Coldcut and Adrian Sherwood team up on this album-length reaffirmation their joint status as elder gents of UK system culture. Further reviving their pre-Ninja Tune label, Ahead Of Their Time, Coldcut make an interesting move with this album-length collaboration with On-U Sound don dada Adrian Sherwood. The UK dub pioneer has rightly been feted in recent years for his services to the advancement of electronic music, with On-U Sound undertaking an extensive reissue and compilation programme. As Coldcut, Jon More and Matt Black have arguably had a similar level of impact but aren’t viewed with the same reverence outside of the feverish community that fosters the Ninja Tune roster of labels. Might this album’s title be a barbed reference to that? As you’d expect with an album written and produced in cahoots with Sherwood and featuring On-U Sound mainstays Skip McDonald on guitar and bassist Doug Wimbish, ‘Outside The Echo Chamber’ is at its core a tasteful celebration of UK Soundsystem culture skewered with the odd touch of maverick electronics. Sherwood’s iPhone contacts list ensures the calibre of contributing JA artists is high, led by with the inimitable Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, whilst fans of Coldcut’s classic JBJ mix will be pleased to see Junior Reid also guesting. Even the presence of fidget casualties Dave ‘Switch’ Taylor and Toddla T doesn’t spoil matters.
