It puzzles me as to why Ninjatune, the self-proclaimed greatest record company in the world, would release a retrospective now. A few years ago it was their 10th Anniversary, and they released Xen Cuts, which was not, as one would expect, a retrospective, but rather a celebration of a decade of music by bringing out new music that flies in the face of the usual record label anniversaries. So why release A Retrospective now?

Not that I’m complaining, as this CD is a true representation of the Ninjatune sound, a sound I’ve loved for over 10 years. It’s the perfect introduction to the label, but it has little interest for those who have bought the other compilations over the years, apart from the fact that most Ninjatune fans must have ALL of their releases, simply because we’re nothing but the nerds they say we are.

Presented with a wonderful hard card cover that has the infamous ninja eyes embedded into it, reminding us that there is still a reason for buying CDs, the double CD contains the most well known ninjatune tracks. DJ Food’s Dark Lady, which was sampled and made famous by Bomb the Bass with their tune Big Powder Dust, begins the first CD, which is full of the more upbeat tracks, such as the excellent anti-nuke sample fest Atomic Moog 2000 by label founders Coldcut, to arguably the best known Ninjatune, err… tune, Mr Scruff’s Get A Move On, which was featured in numerous television commercials, including the Adidas soccer commercial on air here a few years ago. Other stable mates on this side feature a range of beats and pieces of varying funkiness, from Amon Tobin, Bonobo, Kid Koala, Luke Vibert, Wagon Christ, Hexstatic and Funki Porcini.

The second CD is a little less upbeat overall, but does begin with Coldcuts’ only Top 40 chart entry, More Bits and Pieces, the track inspired by their 1987 release Bits and Pieces, which is an awesome mashed beat fest. Following this is DJ Vadim’s Terrorist, with the superb vocalism of Motion Man, written before all this crap with George Jnr, but is sure to raise eyebrows now. This CD also features Sarah Jones and Vadim’s Your Revolution, a tune about empowering women in an age where rappers can talk about bitches and ho’s, but in a narrow minded and nonsensical decision was banned in the US by the FFC for some of the more brazen lines. Fortunately the FFC ruling was overturned by the courts in one of the more intelligent decisions made by that legal system. The Herbaliser are featured twice on this second CD, and some of the more abstract artists such as 9 Lazy 9 and Cinematic Orchestra are also represented, again giving a broad sweep of the sound represented by the tricknological genius that is Ninjatune.