(GPS Recordings/Creative Vibes)

UK-based producer / DJ Dr Rubberfunk (also known as BBC radio 6 presenter Simon Ward) has made ripples throughout the English downbeat electronic music scene in recent years with his deft fusions of downtempo funk, hiphop beats and jazzy grooves being praised by the likes of Ninja Tune’s Mr Scruff. ‘The First Cut’ is Ward’s debut artist album under the Dr Rubberfunk persona through his own GPS Recordings, and collects together a selection of previously released Dr Rubberfunk 12”s and compilation contributions, as well as several previously unreleased new tracks.

Originally released last year in a limited run, this locally-available repressing follows on the heels of the demand through the UK for copies following a complete sell-out of stock, and on the basis of even a quick listen it’s obvious that it’s a good thing that the ever-astute Creative Vibes team didn’t let this particular fish get away, as it deserves to reach a wider audience.

Opening track ‘B-Boy Blue’ offers a smooth introduction to the Dr Rubberfunk sound, with guest musician Jim Oliver laying down some bluesy guitar funk bends over a David Holmes-esque backdrop of slow-motion hiphop breaks, while licks of fluid bass guitar inject extra rhythm between the dusty-sounding snares. Right at the end, there’s a brief Ninja Tunes-style cut-up of humorously retro samples (“I hired you to play guitar, not insult my customers”), before proceedings slide into ‘Harry The Guitar’, which places a bouncing analogue synth groove around a loping hiphop breakbeat, whilst gently strummed acoustic guitar floats through alongside epic-sounding synth washes and cut-up samples – the results approaching Lemon Jelly’s wide-eyed fusion of orchestral elements and hiphop grooves.

‘Latin Player’ places intricate flamenco guitar flourishes and washes of synth ambience over a low-slung backing of looped hiphop beats and burbling electronic bass chords, before ‘Two Fisted Pianistics’ drags things back towards stuttering jazz-tinged instrumental hiphop, with dubbed-out MC vocal samples and turntable flares cutting their way through loping beats and a spiraling piano line that ventures into a dark smoky Herbaliser-style groove alongside electro beats near its end.

‘Disco Scene’ provides one of this album’s most contagiously upbeat funk-infused moments, with a flurry of jazz cymbals giving way to a Propellerheads-esque grooving breakbeat backing that mashes together a melange of various funk, rare groove and soul elements together with what sounds like the percussion loop from Dee-Lite’s ‘Groove Is In The Heart’, providing the perfect mid-point between big beat’s boisterous sampladelica and more contemporary broken-beat house.

Previously-released 12” ‘Step On It’ lays down a fat wheezing double-bass line and trilling piano keys around sparkling jazz hi-hats, sampled blues vocals and clicking house beats in a fusion that evokes associations with Saint Germain’s blend of smooth house and jazzy elements, while ‘Bossa For The Devil’ drops in some slightly retro-lounge tinged female vocals and tinkling samba-jazz piano over a backdrop of fluid live jazz breaks, bright guitar chords and bouncing live bass, evoking a meeting point between Nicola Conte and The Herbaliser’s recent sojourns into latin grooves.

‘Take These Drums’ drops the tempo back down for a voyage through low-slung looped hiphop breaks, fluid electric guitar funk inflections and cosmic Moog riffs that ventures pretty far out and is likely to have you making your own Sun Ra-style interstellar jazz voyage from the comfort of your beanbag, leading into ‘Hundred & One Keys’ which ventures into airy Henry Mancini-style orchestral textures, whilst laying down a teasing female vocal over a slow-motion big beat backdrop of rolling percussion, turntable scratches and analogue synths. Finally, ‘Stay Strong’ brings this album to a contemplative downtempo close, with a sampled and looped female vocal lifted from vinyl floating through a dense atmospheric backdrop of dubbed-out drums, clicking 808 drum machine beats and curving organ runs – a fitting end to this smokily atmospheric collection of tracks.

‘The First Cut’ is an excellent debut artist album from Dr Rubberfunk that shows Ward combining hiphop grooves with fluid jazz elements and a smoky sense of downbeat funk that while immediately accesible yields increased detail upon repeated listening. Throughout, there’s absolutely no hint of a duff moment, with the live contributions of the various instrumentalists adding an additional fluid organic dimension that adds an extra edge to the humorous use of samples and chunky grooves – this is sampladelic funk that’s bound to go down well with fans of the likes of The Herbaliser, Mr. Scruff and Lemon Jelly. Recommended.

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