by: Zero Sharp
Mr. Scruff's new album "Trouser Jazz" suffers from something. Over-noodling. It seems to be a common enough mistake; many who dare to cross into the world of jazz and try to return with samples to use over their new beats are often awestruck by the free, luxorious noodling going on inside everything of the huge genre. They then bring this maximal noodling philosophy to their own new music that never quite seems to be robust enough to contain it, and all sides seem to lose out on the bargain. Many will no doubt think I'm insane complaining that anything on the Ninja Tune label suffers from what seems to be a defining trait of anything on the label, but this album could really use a partial de-noodling. That being said, when it does work, the infectious beats and sounds make for a wild ride. In perhaps the best warped sea shanty I've heard since Cylob's rendition of the drunken sailor song, Ahoy Mate! deserves attention. The getting warmed up tracks such as the first one on the album also really get me in the mood to dance. However, the general rule of thumb in this album is the less noodly it is, the better it is.
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