Mysteries of Funk in Bloomington, MN

After ten years of being the best drum'n'bass mixer around as well as running his own stellar label, jungle godfather
Grooverider
finally released an album of his own, and it's worthy of the hype. While the beats on
Mysteries of Funk
are reminiscent of tracks recorded for his
Prototype
label by
Matrix
,
Fierce
, and
Optical
(the latter did much engineering work on the album),
has made them his own with atmospheres dedicated to the science-fiction end of jazz and fusion.
"Rainbows of Colour"
and
"Imagination"
are expansive four-minute diva tracks, and while there is an excellent darker track (
"Where's Jack the Ripper"
),
succeeds most when
Groove
is wrapping his drum'n'bass two-step around a distinctly mainstream attention to house and fusion ambience. It's wholly an artist record (whereas
The Prototype Years
was a tracks collection), but
succeeds on all its points. ~ John Bush