If you're one of our old- school Pitchfork readers, you'll remember how unstoppably gung ho I was on Ninja Tune releases back in 1997. And who could blame me? After all, I'd just been slammed with a bunch of incredible records at once-- Amon Tobin's stellar Bricolage, Coldcut's goofy Let Us Play, and Animals on Wheels' incredibly diverse Designs and Mistakes. How could I not praise a label with such a talented roster?

Things kept strong for most of 1998-- Tobin followed up Bricolage with the riskier Permutation, Clifford Gilberto offered I Was Young and I Needed the Money, and the label issued the latest in their Ninja Cuts compilation series, the two- disc takeover Funkungfusion. But what about '99? Well, up to this point, the Ninjas have been laying low. The last thing they put out that was really worth the money was the second remix EP of tracks from Ryuichi Sakamoto's Discord from November of last year. (For the record, we're still awaiting Kid Koala's forthcoming TBA with irrepressible anticipation.)

The second half looks a bit brighter-- full- lengths by DJ Vadim, the Cinematic Orchestra, and Cabbageboy are slated for September and October releases. And to tide us over, we've got the first truly excellent Ninja Tunes of the year, provided by Mr. Scruff's in the form of his 14- track psychological mind destroyer, Keep It Unreal.

After a quick intro, Unreal cracks open with "Spandex Man," a steaming dish of refried big beat funk that might reduce Fatboy Slim to a shuddering mass of envious tears. "Get a Move On" is the aural equivilent of a sweaty summer night at a New Orleans house party. "Chipmunk" radiates alternating cool breeziness and dark warehouse vibes, topped with steady, organic beats. "Do You Hear?" pulls inspiration from Luke Vibert's Big Soup, incorporating 1960s- era cheesy- listening samples and Photek- style minimalism. "Shanty Town" and "Fish" are the album's highlights, though, baking up heavy beats, obese basslines and samples from obscure, ocean and marine fauna- related LPs.

Of course, there are few truly perfect albums in the world today, and Keep It Unreal does have a couple of less- than- groundbreaking cuts-- "Honeydew" is a bit on the corny side, employing a melodramatic British vocalist known only as Fi. And "Cheeky" stomps with a massive "Billie Jean"- style drum loop, but throws in a standard, run- of- the- mill gay club vocal sample and some mediocre disco chord. (Hey, that's still 12 out of 14.)

But on the whole, Keep It Unreal is a prime example of the Ninja Tune sound. It's dancy, inventive and downright cool- sounding while retaining a sense of humor that seals in freshness. What more could you ask for?

-Ryan Schreiber