Roots Manuva has been at the forefront of UK Hip Hop for so long now, it’s not really too surprising that he should be a little bit nervous (especially as he owned up to having a birthday soon) but with age comes a maturity and confidence.

Whilst this was a mere warm up for the forthcoming tour on the date that Slime & Reason came out, even in the cold and rather harsh surroundings of the HMV mega store in Oxford Street, I thought this was much better than when saw him at the Big Chill Festival the other week (Part 1 review HERE). Far more intimate and far more effective tonight I thought, the more human scale suits Roots’ “You got to sing like no one’s listening. You gotta fart like there’s no one there to smell it!” introverted extrovert attitude..

Especially when he did the singles, ‘Again & Again’ (that’s my single of the year sorted) and ‘Buff Nuff’ that we already know and love and 3 new tunes including the brilliant ‘Do Nah Bodda Mi’.

On the subject of ‘Again & Again’, look out for 12” vinyl with a Moody Boyz remix and Moody Boyz dub! Moody Boyz are on a roll and this one is “designed for dancefloors or wobbling mum’s floor”.

Whilst HMV wouldn’t get into Same Old New, fair play as this was a special effort and a great opportunity to buy the new album and get it signed by the man himself (see Slime & Reason review HERE).

Whilst those sly HMV folks put a copy of the latest CD on SYR near to Slime & Reason by, Sonic Youth meets Mats Gustafsson and Merzbow with Andre Sider Af Sonic Youth, so that’s another £10 well spent.

Now Sonic Youth are known mainly for their 25 year plus no-wave post punk rock heritage whilst SYR is their avant-garde experimental off-shoot label; Roots has flirted with the impro-house of The Bays, why not Sonic Youth? Now there’s a thought!

Forthcoming Live Gigs:
Sat 04-Oct-08 Oxford, Academy
Sun 05-Oct-08 Norwich, Waterfront
Tue 07-Oct-08 Gateshead, The Sage 2
Wed 08-Oct-08 Edinburgh, Liquid Room
Thu 09-Oct-08 Glasgow, Arches
Sat 11-Oct-08 Manchester, Warehouse
Sun 12-Oct-08 Nottingham, Rock City
Wed 15-Oct-08 Preston, Club53
Thu 16-Oct-08 Sheffield, Plug
Fri 17-Oct-08 Birmingham, Accad 2
Sat 18-Oct-08 London, Shepherds Bush Empire
Tue 21-Oct-08 Brighton, Concorde
Wed 22-Oct-08 Cambridge Junction
Thu 23-Oct-08 Bristol, Anson Rooms
Fri 24-Oct-08 Exeter, Lemon Grove
Sat 25-Oct-08 Plymouth

Roots Manuva will be doing another instore as Rough Trade East on Thursday 4th September at 7pm, playing tracks from his new album and signing copies of the album. Wristband collection 1 hour prior to the gig is essential, this is on a fist-come-first-served basis and one per person

Links
www.rootsmanuva.co.uk
www.myspace.com/rootsmanuva
www.bigdada.net
www.sonicyouth.com