Xen Cuts

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Released as a tribute to the fact that Coldcut's legendary Ninja Tune imprint had been releasing records for a decade, this collection from the label's South London HQ showcases the rich array of talent they've amassed over the years. Though assembled in the same spirit as the seminal Ninja Cuts series, comprising of a mixture of back catalogue and material exclusive to the compilation, a crafty alteration of the title acts as a nod to the ten years since Bogus Order's "Zen Brakes" first fought its way onto a turntable. From the Steinski intro the tracklisting of the first of two compact discs has a distinct hip-hop leaning, slinking through lyrical activity from the likes of the Dynamic Syncopation before flipping a skit from Roots Manuva over Amon Tobin's "Saboteur" and dropping down to the sultry vocals of Sarah Jones, paralleling the Gil Scott Heron standard in its declaration that the "revolution will not be between these thighs." Flip to the second disc for a demonstration of Ninja's recent foray into cinematic funk, whether through the raging percussion of Chris Bowden or breathtaking orchestration of Clifford Gilberto's "Restless," the resultant experience is nothing if not widescreen. Settle down and reset your ears for two hours of cross dressing, genre bending bliss from one of the UK's most innovative record labels. --Kingsley Marshall

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Q Magazine, October 2000
"Over the last decade Ninja Tune, has gone from cult concern to key dance music player and back again."

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Time Out September 20-27 2000
"Ninja Tune never was into scaling down its ideas…do you hear their noise? It’s the sound of the ground breaking"

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The Times, 13th September 2000
"One of Britains most consistently innovative imprints"

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Uncut, October 2000
"How insufferably dull the last decade of British Dance would have been were it not for those lovable Ninjas…

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Album Description
Modesty, a lack of pomposity, humility. Skipping through a field of stiff upper lips with a twinkle in the eye, this is how the true Ninj likes to see him or herself. Ego squashed beneath rigor and correctitude. Masked, clothing fashionably but unobtrusively black. Understated.

Tenth anniversary? Pah, old hat, been done (to death) by everybody else already - eight hundred CDs belched from the depths of a marketing man's torrid night-time cum-hither fantasy. Now That's What I Call A Bunch Of Old Ravers/Jazzers/IndustryTarts Cashing In Number 4080…

But hey, we're due a new Ninja Cuts anyway. Why not tie it in a little? Come up with a high-concept title - XEN - in gold leaf lettering, just for a larf like? Why not? Keep it short, sweet and see what happens?

The grand old heads meet and agree the principle - ad hoc stylee. The new Ninja Cuts is born.

But baby Xen is not like other compilations. While the Ninja do their ninjy thing (y'know, with those little stars and all of that), baby Xen starts sucking stuff in, feeding, feeding, a black hole in the corner of the office, forever sucking. Insatiable.

It's just a single CD of new material.

Growing…

It's a double CD of new material and singles tracks.

More…

It's a double CD of new material and singles tracks plus a third CD of 'missed, skipped and flipped' something like that tunes.

And suddenly, the Ninja look up from their desks and in the corner of the room is Xen-Elvis in the Laos/Vegas phase, a huge, sparkling, bloated monster of a compilation, surrounded by four hundred dancing girls (policitcally correct, o'course), four hundred dancing boys (anatomically correct, o'course), pyrotechnics, a Noah's ark of performing animals, great skipfuls of fattening food and a pantheon of two-headed gods, all smiling beatifically and setting their bellies wiggling in time with a multiplicity of beats. All giving off this weird glow - buddhist technicolor.

And the buildings are trembling, cracks appearing in the walls, spangly stars flying out of every orifice of the screaming office Ninj, swirling up and round Xenelvis as he begins to puke out great swathes of music. Stylistically

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Customer reviews

review by: beat junky date: 2008-02-05 rating:
class
I own the vinyl(s) version of this, after buying it off my mate for a complete bargain (somehow). I got it home straight away and slammed it on the turntable and man it blew my head off. it has some really really awsome hip hop tracks and psycodelic breaks and beats. If you like your hiphop/beats you'll love this. i would defo recommend it to the hip hop heads out there, its a great compilation which consists of hours and hours of good quality music.

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review by: Developer date: 2004-10-07 rating:
Deep BASS , PHAT beatZ and chunky vibes.
Yip, Once again The guys from Ninja Tune has proven themselves to be a unique sound. The best way to describe their style is to say its mega funky and really PHAT ... but most of the tracks are just off-center (if you can call it that) due to the strange voice samples and weird noises that you would sometimes expect in childrens soundtracks:) Its still FUNKY as F$#!@

If you enjoyed FUNKUNGFUSION or FLEXESTENSIALISM, this album is for you... IF you are not familiar with the ninja tune sound , it might be harder to access this one , but just give it a couple of spins in the good ol' CD playa , in time you will figure out why we say this is SUPA'FunkE.

Music should be judged by the amount of times you can listen to it and still find new things that interest you , if its good from the word GO its a bonus , but usually those kind off tracks wear out within days ... This is something that you can enjoy for months and months.

Highlights ... It would be easier to give a couple of the "not so good" tracks on this album. Most of them are brilliantly produced and really well mastered too. So to give you the HIGHLIGHTS would be describing almost every song. Personally I dislike "hip-hop" tunes ... but hell , those are good as well if you listen backing tracks , deep BASS , PHAT beatZ and chunky vibes.

when you play it ... make sure the volume it up nice and HIGH.

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review by: Music addict date: 2004-02-19 rating:
Good stuff
Just bought this and am loving it - it's a nice blend of styles from dirty basslines thru funky hip hop and intelligent lyrics with some top notch scratching chucked in. The boys have done well.

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review by: typical_moody_dj date: 2003-12-17 rating:
Quantyquality
This is a three disc effort showing the talent hidden within the Ninja Tune stable ... the blurb above says this is a 3 CD set, we get given 2 CDs worth of tracklisting here, handy. Look at the other Xen Cuts on offer here on Amazon though to see the FULL tracklising. This looks like the option to go for though since its about £6 cheaper! And what quality you get with the quantity too! The sheer volume of fantastic tracks on this collection makes it a must buy for fans of downtempo and hip hop. Its by far the best Ninja Tune compilation to date.

Far too many tracks to go into in detail in a review here but those who know their Ninja Tune will be right at home with offerings from Funki Porchini, Kid Koala, Coldcut (label bosses of Ninja Tune), DJ Food (who's Ageing Young Rebel appears on this CD in a version thats completely different ... and better to their album version), Roots Manuva, Luke Vibert ... the list just goes on. Each Ninja artist seems to have reached their peak with every track thats been selected from them, as if they have pulled out all the stops for this 10 year celebration of Ninja.

Each CD has a theme, disc 1 tends to take hip hop and rough gritty instrumental breaks, shining examples are from The Herbaliser, The Big Dada Soundsystem, Neotropic, DJ Vadim and Cabbageboy. Disc 2 heads for the more experimental and jazzy side of Ninja Tune, funk comes to the fore with cinematic soundscapes being the order of the day, DJ Food, Animals On Wheels, Funki Porchini and Amon Tobin all have quality offerings here. The final disc is a summary of older Ninja Tune, rare Ninja Tune, Chris Morris and Amon Tobin pop up with a track from his Jam series, Roots Manuva does Movements live, Squarepusher rips up in mad machine funk and once again Coldcut and Funki Porchini get a look in with slices of quality.

Inside the CD you get a booklet detailing the entire 10 years of Ninja Tune and its a thoroughly entertaining read. This is an essential purchase for Ninja heads who don't have this already. Those who like hip hop and chill should also take a look in. For the Ninja person who has it all, check out the Coldcut/DJ Krush mix Cold Krush Cuts/Back In The Base for the finest Ninja Tune back catalogue mixed up by the masters. And DEFINATELY check Coldcut's 70 Minutes Of Madness Journeys by DJs mix, the best DJ mix ever.


review by: DriversHigh date: 2002-10-15 rating:
Excellent Compilation
This was my first Ninja Tunes album, and initially i bought it partly of good s things i'd heard about the label, and partly because of the cool cover!
Each Cd has it's highlights in a musical journey of various styles. Cd1 is my favourite, with great tracks by Mr Scruff, Kid Koala and Coldcut. Cd2 is more elctronic with personal faves being DJ Food and Arc.
the bonus Cd also deserves a mention with the Saul Williams track at the start.
A perfect introduction to the many Ninja Tune artists and easeily worth 5 stars.

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