Pitchfork

The best part about running your own label is that it's easy to put out albums whenever and however you want. Nobody's going to say to you, "It's great, but we don't hear a single." Such is the case with British electronic dance music pioneers Jonathan More and Matt Black, the duo known as Coldcut and also the braintrust behind the Ninja Tune imprint.

The pair have taken their sweet time with their latest studio album, Sound Mirrors. When the disc hits UK stores later this month (and the U.S. in February), it will have been nearly nine years since the last Coldcut artist album, 1997's Let Us Play. Ahh, 1997, when "electronica" was going to take over the world. Sigh...

Sound Mirrors will be available as a single CD, a limited-edition double CD, and a triple LP, and features twelve star-studded tracks. Check out this loaded deli tray:

01 Man in a Garage (featuring John Matthias)
02 True Skool (featuring Roots Manuva)
03 Just for the Kick (featuring Annette Peacock)
04 Walk a Mile in My Shoes (featuring Robert Owens)
05 Mr Nichols (featuring Saul Williams)
06 A Whistle and a Prayer (featuring Andrew Broder)
07 Everything Is Under Control (featuring Jon Spencer and Mike Ladd)
08 Boogieman (featuring Amiri Baraka)
09 Aid Dealer (featuring Soweto Kinch)
10 This Island Earth (featuring Mpho Skeef)
11 Colours the Soul (featuring Dom Spitzer)
12 Sound Mirrors

The album's first single, "Everything Is Under Control", is available now via iTunes, with remixes by Underdog (aka Trevor Jackson of Playgroup and Output Records), Solid Groove, DJ Kentaro, and the Qemists. The second single, "Man in a Garage", is scheduled for release January 9, with remixes by Snap Ant, Nick Franglen of Lemon Jelly), Bonobo, and Daedelus on the b-side. "True Skool" will be released as a single in April, and "Walk a Mile" will follow in June. Damn, with that many singles, are these guys trying to compete with 50 Cent or something?

More and Black will take their multi-media "VJing" show on the road throughout the first half of the year, starting next week in Belgium. Late winter and early spring will find them spinning across Europe and North America.

More beats and pieces:

01-14 Brussels, Belgium - AB Club
01-16 Berlin, Germany - Icon
01-17 Amsterdam, Holland - Paradiso
01-18 Paris, France - Nouveau Casino
01-19 London, England - Cargo (album launch party) *
02-18 Bexhill, England - De La Warr Pavilion
02-19 Nottingham, England - Rescue Rooms
02-22 Manchester, England - Academy 2
02-23 Birmingham, England - Custard Factory
02-25 London, England - Shepherds Bush Empire
03-01 Strasbourg, France - Laiterie
03-02 Lille, France - Aeronef
03-03 Paris, France - La Cigale
03-04 Crans, Switzerland - Montana Caprices Festival
03-09 Milan, Italy - Magazzini Generali
03-10 Rome, Italy - La Palma
03-11 Bologna, Italy - Link
03-14 Toulouse, France - SDF Ramonville
03-15 Clermont Ferrand, France - Cooperative de Mai
03-16 Barcelona, Spain - Apolo
03-17 Madrid, Spain - Sala Heinekin
04-10 Vienna, Austria - Flex
04-15 Brussels, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique
04-19 Brighton, England - Brighton Dome Corn Exchange
04-20 Bristol, England - Academy
04-21 Gateshead, England - Sage
04-25 Sheffield, England - Sheffield University
04-26 Glasgow, Scotland - ABC
05-02 San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine
05-03 Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan
05-05 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
05-06 Seattle, WA - Neumos
05-10 Chicago, IL - The Abbey Pub
05-12 Toronto, Ontario - Opera House
05-15 Boston, MA - Paradise
05-16 New York, NY - Irving Plaza

* with Robert Owens, Mike Ladd, Mpho Skeef

* Pitchfork Review: Coldcut and the Guilty Party: Re:volution EP