Ninja Tune XX Presents King Cannibal - The Way of the Ninja

For those whose pockets don't go deep enough to support purchase of the lavish $150 Ninja Tune XX retrospective box set (which includes six CDs, a hardback book, six vinyl singles, posters, links to downloadable content, and more), the label was kind enough to commission a DJ mix CD drawing on its seemingly bottomless vault of dubstep, hip-hop, electro-dub, downtempo, and techno gems. King Cannibal brought his longstanding love of the Ninja Tune catalog to the project, carrying vinyl discs, DAT tapes, CDs, and downloads around with him on his travels during the spring and summer of 2010 and gradually distilling and remixing 20 tracks from a starting lineup of over 250. The only annoying thing about this album is the fact that the compiler gave these remixed and chopped-up tracks completely new titles while doing away (at least on the promo version) with artist credits, which will leave newcomers and even some of the label's longtime fans scrambling to locate the originals. "Bring That Back" and "A Monster in the Music Box" both feature the brilliant British MC Roots Manuva, but neither track list says so; the identity of the equally fine female reggae toaster on "Bass Bins Through the Broken Glass" is a mystery. "Welcome to Our Ageing Sideshow" seems to be based on Robert Owens' fine update of the R&B classic "Walk a Mile in My Shoes," but there's no telling who's behind the Franco-soca-house freakout "The Art of Getting Crazy." Maybe the whole point is to forget the rhythm-spotting and just let your freak flag fly — and heaven knows this album suits that purpose just fine.