Awfully deep

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Awfully deep
Studio album by Roots Manuva

Publication
(s)

January 28, 2005

Label (s) Big Dada Recordings

Format (s)

LP, CD, digital

Genre (s)

Hip-hop , dub

Title (number)

14th

running time

51:27

production

Roots Manuva

chronology
Dub Come Save Me Awfully deep Alternately deep
Single releases
January 17, 2005 Colossal Insight
March 21, 2005 Too cold

Awfully Deep is the third regular studio album by British hip-hop artist Roots Manuva . It was released in January 2005 by Big Dada Recordings , a sub-label of Ninja Tune .

Emergence

Awfully Deep was released in 2005 as the third regular album by Roots Manuva, four years after the very successful Run Come Save Me (in the meantime only the remix album Dub Come Save Me has been released). It happened at the time when grime , a typical British hip-hop style with very strong electronic elements, was very popular. In contrast to the very energetic, aggressive grime, Awfully Deep is a rather calm, introverted album. However, like Manuva's earlier albums, it is rich in dub echoes.

Almost all of the songs on Awfully Deep were produced by Manuva himself. Since about 50 different tracks were created in the production process, a kind of sequel was published shortly after Awfully Deep under the title Alternately Deep .

The album was also released in a limited edition version consisting of two CDs. The second, bonus CD is titled The Noodle Pack and contains five alternative versions of songs from the actual album. It is subtitled with Demos, Versions and Exclusions .

Track list

Roots Manuva at a concert in Auckland in 2012.
  1. At least 2 motion
  2. Awfully deep
  3. Cause4Pause
  4. Colossal Insight
  5. Too cold
  6. A haunting
  7. Rebel Heart
  8. Chin high
  9. Babylon Medicine
  10. Pause4Cause
  11. Move Ya Loin (feat.Lotek)
  12. Thinking
  13. The Falling
  14. Toothbrush

The Noodle Pack

  1. Chin High (Manuvadelics Version)
  2. Too Cold (Demo Version)
  3. Colossal Insight (Manoustic at Reading)
  4. Rebel Heart (Manuvadelics Version)
  5. The Falling (Demo Version)

reception

According to Metacritic , Awfully Deep has an average rating of 80/100. The portal received 16 mostly positive and only three negative reviews. In the British charts, the album reached the 24th place.

Despite the otherwise positive judgments, several critics complained that Manuva decided not to move with the times and to line up close to the grime, which would have been a logical development after Run Come Save Me . Songs that "don't sound too far removed from grime", such as Rebel Heart , Chin High or A Haunting , were singled out as particularly good .

The album received the highest rating of five stars on laut.de :

“Although the new long player is a lot quieter than its predecessor, that doesn't matter to Manuva's class. [...] The record shines again with its very own atmosphere and looks a bit more spherical than one is used to from the UK rapper. The opener Mind 2 Motion already makes it clear that, in addition to the innovative sounds, Manuva's voice in particular casts a spell over the listener - sometimes rapping, sometimes toasting. Whether with a sung hook or narrated verses, the tracks work on their own or ultimately fascinate as a total work of art. "

- Alexander Engelen

An exuberant review of the album appeared in the Guardian , where Manuva's music was described as "brilliantly witty, devilishly sonorous hip-hop." The reviewer praised that Manuva does not have the supposedly typical American machismo .

"Smith has crafted an album that is deft, addictive and profoundly musical, and it feels like a fresh-minted classic."

"Smith [Roots Manuva's real surname] created an album that is nifty, addicting, deeply musical, and that feels like a freshly squeezed classic."

- David Peschek

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b John Bush: Awfully Deep - Roots Manuva. Allmusic , accessed on August 18, 2015 .
  2. ^ Roots Manuva. laut.de , accessed on August 18, 2015 .
  3. ^ Reviews for Awfully Deep by Roots Manuva. Metacritic , accessed August 18, 2015 .
  4. ^ Roots Manuva. Official Charts, accessed August 18, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Tom Breihan: Roots Manuva: Awfully Deep. Pitchfork , March 27, 2005, accessed August 18, 2015 .
  6. ↑ "tracks that don't sound too far removed from grime"
  7. ↑ Winnetou styles his rap silver can. laut.de, accessed on August 18, 2015 .
  8. ↑ "brilliantly witty, devilishly tuneful hip-hop"
  9. ↑ CD: Roots Manuva, Awfully Deep. The Guardian , January 28, 2005, accessed August 18, 2015 .