New Flesh - 'Universally Dirty' (Big Dada) Released 03/07/06

It's always interesting to hear from the Big Dada label, whose selection policy is as surreal as the art movement they're named after. You thought Grandmaster Flash was old school. Dali and Magritte are old school. Even those guys would have been confused by King Geedorah's 'Take Me To Your
Leader' album on Big Dada, a concept album 'by' a 50ft alien from Planet X. We are here to talk about the new New Flesh album, though. They've been laying low since their classic low-end bassline track 'Lie Low'. However Gigwise did catch MC Juice Aleem providing hot air vocals for Coldcut last
weekend.
                      
Universally Dirty begins with 'Backyard', a dancehall number more polished and less imaginative than most music of that genre. It's a strange choice to kick off an album that, after 'Backyard' takes you on a wild ride through the many layers of Hip Hop. The credit goes to versatile producer Part 2. He makes up for the lacklustre 'Backyard with energetic dancehall to make you flex (as the MC's say) on 'Arm's House'. The criminally slept-on LSK features on 'Trouble', a more old school nice-up, dub reggae track. The music all sits together comfortably; no mean feat when you also get grime ('Home Movie'), hip hop ('Who's the Daddy') and even (wonky) house ('Chocolate bubbles').

The highlight of 'Universally Dirty' is the musically uncategoriseable and lyrically disorienting 'Wherever We Go'... "Tantric sex and thongs and subs/ Chains and whips and patriotic scuds/ Changing positions, went on a crusade/ Oil lubricates the places we played". Unfortunately the intelligence on 'Wherever We Go' is scarce elsewhere on the album. Juice Aleem and Toastie Taylor ride all the rhythms admirably, but the words aren't up to scratch, lacking in wit, insight and variety. We get a little bit of 'aren't we good' subject matter and a lot of sex talk... "We ain't no joke, just knocking around seeing who we can poke" ('Don't look now'). It doesn't sound like he's ready ready to 'poke' a person yet. Someone hand the boy a pack of Polo mints. More disturbing is 'Come again'... "I've got five girls from last week/ downstairs, locked in the cellar"

To stem the flow of testosterone, someone wisely roped in a female for 'Home Movie'... "Ooh, my coochy, lick it"