Various - You Don't Know: Ninja Cuts

Just one of the purchases in my short obsession with record label compilations last year, Ninja Tune's You Don't Know: Ninja Cuts, the fifth in a series of collections they've released, is a 3-disc package bringing together old, unreleased, rare, remixed and new recordings. Ninja Tune veterans like Mr. Scruff, The Cinematic Orchestra and Bonobo make an appearance, along with newer arrivals like The Long Lost, Cadence Weapon and Yppah. It's a decent view of where the label has been and where they're going, especially for those not familiar.



Ninja Tune decided to use a fittingly futuristic Syd Mead illustration of a lush orbiting space station for the cover. Each disc has it's own artwork, but this is the most interesting. The insert also folds out into a poster, which I scanned (above). Vegetables in space. X-Ray Delta One has a great collection of Syd Mead work on Flickr, three of which are below.




I had the pleasure of hearing Mead speak at my school in 2007. He is famous for his futuristic conceptual work, especially his vehicle designs. His work has appeared in many films including Tron (light cycles!), Blade Runner, Star Trek, Aliens, Turn A Gundam and Yamato 2520. He's also done designs for a Sega Saturn game I played years ago, Cyber Speedway (below). Not only are his vehicles great, but the music (by the mysterious Bygone Dogs), really made an impression on me back when most video game music I had been exposed to was 16-bit Genesis tunes. Skip to 3:50 to hear what I'm talking about.



Syd Mead
Ninja Tune

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