A tad shy when it comes to pushing the boat out, First Rate’s exploration outside of scratch perversion bags success through home bankers after trying on blues, dub, soul and instrumental scribbling. SkinnyMan, Numbskulls and Phi-Life Cypher make good the hop-alongs on offer, Killa Kela’s renegade raspberries continue to astound, and Blade’s ‘Hamburger’ becomes the finest artery blocker since Abdominal’s 50 wing suicide. One tantalisingly brief b-boy throwdown – ‘The Cutz’ – concedes its star billing to the drum & bass freewheel ‘Istanbul’ and the leisurely stroll of ‘The Practice’, a tempo lowering that ironically doesn’t hold back on the needle damage.
4 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: MATT OLIVER
