Though their recent flirtation with electronic music artists has angered rock purists in love with the sound of "real" instruments, Matador Records, ten years in, generally has it going on. At least, in terms of knowing what to distribute. Particularly fruitful has been the label's recent European imperialism. I mean, come on: Pole, Boards of Canada, Mogwai; I'll take records by any of these folks over some shit by Come any day. But despite the sharp ear of its label heads, Matador seems to have flubbed the corner kick with England's Red Snapper. Making Bones, while not exactly terrible, is a very bland record.

Part of the problem here stems from the somewhat overripe nature of the production. Though Making Bones was originally released on Warp in 1998, it already sounds a few years older. And that sounds a death knell for electronic music that trades heavily on hipness. Harkening back to the heyday of acid jazz, the production combines the metallic thwack of the circa-1995 snare, some stand-up bass a la Roni Size (hey, remember that guy?), and the occasional horn accent. Yep, all the old standards are here in a mix that struts but never runs, percolates but never boils, and rubs its belly without ever getting goose pimples.

To be fair, I do enjoy the ass-quaking groove of "The Sleepness," which has some limey-style toasting and rapping by MC Det. The same goes for a handful of the instrumental tunes, like the slow, pretty "Spitalfields" and the chopped-up, junglish "Crease." But a few truly awful, divafied soul tunes like "Image of You" and "Seeing Red" cancel out whatever high points Making Bones hits, leaving us with a record that falls squarely in the middle of the curve. I may not feel like throwing up on Red Snapper's jewel case, but that doesn't mean I want you buying Making Bones. Despite what Vince Lombardi says, you can't win 'em all, Matador.

-Mark Richard-San