Mr. Scruff - Friendly Bacteria

Friendly Bacteria is the fifth studio album by British electronic musician and DJ Mr Scruff (Andrew Carthy), released in May 2014 via Ninja Tune Records.

Andrew "Andy" Carthy, better known by his stage name Mr. Scruff, is a British electronic music producer and DJ.

His stage name was inspired by his scruffy facial hair as well as his trademark loose-lined drawing style. He has been DJing since 1994, at first in and around Manchester then nationwide. He is known for DJing in marathon sets (often exceeding six hours), his eclectic musical taste, his love of a "nice cup of tea", and the quirky home-produced visuals and animations associated with his music. In an interview he said: "It’s about putting a lot of effort in and paying attention to detail. I get annoyed if I don’t take risks. I’m very hard on myself."

Narrowing up the sound spectrum and cutting down on the clutter, Manchester native Mr. Scruff, is a leaner, meaner kind of funky on his 2014 effort Friendly Bacteria. The twerpy, funky, nighttime bassline of the opening Stereo Breath sets the tone with vocalist Denis Jones making the first of his four contributions, all of them lazy, melancholic, and perfectly suited to Scruff's stony type of soul.

The tipsy and downtown number Render Me is the best of the Jones and Scruff team-ups as jazzy piano and broken beats suggest getting drunk in a tasteful, urbanite loft; then there's the late album lift-off Catch Sound, which bubbles and bounces as standup bass and Burial-style beats come together in a small, cheery tune.

All these deep tones suit veteran house music vocalist Robert Owens, who speaks truth to the downtrodden, down tempo crowd on He Don't. Vanessa Freeman is elegant and intoxicating on Come Find Me, where Kraftwerk-like bleeps skillfully worm their way through DJ Zinc-like beats.

Instrumental tracks give Scruff's keyboards room to wander into jazz and funk territory, and while some stick more than others, the great What? sounds like saxophone robots competing in an angry blowin' session while Feel Free is a dreamy drive down a winding road as string quartets and Miles Davis flit past the windows. Groovy things still happen when Mr. Scruff downsizes, so write "less samples, more music" on the back of this one and reach for it often.

This double album 2LP record set is on black vinyl housed in a gatefold sleeve with digital download is pressed in the UK via Ninja Tune.