Fink

Fink, the Bristol born trip-hop dude, follows on the heels of the Wild Bunch (Nellee Hooper, ‘nuff respect) and Dr. Jam. This is the full-length offering to Ninja Tune after the two EPs Fink Funk and Frontside. Normally, I get bored of trip-hop  the beats often stylised into down-tempo breaks and drum loops and ambient noise that soon makes you tired, sleepy and very, very hungry. Or there's the other side that Tricky used to do (before getting involved in bad sci-fi movies by French directors) — which made you sick and hopelessly lost in the beat. Fink's got the jazz and a fresh angle on trip-hop — lounging it out. Fink smoothes out all of tracks with organ and keyboard jazz loops over some nice drumbeats. Check out "Good Day for Hippos" for a sample of this chill-out sound. The lead track, "Tubb Journey," sounds like an experimentation of city noises, old dub bass lines and rhythm colliding with the quick blend of bossa nova and drum & bass. His samples are quite creative; "Fink vs dj alicat" begins with a sample of a melodic modem connection and some intense loops over a dub bass line. Fink's got some tune samples that are often reminiscent of Funki Porcini and Amon Tobin. Like them, Fink has the ability put together lush samples and melodies over some interesting drumbeats. If your ear needs some chill out beats that will lounge you as well as get your head nod on, then Fink will do quite nicely.