In the Møde

by John Bush Following up one of the most praised album debuts of the '90s was a tough assignment, and Roni Size obviously worked hard to keep up the energy level on In the Møde. He pared the track lengths down considerably, and kick-started the LP with the frenetic "Railing, Pt. 2," featuring Dynamite MC doing his usual excellent warm-up gig over a chorus of racing breakbeats and fluid basslines. After taking a break during the cold, clinical precision of "Snapshot," Dynamite's back on the mic, chatting over most of the LP's highlights: "System Check," "Who Told You?," "Switchblade," and "Dirty Beats." The few tracks featuring Reprazent's female vocalist Onallee are a disappointment, but Size lets two special guests shine on great featured tracks. At the beginning of "Ghetto Celebrity," Wu-Tang's Method Man sounds as though he can barely keep up with the flurry of programming, but he soon turns it up as well and freestyles for nearly seven minutes of madness. Size also sparkles on a track featuring Rahzel (from the Roots), transforming the MC's human-beatbox percussion into a very full breakbeat production. But despite the great features and solid tracks, In the Møde doesn't quite make it to the level of New Forms. Yes, the tracks are much more concise than on New Forms -- usually only three or four minutes, as compared to seven to nine before -- but on the downside, Size was forced to stretch himself thin writing 17 short tracks. And despite having a trio of Reprazent helping hands (Krust, Die, and Suv, all excellent producers), he uses them on only five tracks. In essence, the highlights are over far too quickly, and the weaker tracks never should have appeared in the first place.