With the release of Jake Wherry and Ollie Teeba's fifth studio album, The Herbaliser is now among the ranks of Amon Tobin, DJ Vadim, and DJ Food as some of the main artists who helped make Ninja Tune what it is today, having consistently released unique, distinctive trip-hop since 1995, progressing with each successive release. The vocals collected here from Roots Manuva, Cappo, and the like are all typical of a Herbaliser release. But where Jake and Ollie began producing highly turntablist, sample heavy hip-hop; within the first four tracks on Take London (before the Funkadelic homage that is "Gadget Funk"), a strong sense of organic instrumentation can be felt seeming to rise out of the precision performance of a large, well-rehearsed brass and wind section jamming with a hip-hop drummer and a post-rock percussionist. Suddenly, the Katerine-assisted "Serge," a tribute to the scandalous French singer-songwriter and cabaret pianist Serge Gainsbourg, doesn't seem so askew. The looming trombone banger "Nah'm' Sayin'" is one of four tracks to feature the lyrical wordplay of Jean Grae, whom I was pleased to discover formerly performed as What What. It was under that name that Jean's dulcet rhymes gave me my first memorable Herbaliser moment with the green fuzz of "The Blend" from Blow Your Headphones, oh those precious years ago. But even with the cleaner production and continuation of the menacing atmospheres perfected in Very Mercenary's "The Missing Suitcase," this album doesn't match up as passionately as Blow nor as creatively and cinematically as Something Wicked. Jake and Ollie have obviously honed their sound even more with this 2005 offering, so something must be said for steadfast perfectionism; but I'm beginning to fear that, in the search for an instantly recognizable signature style, they may be limiting themselves. I will always be a fan of these guys, though, as they have and continue to prove themselves as one of the most dependable and prolific acts in trip-hop history.
1. Take London (Intro)
2. Nah' Mean Nah'm Saying feat. Jean Grae
3. Song For Mary
4. Generals feat. Trap Clappa, Cheech Marina, Daddy Mills, AK, & MacGyver
5. Gadget Funk
6. Failures No Option feat. Cappo
7. Lord, Lord feat. Roots Manuva
8. The Man Who Knows
9. Kittynapper
10. Geddim!!
11. If You Close Your Eyes feat. Jean Grae
12. Sonofanothamutha
13. Twice Around feat. Jean Grae
14. I Know A Bloke
15. 8 Men Strong
16. Serge feat. Katerine
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