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(Studio K7/Border)
Review: Russell Baillie
Certain place-names keep cropping up when you talk about the new sounds of the past decade or so - Seattle, Manchester, Orange County, East LA among them.
But that geographical roll of honour wouldn't be complete without mentioning the English south-west city of Bristol, whence sprang Massive Attack, their influential producer Nellee Hooper and offshoot nutbar Tricky, as well as Portishead and drum'n'bass guru Roni Size.
If all musical scenes have their also-rans, it appears that Smith and Mighty - the studio duo of Rob Smith and Ray Mighty, and a roster of singers - risk being just that. They produced Massive Attack's debut single in the late- 80s but have delivered only one previous album of their own and a DJ-remix platter.
But with Big World Small World it may be S&M's time in the sun - that's if it's still shining. For, impressive as much of this is, it does rather remind of past Britdance glories, whether it's Soul II Soul or the Stereo MCs - ex-MCs singer Tammy Payne is the dominant voice of the six here.
But it still mixes up a fiery, attractive brew of high-stepping reggae, the bass-thump and echo of dub and the feathery funk of drum'n'bass.
That's at its best on the militant skank of No Justice which segues nicely into the ragga-powered Year 2000, the crisp uptempo Small World or the languid soul grooves and tunes of the Payne-sung Believers, Same and the Roni Size co-produced track Seeds.
If it's limited in its scope and originality, this still does enough to deliver S&M out of Bristol also-ran status. Fans of the place's better-known musical citizenry are well advised to investigate.
Smith and Mighty - <i>Big World Small World</i>
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