Recent Perth visitor TM Juke takes a break from playing the tunes behind Alice Russell’s vocals and steps out instead with Robert Luis, one of the owners of Brighton record label Tru Thoughts.

The duo bring together a DJ ethic of cut and paste samples and a musician’s ear for live instruments and blend them over solidly funky beats with just a dash of Latin and a whole heap of bass.

The tune guaranteed to get airplay is the mellow, Latin jazz styled cover of the Roni Size/Reprazent tune Brown Paper Bag, things take a slightly carnivalesque turn with the next couple of tracks bringing up-tempo rolling drums and Latino percussion with some celebratory horns that are party starters pretty much guaranteed to get your foot tapping.

Elephant Takeover then moves things in a different direction with an almost Indian percussion element thrown in with bumping beats and a nasty bass line that is a multicultural, dirty nu-jazz affair that leads in to the African chants and influences on Wouri River’s drum ‘n’ bass, a style that continues with a very cool Jamaican jazz vocal and grooving trumpet section along with killer bass and incessant beats on Last Night.

There’s a touch of Dizzee Rascal in the instrumental Random Search that is bass heavy and infused with Ofra Haza like Indian vocals before things get a little Zero dB-esque with a messed-up beats cum nu-jazz approach before the stripped back, mellow, non d ‘n’ b version of Last Night rounds things off… or does it?

Flick forward through all the phantom tracks on the CD to find one of the highlights of the album – a hidden track that is Random Search given a UK hip hop redo complete with thoughtful, political rhyme from Young Max of the Dirty Diggers. Quality. As is the album as a whole.

Perhaps it’s a little tracky for an LP, and it could drag a little for the intent listener, but as tracks for the dancefloor or the listener with a feel for a dance, it’s a dream. Funky throughout, taking in a whole mix of influences, and offering something familiar enough to attract you, but just different enough to stand out, and with plenty of bass to get you moving, ME & You are a must-listen for anyone with a taste for the underground side of UK dance music.

Rating: 8/10

For comments on this review go to:
http://www.teknoscape.com.au/forums/showthread.php?p=1410271

Tracklist:
1. Me & You Intro 
2. Brown Paper Bag 
3. The Hoop Loop 
4. Sneaker Thief 
5. Brighton Request Line 
6. Elephant Takeover 
7. Wouri River 
8. Last Night 
9. Ze Zam 
10. Brighton Request Line 
11. Got Any R&B 
12. Random Search 
13. One More Tune 
14. Last Night 

This was a RTRFM Full Frequency album feature.

Label: Tru Thoughts/Creative Vibes