VINYL FORMAT. On Slime & Reason, his fourth album, Rodney Smith, a.k.a. Roots Manuva, returns with voice and musical vision as fresh as ever on this marvelous, freewheeling summation of his career so far. Smith looks back to his roots, the music that moved him even before he heard hip hop--in his words, "the old Channel One, Studio One aesthetic." Nevertheless, there's no shortage of individuality on Slime & Reason.

Manuva's own productions range from the skanking carnival anthem "Again & Again," through the melancholy funk of "C.R.U.F.F.," the electro-Bach rhythms of "Kick Up Ya Foot," the lof-fi gospel of "A Man's Talk," the roots stylings of "The Show Must Go On," and the analog-synth attack of "It's Me Oh Lord." But as a vocalist, Roots has also been reinvigorated working with young producers Toddla T and Metronomy. There are three Toddla tracks here (including "Buff Nuff," the first single taken from the album) and they represent some of the funniest, most loose-limbed music Smith has produced in years. In addition, Metronomy's "Let The Spirit" is one of the standouts of the record--a gorgeous piece of "blue-eyed" electro-funk which will be soundtracking our lives for a long time to come.