Coldcut Albums (7)
What The Critics Say
Sound Mirrors suggests that 1989's What's That Noise? wasn't a slick fluke, but that there are actually two Coldcuts. There's the Coldcut who sound like they're controlling the uncontrollable with jagged shards of hip-hop and dance music bouncing joyfully around the room while sneering at the conventional song. Let Us Play!, the unstoppable Journeys by DJ, and their Solid State radio program all fall into this category, all featuring maverick music that made the un-ironic guest appearances of Lisa Stansfield and the bubbly/forgotten Yazz on What's That Noise? seem like youthful pop folly. Follow Norman Cook's evolution from the slick Beats International to the choppier but still accessible Fatboy Slim and it makes much more sense, but Coldcut blossomed into something different with their ass-kicking underground attitude dividing its time between white-boy turntablism and multimedia subversion that challenged the CD medium itself (Let Us Replay! featured a bonus CD-ROM long before most had a use for it). Sound Mirrors isn't entirely without its challenging side -- urban poet Saul Williams talks a suicidal businessman down from the ledge on the hardly everyday "Mr. Nichols" -- but the Solid State downloading snoots are going to be thrown for a loop and the guy from Maroon 5 wouldn't be entirely out of place here. So if Sound Mirrors won't make you the coolest kid at school, it's still an incredibly well-crafted album with much less of the cocky cleverness that burdened Let Us Play! The beautiful voice of house legend Robert Owens isn't lost in "Walk a Mile," but supported by delicious bleeps and dreamy loops. Well-dressed lovers of the fringe will just gush over the icy/avant Annette Peacock going house on "Just for the Kick," and if you want power, Jon Spencer and Mike Ladd bring it on "Everything Is Under Control," the album's only real punch in the gut. Mpho Skeef is one-part M.I.A., one-part Sneaker Pimps on "This Island Earth," the brilliant start to the album's perfect wind-down. "The Soul" and closing title track are as deep listening as they want you to be, creating loose, mysterious landscapes to explore or ignore. While Sound Mirrors works just fine with eyes closed and headphones on, it also lends itself to less involvement, like a stylish accessory. By pulling back on the "wow" factor and demanding less from the listener, Coldcut have delivered their first album that will be listened to twice as much as it's talked about. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'Journeys by DJ: 70 Minutes of Madness'
Release Date 5/28/2002
Tracks 35
Label Journeys By DJ
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What The Critics Say
Although this mixed CD is a compilation of material by numerous different artists (from Harold Budd to Dillinja, Joanna Law to the Jedi Knights), only some of which are Coldcut's own, it's an ample illustration of the sort of freestyle approach to composition the pair helped popularize. The group jump from style to style at will, drawing out the connections between hip-hop, jungle, techno, electro, ambient, and beyond, with first-rate mixing and turntable work. ~ Sean Cooper, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Let Us Replay! is a double-disc remix album that also includes a few live tracks from Coldcut's innovative world tour. The reworkings benefit from the recruitment of a variety of wide-ranging but very sympathetic figures including Cornelius, Grandmaster Flash, Shut Up and Dance, Carl Craig and Mixmaster Morris. The live tracks are a bit less entertaining and are quite similar to their album versions. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Decade-long veterans of the electronica scene, label heads of the respected Ninja Tune records, owners of their own mix show on Radio 1, and Coldcut still haven't learned to make a good long-player. While Jonathan More and Matt Black were responsible for one of the highlights of electronic music history with their 1996 Journeys By DJ compilation, Let Us Play! shows the duo weighed down by a long cast of collaborators (much as their last proper album, 1989's What's That Noise?). While the presence of funk drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, old-school rap impresario Steinski, post-punk and spoken-word firebrand Jello Biafra, tabla specialist Talvin Singh (plus sympathizers like the Herbaliser and Jimpster on production) does provide several highlights -- and also testifies to Coldcut's philosophy of throwing hip-hop, electronica, funk, and a little bit of a whole lot more into the ring and enjoying the free-for-all -- the album moves much slower than Coldcut's mix material (which usually averages two minutes per track, as opposed to six or seven on Let Us Play). Besides the syrupy feel of the LP, the abundance of message tracks ("Noah's Toilet," Biafra's "Every Home a Prison," "Cloned Again") subvert the message of the title, indicative of Coldcut's playful qualities over the years. The lone highlight is the single "More Beats + Pieces," a remake of the 1988 original, which was constructed from samples in homage to pioneering hip-hop DJs who manned two turntables with little opportunity to fall back on samplers and expensive keyboards. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
'Stoned...Chilled...Groove'
Release Date 1/1/1997
Tracks 10
Label Soul Vibration
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'Cold Krush Cuts'
Release Date 1/1/1996
Tracks 23
Label Toy's Factory
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What The Critics Say
The duo's disastrous major-label debut was worry-free acid jazz made even more palatable by vocalists Ade and China's canned, predictable delivery. The album did produce a minor legend in Mixmaster Morris's remix of "Autumn Leaves," but aside from that it's a dry, muddy beaker with little of interest. ~ Sean Cooper, All Music Guide
