Mind Your Own Groove

I must confess to being a bit of a fan of this. Mighty Fat have been rather quiet since their excellent debut comp Mellowgrounds, and while this album isn’t quite up there in the in the freshness and quality stakes, it’s still bloody nice.

Recorded by 27 year-old Roman Giler, Mind Your Own Groove is a worthy addition to your chillout collection. The style is wonderfully shanti-free, and has a definite nod to “proper” electronica without being as loftily alienating as the likes of Bluetech. The album mostly resides within the realms of dubby headnod, but it’s dubby headnod done well: the lazy digidub of Ask Britney is as impressive as it is nonchalant, and Kukan Dub Lagan’s mix of To The Beat is another highlight.

His straight 4-4 tracks sound forced and unnatural, and are best skipped – all credit to Manoloco for trying to encapsulate everything, but I guess the old English teacher cliché comes into play here – write what you know. Find Inspiration is the worst culprit here, sounding like rushed and unfinished dinosaur trance of the sort you knocked up when messing about with music programs years ago, but wouldn’t ever even play to your girlfriend.

But what ties it all in together so neatly is the quirk and the definitive style that runs through Manoloco’s music. There’s a sort of confusion, a cheeky enthusiasm and a smooth, understated quality to what he does. At its peak – arguably the joyous, compelling From Scratch To Knob – Mind Your Own Groove is enjoyable, quirky, and unashamedly different. Not a classic, but a worthwhile diversion from the worn path of formulaic downtempo.