0625978103029. New condition. CD. 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 Rovi