by John Bush
Befitting the ambient NTone sublabel of Ninja Tune it was released on, Fresh Produce is just slightly more down-tempo slanted than the label's other releases: Coldcut, Amon Tobin, the Herbaliser, or Funki Porcini. Most tracks are ambient trip-hop, with either a dub drum kit or spare jungle breaks providing the framework for keyboard explorations, cinematic vocal samples, and occasional turntablist scratching. If it all sounds like something that's been done before, that's because it has. The LP has some intriguing tracks, like the label salute &We Are Ninja& and a two-part record collecting homage -- &Ever Since I Was a Kid (Pt. 1)& and &It Seemed I Collected Something (Pt. 2)& -- but it's almost as though Fink has been paying too much attention to all the other records on the electronic scene. The result is a well-produced, but rather safe collection of tracks.