Roni Size's New Forms 2

How do you perfect perfection? I'm not sure that's really possible, but Roni Size has given it a whirl. The drum and bass innovator has recently taken his Mercury Prize winning album, New Forms and re-edited the whole thing updating it and even adding music to it for the record's tenth anniversary.

As Size himself states, "The first generation of heads who were there with the rise of Reprazent and Roni Size will be able to reminisce over the last decade with the classics, 'Brown Paper Bag,' 'Share the Fall," and 'Heroes.' The generation of those who missed it will be able to appreciate the album with the new coat of armor I have added to the original tracks. I think fans of the original album always appreciated what we did with the technology of the day. This latest version shows what is possible now."

That's a pretty good summation of what New Forms 2 is all about. New Forms 2 takes the landmark album and makes it better. I know you might be thinking but isn't that what George Lucas attempted to do with the Special Editions of Star Wars? And look what happened there. But, unlike Lucas, Size has bettered every aspect of the record and made it cleaner, crisper, clearer, and more relevant than ever. New Forms might be a decade old, but it still sounds fresh today and with Size's reworking of the tracks he's made it practically so fresh it's raw.

The drums, pads, and basslines burst out of speakers as the songs roll along in a soulful and airy way. It's jazzy, beautiful stuff that's easy on the ears and soul. Each of the seventeen tracks are extremely memorable and will linger on long after they roll by. With such great songs and songcraft, it's easy to see to this day why New Forms won the Mercury Prize and is still important today.

Although the thirteen original tracks have been rearranged to accommodate the additional material added here, there's nothing about the new order that takes away from the original line up and at times the new material is almost inseparable from the original tunes. Upon my first listen, I didn't even realize there was new material scattered throughout New Forms 2.

New Forms 2 is a testament of how significant Roni Size and Reprazent efforts still are years after they were originally released. The original was utterly essential back in the 90's and if you never picked it up, you would be most wise to take advantage of Roni Size's re-release. Still essential a decade later.