So essentially, music-wise, Coldcut has consistently delivered mindblowing mixes, radical remixes, innovative productions, cool compilations, and zany cut-up collages. Maybe it shouldn't be such a surprise, then, that Sound Mirrors feels more like a collection of unrelated collaborations than an actual "Coldcut album" — but maybe that's what a "Coldcut album" actually is. Clearly most of the "featured artists" here are in the mood to craft poppy/clubby dance tunes, and More and Black happily comply... and if it's expertly produced electro-pop you seek, you'll be happy too. If you're expecting to hear virtuoso studio wizardry and wild cut-and-paste sonic mayhem, though, you'll be somewhat disappointed. (Incidentally, the album's packaging is terribly flimsy and hard to manage, and the fold-out poster-style lyrics/credits sheet is nearly unreadable... but you do get a Coldcut.net sticker to put on your skateboard.)
There are a few tracks that hint at the Coldcut I was hoping to hear. "Mr. Nichols" and "Boogieman," featuring spoken word by Saul Williams and Amiri Baraka respectively, are rather edgy sonic soundscapes refreshingly free of cliches. And the album ends well with a pair of atmospheric, mostly instrumental tracks: the title tune "Sound Mirrors" and "This Island Earth" — an agreeably breezy, Air-esque track with nicely layered vocal harmonies by Mpho Skeef and Don Freeman (yes, Mpho Skeef — that is not a typo...)
Overall, though, this is basically a "mainstream" electronica/pop record — easy on the ears and fun for the feet. If that's the Coldcut you crave, look no further.... but if you have an appetite for "Even More Beats and Pieces," you've come to the wrong deli.
[from serenade in green]
Article comments
1 - Scott Butki
I thought Cold Cut did mostly remixes. I remember them doing, I think, some Everything But the Girl remixes, for example.
Based on your review, I'll steer cleer of getting this album.