(Shadow)

Slowly but surely, as electronic music filters into the headphones of America, drum'n'bass and jungle also appear to be making inroads amongst the populace. The genre itself can be broken down still further, from the spaced-out, club-ready beats of LTJ Bukem's crowd, to the more experimental side of things, represented by Plug and Squarepusher, among others. It is this latter group of musicians we are here to discuss today, as the new album by Cujo surely fits somewhere in there. Cujo does things down and dirty, mixing up dark, clinical beats with eerie samples to produce one riveting, powerful album. The basic idea here is jungle, done more in the Squarepusher vain, with staccato rythms and plucked, jazzy basslines. Also along for the ride is some hip hop entertainment, but more on that later. Tunes like "Traffic", "The Light", and "Paris Streatham" are guaranteed to make you sit up and take notice. Cujo is no slouch when it comes to mixing, keeping things interesting by avoiding cliched loops or samples.

The samples that are here generally call to mind a feeling that is furthered by the tune itself. In "Fat Ass Joint", our willing and able DJ guide throws in a murky sample of a guy who wishes to smoke the item of the title. Meanwhile, there are a couple of tracks that call to mind alien sightings. One, appropriately titled "The Sighting", has a terrific sample of some redneck saying, "It's a UFO beaming back atcha!" Highly entertaining.

Mixed in with the machine gun beats, you also find some nice hip hop numbers. "Cat People" and "Break Charmer", as well as the aforementioned "Sighting", are all breakbeat extravaganzas that could easily be backing up a hip hop artist somewhere. This is in sync with a lot of other Shadow output (see also London Funk Allstars, Funki Porcini, etc. for more instrumental hip hop).

Rounding out Cujo's album are a few tracks that break off into other styles entirely. "The Brazilianaire" has a nice shuffle pace to it, while "The Sequal" (sic) is more of a fast jazz tune with a lot of real instrumentation to it. The last cut on the album, "Cruzer", mixes up hip hop and insane electronic fills before sliding into one last bit of jungle defiance. Stay tuned a few minutes more for a "hidden" track, a one-and-a-half minute spacey sort of whale song. All in all, a cool album with plenty to hook you. Definitely worth the money.