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Deckwrecka and Alex Baby step up here to mix, blend n' cut up classic tracks from the Ronin Records roster. This mix stretches across the last five years of North London musical hiphop hitmaking. To read through the tracklisting is enough to highlight the major steps Ronin has made towards the healthy UK scene we now see here in 2001. Then again if you got that many years of music to chose from its gotta have been a tough track selection meeting. The LP itself is more of a blend than mix - with tracks running for their full length n' sliding into each other with minimum fuss. No turntable trickery n' beat jugglin bullshit here - its strictly about the tunes. This is fine and serves to leave the limelight for those that deserve - aka the original Ronin artists. That said some of the mixing is a bit sketchy n' raw - esp. in terms of volume control between tracks. F'instance you could get a severe bout of speaker burn if you've got it rockin loud as the tracks switch up n' out. The tracklisting reads like a who's who of 2001's biggest - featuring early solo recordings from Rodney P, Roots Manuva, as well as a classic from Mud Fam. Heavy dues goto Phi Life Cypher, Skeleton and MCD. Production of most of the music is via Skitz and Deckwrecka. There's too many blindin tracks to highlight - but just to say - how could anyone anywhere in the world front on a mix pushing back to back Rodney P's Dedication, Mud Fam's Itchy Town and Roots Manuva's Blessed Be The Manner. Fuckin hell - it is as good as it sounds. Personally I reckon it's worth a tenner of your cash if you dont already have a copy of Skinnymans verses on 'Itchy Town' - trust any newjack wont be listening to 'Straight Outta Jail' the same ever again. I dont need to tell you anything more about the consistent quality - esp. if I tell you that Skitz's 'Fingerprints of the Gods' never made the cut!!! I'm undecided whether its worth obtaining this CD if you already own the majority of the wax involved in the mix - especially as its devoid of any frantic DJ choppin the chop n' knockin the knock. In this respect I think the format of the mix makes it worthwhile - the hiphop tracks are divided by Deckwrecka's clever instrumentals (see the review below for V for Vengance to get an explanation). These instrumentals make the LP very relistenable and stop matters get slightly monotonous, sequential and therefore boring - I'd much rather listen to Deckwrecka loopin heavy beats n' samples than a DJ revolving 'freeeesssh' 'ahhhhhh' noises ad infinitum. The vibe of the mix begins slowly with head nodding hiphop - the pace picks up for the early middle section where things move up a couple of notches - the latter stages are more relax n' recline style. Overall - a simple mix of some classic hiphop n' interesting sample laden interludes. The whole product is quality and will be getting some enjoyable rotation from me. I'm glad its on CD cos that's giving me the mobility to shut up anyone fronting on the quality of UK-ish from longtime. Catch yourself a copy straight from the Ronin website. I definitely wanna be hearing a follow-up mix in the future - especially if Ronin keep producing them classics.
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Deckwrecka The Legacy
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