Liquid Stranger

Let's face it, the combination of the title and the cover image of a robot watering a giant egg should be a tip off that not everything is to be taken seriously here. Then the supremely nerdy voiceover intro of sci-fi psychobabble makes things go from bad to worse, just before a one-drop beat kicks in with a slide whistle overtop. This is the beginning of "His Fully Automatic Wheelbarrow," an upbeat slice of Dub Syndicate-derived rhythm graced with some over-egged slide guitar. Next up is a morose, Balkan flavoured dub-step workout called "Dance On The Petals Avoiding The Nettles." Then comes the nonsensical patois of "Soundboy Killa," which is nonetheless a hard-stepping tack. There are a lot of good elements to this disc, but there are also a number of dub-step references that aren't carried off effectively. Sometimes things get a bit too static, and it's hard to resist skipping forward. Yet, track by track, there's a lot to recommend in a DJ context; it's the full-length listening experience that doesn't quite hold up.