A collection of work from the "first phase" of Troubleman – singles, remixes, and rare tracks recorded over the past few years – assembled here together in a nicely cohesive album! The work's very much in the spirit of that on the other full Troubleman set for Far Out – spacey dancefloor jams that build on 70s fusion, modern broken beats, and some styles from Troubleman's contemporaries on the current London scene. There's a nicely stripped-down quality to a lot of these tracks that we like a lot – one that makes them a bit funkier than expected, as heavy beats and keys dance together in a celebration of groove! Titles include "The First Phase", "The Otherness", "The Switch", and "Intergalactic You Intergalactic Me" by Troubleman – plus "Stereo (Mark Pritchard rmx)" by Stereo People with Kirsty Hawkshaw and "Carambola (Mark Pritchard rmx)" by Azymuth. CD

A rare slice of Nujabes – his reworking of the Samurai Champloo theme, but in this really stripped down, moody instrumental – very nice piano solo in the middle, over beats that move back and forth with the "phase" you might expect! "Rainy Way Back Home" has more of that great piano over beats – one of the real trademark Nujabes moves – but also has maybe a bit more hip hop kick at the bottom, and these buried snippets of what sound like turntable work! "Horizon" is great too – longer than both, really jazzy on the piano tip, and with this kicking rhythm that almost likes the whole cut sound like some of the clubby jazzy piano groups that have sprung up on the Tokyo scene after the passing of Nujabes! (Hip Hop, New Grooves) 12-inch, Vinyl record