Mr. Scruff

Jaunty and whimsical, Mr. Scruff’s electronic compositions mirror the cartoonish verve of his hand-drawn cover art. That visual style is partly how DJ/producer Andy Carthy—born in Cheshire in 1972—earned his moniker, along with his unkempt facial hair. Carthy cut his teeth DJing before releasing his self-titled debut album in 1997, reassembling scratchy jazz and blues records into perky new creations. Though slower and more indebted to dub, that record’s collage-style construction foreshadowed Carthy’s 1999 breakthrough single, “Get a Move On!”, an electro-swing earworm that sampled cult figures Moondog, T-Bone Walker and Rubberlegs Williams. His subsequent work has flexed a similar magpie spirit, picking unlikely treasure from far-flung corners of record crates. Carthy’s 2020 DJ-Kicks mix continued that freedom of movement across styles and eras, blending vintage reggae and samba with jubilant Afrobeat and jazz-inspired broken beat.