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| Pitchfork |
 Revivalism and surprise might not always be mutually exclusive, but combining the two is tricky. It's been done, especially in dance music. But if you can't pull off that sneaky alchemical future-retroism, you can at least try to cast a broad net, paying homage to a lingering idea of a few distinct scenes and highlighting juxtaposition, if not actual cohesion. Toddla T was merely a preschooler during rave's late 1980s UK explosion, but by the end of the 90s he'd begun to DJ before he was old enough to drive. Another decade's worth of experience spinning other people's records meant he had his ear finely tuned when it came time to make his own-- so far his career's been a fair-minded exercise in consolidating a sprawl of electronic dance music history into a loosely-tied catchall that covers grime, dancehall, electro, and all points between.Sophomore album Watch Me Dance is a by-the-book collection of eclectic throwbacks, hitting all the right sounds in a non-superficial fashion, but not advancing much further into unexplored territory. There's early single "Take It Back", and all the double-meaning that title implies-- lyrical nostalgia for the initial, now-faded rush of a young and happy relationship, paired with sonic nostalgia of a hip-house-inflected Soul II Soul homage. "Badman Flu" nods towards dawn-of-the-90s ragga/rave, driven by a charging 808 throb and a pitched-up stammer break worthy of old-school 'ardkore label Shut Up and Dance. On the other end of that decade, "Streets So Warm" filters digital dancehall through burbling dial-tone synths and finds a way to build emotional resonance off a bassline that consists solely of sparse, one-note "WHOMP"'s. The opening title track's a tenuously Prince-ly 80s funk-rock cut that rides on live (or live-sounding) drums and slap bass-- and doesn't sound a damn thing like any of the other songs on the album....full text |
| Guardian |
| To accept the invitation extended by the title of Toddla T's second album is to spend 40 minutes in the company of a hyperactive dance DJ/producer from Sheffield – real name Tom Bell – who jumps between styles and tempos with a manic exuberance until the music tires itself (and this listener) out. It starts well with rapper Roots Manuva coaxing his gruff vocals into song on the title track. After that, it's ups and downs, and Toddla proves himself better at preposterously high-energy dancehall tracks ("Badman Flu") than forays into early-90s piano-led vocal house ("Take It Back"). Good fun in small measures....full text |
| Nme |
| The preamble to the second album by Sheffield bass-dispenser Tom 'Toddla T' Bell was going perfectly smoothly until an unscrupulous German hack leaked it online. Benjamin Jager of Backspin – naming names is fun, isn’t it? – might have only sped up an inevitable process, but taking a degree of control out of Bell’s hands was always going to rile someone who’s elevated himself to one of the UK’s most esteemed production auteurs. It’s a shame, because ‘Watch Me Dance’ is an album whose content in no way deserves to be overshadowed by a squabble about dickheaded piracy. Mischievous single ‘Take It Back’, driven by Shola Ama’s belting delivery, referencing late-’80s house and late-’90s garage, turns out to be something of a red herring as far as the rest of ‘Watch Me Dance’ goes. It does, however, neatly herald the spirit of an album that’s both a stirrer of emotions and an incitement to bug out on the dancefloor. The ability to craft tunes with a foot in both camps might be the biggest leap Toddla has made as a producer since ‘Skanky Skanky’. The release of that debut album in 2009 unveiled a self-evidently prodigious talent, but one who chiefly used his talents to be as brash and direct as possible. ‘Watch Me Dance’ keeps that to a bare minimum: there are still mighty sinkhole basslines and clattering clusters of drums, but there are also legit contenders for pop radio, widescreen electro-soul and a hefty wedge of modern Jamaican dancehall. We say hefty… we could as easily say album-defining. Partly recorded in Jamaica, the record gives Wayne Marshall (‘Streets So Warm’, a lament for his nation’s gun-choked culture) and Timberlee (‘Body Good’, which mentions her “fat punani”) airtime to chat away as per. Even the two token blokeish bangers are indebted to the island’s musical heritage. The title and opening track is a vehicle for Roots Manuva, who’s always seemed as influenced by toasting as by rapping; Serocee, a longtime Toddla associate, rides the uncaringly tearout ‘Badman Flu’ in berserker fashion. Although they’d hardly test the suspension of even the crappiest Fiesta, there is the odd pothole nevertheless. Róisín Murphy does her standard vocal on probable future single ‘Cherry Picking’, but the metronomic dubstep thud and early millennium poptimist chorus are weirdly rote and uninspired. Closer ‘Fly’ combines Ms Dynamite and olde worlde dub reggae. In seemingly channeling a sound from before his time (1985), Toddla draws less aces than when he’s spinning platinum from the strands of his teenage bassbin obsessions....full text |
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