Up Bustle and Out - 'City Breakers - 18 Frames Per Second'

Continues where the previous 'Urban Evacuation' left off; heavily dub-wise, but also embracing other Jamaican styles

Album Review by Colin Chapman | 17 Mar 2006
Album title: 18 Frames Per Second'
Artist: Up Bustle and Out - 'City Breakers
Label: Collision
City Breakers' marks the seventh album for Bristol's Up, Bustle and Out. One of the original Ninja Tune acts, their early output displayed the jazz-tinged and sample-heavy hallmarks of mid-nineties trip-hop, while more recent releases have seen them develop a love of dub reggae, which legendary producer King Tubby acknowledged as a particularly big influence. Their latest long-player continues where the previous 'Urban Evacuation' left off; heavily dub-wise, but also embracing other Jamaican styles; the ragamuffin toasting of DJ Mexican and the conscious poetry of Ras Jublani. Keen to show that theirs is a multi-cultural fabric of sound, they also add hip-hop and Latin elements with appearances from Roni Size collaborator MC Nicky Blaze and flamenco guitarist, Cuffy 'El Guapo'. Despite flagging in the middle, earlier tracks Grass Skirts, Dance Your Troubles Away and 500 CC hit the mark, while the echo and reverb is piled on to great effect on the closing dubs. [Colin Chapman]
Released April 2006.