Coldcut Album: “Sound Mirrors”

I must say, I have to disagree with the two prior reviews (for the most part). I have "Let us Play!" and it's a brilliant album, but do you honestly expect them to put out another "More Beats and Pieces" nine years after the original? They have grown, matured, shifted directions, however you want to put it, and we should encourage their evolution.

This album clearly demonstrates where Jonathan More and Matt Black find themselves in their career. Having run the fabulously innovative and successful Ninja Tune label for several years now, they have embraced their roles as producers and this album is as much a showcase for fresh and versatile talent as it is an album by an independent artist. And if you'd listen to the first episode of their podcast, you'd hear them say that their studio wizardry is as strong as ever, though perhaps more conservative.

Though I'm willing to concede that this album isn't as fantastically original as their past work, I fail to see how a somber and illuminating collaboration with poet Saul Williams, or more generally, any departure from their (un)usual style, is in any way "tired". And god forbid they should drop a few danceable tracks in there. I'm a DJ, and while I appreciate some complicated auditory textures and layers in an artist's work, I have to say some of the danceable tracks on this album are super-fresh and I WILL be spinning them on the dance floor (and in my opinion, the best albums usually have a healthy balance of cerebral and corporeal tracks).

Sound Mirrors is a bit unexpected, but the old Coldcut is still there in many ways. The album still smacks of their antiestablishment beliefs and, as Mr. Funk mentioned, rather than splicing samples together, Coldcut has begun splicing artists. The album does lean a bit more towards the "mainstream" as he mentioned, but that doesn't make it bad. I've shirked my anti-mainstream ways because, let's face it, some mainstream music is actually good (albeit overplayed).

If you're interested in hearing an album that demonstrates a new facet of Coldcut's prismatic talent, buy this album. If you're open to a diverse collection of songs within a single 70-minute work, buy this album. If you want to hear bizarre, eccentric, and outlandish soundscapes, purchase a few songs from this album on iTunes and go check out the rest of the Ninja Tunes catalogue.

This is without question an essential album for any complete music collection. It is everything from repetitive drum lines to harmonically complex tunes. It contains everything from indie rock (man in a garage) to lyric free electronic (sound mirrors) to almost rap-esque (true skool). The lyrics are anything from spoken word (mr. nichols) to the more melodic end of the spectrum (walk a mile in my shoes).

This album is incredibly diverse and while I cannot speak for everyone I can say for myself that in spite of the fact that I generally lean towards electronic music, I definitely consider this to be the best album in my collection.

If you don't like it on first listen (and I assure you, I was initially disappointed) give it a chance and listen to it again because it grows on you like some kind of infectious virus and will undoubtedly turn into a favorite in good time.

I've beena fan of Coldcut for sometime but this new album is nowhere near the quality of prior release. gone are the cut-ups and abstract hip hop feel. these are all traditional songs. the main problem is their choice of singers and lameness of the songs sung. An instrumental version of this cd would be much better. I listened to it maybe twice and will most likely not dig it out again. I've tried to like it but it justs sounds too much like their trying to be played on the radio.

I love most everything Ninja Tune issues, from Amon Tobin to Roots Manuva. So I naturally thought that Coldcut would release something worthy. But the boys lost the thread on this one. This is a CD of tired collaborations, like late period BB King or Tony Bennett. There's not an original sound or beat on the entire thing. "Sound Mirrors" has cut-out bin written all over it, although I guess that's a dated concept itself.