There's been some great output from Matt Black and Jonathan More's Ninja Tune label recently - notably Blockhead's awesome Downtown Science LP. There's been little from the Coldcut boys themselves, though; their last proper album was 1997's Let Us Play, and despite keeping themselves busy with all manner of side-projects and playful dabblings, you can't help but miss them. What to do, though? When you pretty much invented sample-based cut-up music, redefined the concept of a remix that we know today and spearheaded some of the most successful electronic artists of the 90s, expectations do tend to run a little high.

Which brings us to Everything is Under Control - first blast from the forthcoming LP Sound Mirrors. Does it still sound like Coldcut? Yup - with the addition of Jon Spencer. Big beats, an irresistible funk groove, that Beastie Boys cheekiness (I think Coldcut invented that too), and yes, at least one James Brown sample can, indeed, be detected - must be a bit of a ritual thing by now.

So does it live up to expectations? No - but it's fantastic anyway. Like all artists who've changed the face of modern music, Coldcut risk sounding derivative as a result of still sounding like themselves. That they still cut it (up) is testament to their inherent and persistent genius.

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Mercury Prize 2009 nominees