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One part of The Herbaliser is Jake Wherry and Ollie Teeba who are one of the leaders in the breaks/hip-hop field with releases such as Take London (2005) and Can’t Help This Feelin’. The other part of The Herbaliser is the band version where they work together with The Easy Access Orchestra (aka the horns of Ralph Lamb and Andy Ross, son of jazz saxophonist Ronnie Ross) and they are responsible for the albums Session 1 and Session 2. So putting them together, with half an eye on Ninja Tune XX (more to follow on this soon), it seems only natural to release a ‘best of’ album that is a true Herbal Tonic.

Now, it seems a bit of a cheat to have a previously unreleased track on a Best Of but for long-term fans, ‘March Of The Dead Things’ is the one you’ll probably won’t to check out first. Whilst its got that blues march beat going on, it’s also got another trademark of The Herbaliser sound, a strong sense of the 60s/70s OST/TV theme tune (like ‘The Missing Suitcase’. ‘A Song For Mary’ et al).

Of the rest, it’s a real reminder of how good these guys are. Not only on the musical front, but also in their choice of collaborators. These include Jean Grae (who they plucked from relative obscurity in the mid-nineties New York underground) who went onto worked with them on five of their albums. Not only that, there’s hip-hop royalty from both sides of the pond with MF Doom and Roots Manuva before either were the stars they are today.

Since the debut Remedies in 1995, The Herbaliser were one of the main acts on the Ninja Tune roster’s two decade journey so watch out for them at Greenbelt Festival (Cheltenham 27th August) and the Ninja Tune XX celebrations gigs in September that are going to be huge.

Hectic Mix nominations: all but ‘Blackwater Drive’ is massive.

Reviewed: The Herbaliser - Herbal Tonic (Ninja Tune) Cat. No. ZENCD158 Release date: 28th June 2010
Tracklisting:
Tracklisting:
1 Gadget Funk (4:09)
2 Nah’ Mean Nah’m Sayin’ (ft. Jean Grae) (4:04)
3 The Missing Suitcase (5:34)
4 The Blend (ft. What What aka Jean Grae) (4:49)
5 Starlight (ft. Roots Manuva) (5:10)
6 A Song For Mary (5:18)
7 Mr Chombee Has The Flaw (from Session 2) (3:32)
8 Something Wicked (ft. Seaming To) (5:13)
9 Mrs Chombee Takes The Plunge (PC Remix) (5:59)
10 The Sensual Woman (5:01)
11 It Ain’t Nuttin’ (ft. MF Doom) (2:48)
12 Tea & Beer (ft. Jean Grae) (2:35)
13 Ginger Jumps The Fence (from Session 1) (5:12)
14 March of the Dead Things (previously unreleased) (4:07)
15 Stranded On Earth (4:50)

Links:
Mini-mix at www.ninjatune.net/theherbaliser
soundcloud.com
www.theherbaliserband-session2.com
www.herbaliser.com
www.myspace.com/theherbz
www.k7.com
www.myspace.com/k7records
www.greenbelt.org.uk