Since electronic music really took hold in the '80s, we've been faced with trip-hop, house, drum and bass, dance, club, jungle, ambient and dub, to name only a few. But when you really stop and consider the facts, there are truly only three kinds of electronica. You've got the crap (think of those "Ultimate Dance Party" compilations), the stuff that's taken very seriously but still kind of fun (Tricky or Crystal Method, for example) and the stuff with hundreds of crazy samples and loads of charm and personality, as in, Coldcut.

This shiny, new release is everything Coldcut ever was and more: scratching on children's records and sampled oddities laid down over wicked beats and breaks. Of course, over the ten years since their conception, they've developed new skillz and gotten more creative. Yeah, Coldcut just keeps getting better.

"More Beats and Pieces" is exactly what it sounds like it would be -- beats and pieces mixed together into one amazing track that will have your head spinning and your feet moving. "Timber" is a waxed-up, shimmering, outerspacejam overflowing with energy and... what sounds like a sample of Beeker from Muppet Babies. The disc closes with the juvenile but amusing "I'm Wild About That Thing (The Lost Sex Tapes: Position 1)," an R&B; groove with porn scenes spliced in. Fortunately, Coldcut still managed to be just slightly more potty-trained than folks like Dr. Octagon.

Overall, you'll find Let Us Play to be an exceptional release, if only for the fact that it comes with an additional CD chock-full of interactive goodies for your CD-ROM. Did I mention the disc is outstanding?

-Ryan Schreiber

Sound Clip:
"More Beats and Pieces"
MPEG-LayerIII
64kpbs.44kHz.
302k.38sec.
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