(Ninja Tunes)

It’s been six years since Now, Listen!

And Solid Steel are back with a brand new invention. Well, no, it’s the same old invention, but there is more of it. Lots more: 32 tracks in total. Everything’s condensed together, however, so Missy Elliot’s vocals from track three are still going when track five (The Human League – Being Boiled) clears the runway. Things slow down in the middle for DJ Shadow, Aphex Twin and Roots Manuva, then speed up frantically for more Roots Manuva, Pendulum & Fresh and the cheekily incongruous Are You Being Served? theme at the finish, so you can drink a toast to John Inman at the end of the night. The highlights are Cut Chemist’s eminently danceable Peek In Time, the mashing together of The Beach (New Order’s dubby B-side version of Blue Monday), with Part 2 from New Flesh’s dancehall rap One Of Dem Days, and DJ Shadow’s crowd-pleasing Right Thing. The lowlight is definitely Reggie Steppa’s drawn out reggae moan Uuhhh! from Drum Pan Sound being repeated over and over. There’s nothing that stands out as far as the Motion Man or Blackalicious tracks on the first Solid Steel CD did, but the overall quality doesn’t dip far. And this is one of those times when sheer quantity makes up for it.

***

JODY MACGREGOR

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