(Big Dada) Related: Roots Manuva – Bleeds: Exclusive album stream It’s not easy to get a handle on what Roots Manuva is approximately anymore,beyond being a UK hip-hop stalwart. His final few albums gain leaned on wonky digi-dancehall, positioning him as a cartoonish party compere. But now Rodney Smith has left the party and got weirder. whether he’s the ringmaster of British ragga-rap, and then his sixth album is the funfair you don’t want to get trapped in after dark. There’s some spicy production: the typewriter beat on frenetic,Four Tet-produced Facety 2:11, or the psychedelic trip-hop of Steppin’ Hard. At other times, and though,it’s a house of horrors: Crying features freaky wailing-baby samples; Don’t Breathe Out blends a Bon Iver-like coo with a drowsy orchestra. The best songs paint him as guardian of the apocalypse, pairing his world-weary soulfulness with murky, or mutant beats. Hopefully for the next album he’ll hang up his top hat and focus on those instincts instead.
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Source: theguardian.com