an overall wild energy.

Review: Melbourne-based trio Glass Beams share their debut record Mahal, the highly anticipated album to follow 2021's incipient 'Mirage' EP. Fronted by founding member Rajan Silva, the Glass Beams project revolves around the central theme of fatherly childhood memories, bestowed unto Silva by way of a cultural inheritance reflective of both Melbourne and India. After Silva attended the legendary Royal Albert Hall concert by George Harrison in collaboration with Ravi Shankar, he was away; nothing was the same, as a cascade of South Asian psychedelia and desert funk spewed forth; added to which, Mahal is the most recent piece of invaluable flotsam.

Review: Two years on from the release of his critically acclaimed "Wallflower" album on Ninja Tune, Jordan Rakei returns with his most eagerly awaited set to date. Happily, it doesn't disappoint. Beginning with the electronic soul-pop brilliance of "Mad World", Rakei effortlessly flits between synth-laden hip-hop-soul ("Say Something"), slinky downtempo songs ("Mind's Eye"), 21st century disco-boogie anthems ("Rolling Into One"), slow-burn musical fusions (the military drums, Juju guitars and heartfelt vocals of "Oasis") and the kind of sumptuous, sun-kissed fare that defies easy categorization. With Rakei's sultry vocals taking centre stage throughout, "Origin" is a sparkling set that just gets better with every listen.

Review: With their Mercury-winning 2014 debut 'Dead', Edinburgh trio Young Fathers set the bar high for themselves, which they met with 2015's follow-up 'White Men Are Black Men Too', and continue to do so with new album 'Cocoa Sugar'. Their third record isn't as brash and in-your-face as their previous two, but that's not to say that this any less impactful, instead 'Cocoa Sugar' is a stripped back, concentrated The group have a unique ability in that they can draw elements from a range of genres, with an outcome sounding in a class of its own and tantalisingly hard to define. Also, in their use off-kilter loops, gospel-esque vocals, haunting samples and breakneck speed verses, Young Fathers create dualities and contrasts that playfully subvert. Tracks like 'See How', 'In My View' and 'Lord' appear to tread into joyous and cathartic pop territory, before being pinned down by unnerving scraping samples and dissonant synthesis. It's these intelligently executed sonics and structures that make 'Cocoa Sugar' an addictive, thrilling and beguiling listen.