In the last chapter of The Independent Label Rule Book -- after "What to do when Half of Your Best Acts Break Up and the Other Half Jump to Bigger Labels" and "The More Important Your Project, the Ruder Your Outside Public Relations People Should Be" -- there's a lengthy essay about tenth anniversary compilations. It outlines a lot of rules involving complex, die cut, hand-assembled packaging, artwork from big name artists who just happen to be long-time fans of the label, liner notes from well-known critics and high-profile fans, embedded Quicktime movies showing youthful-looking founders slaving away in poky, rat-infested offices...you get the idea.

I guess that Ninja Tune's copy of The Independent Label Rule Book is propping up a wobbly table somewhere in their offices, because they've daringly released a tenth anniversary compilation that concentrates on the music. Okay, that's not as unusual as it seems, but the lack of self-congratulatory hoopla surrounding Xen Cuts is refreshing.

If you're not familiar with Ninja Tune, this is your chance to get the big picture. Formed by Jonathan More and Matt Black -- together known as Coldcut (perhaps you've heard of them?) -- Ninja Tune is the spiritual home of funky, jazz-and-house-inflected breakbeats. Long considered to be ahead of their time, Ninja Tune's ability to ferret out good music has brought us the likes of Amon Tobin, DJ Food, The Herbaliser and Kid Koala.

Budget priced and packed with killer tunes, Xen Cuts is money well spent. The first two discs concentrate on the current sound of Ninja Tune -- a mixture of edgy hip-hop, moody electronica and a few unclassifiable midpoints -- while disc three dishes up a platter of fan-pleasing oddities and rarities.

The quality and consistency here is jaw-dropping. Disc one is packed with chubby beats, cutting raps and urgent turntable antics, offering goodies like T Love's "QMS", Coldcut's sample-rific "Give It Up" and DJ Vadim's amazing "Your Revolution". This last track justifies the disc on its own -- Sarah Jones' Gil Scott Heron-inspired rap is one of the most sensitive, intelligent, no-nonsense attacks I've every heard. There's so much dead-solid stuff here that you'll want to photocopy the CD liner and use it as a shopping list.

If you liked disc one, you'll love disc two, which offers such wonders as Clifford Giberto's funked-out "The 10th Victim", Up, Bustle & Out's festive organ drama "Los Locos Cubanos" and a remix of "The Ageing Young Rebel", DJ Food's collaboration with word-jazz impresario Ken Nordine. Usual Ninja suspects like Amon Tobin and Kid Koala make their presence known, but you may be more impressed by the lesser-known stars on the label's roster. There's some stunning music here. My only complaint: where's Journeyman?

In the mood for some oddities and rarities? Of course you are. Time for disc three, subtitled Missed, Flipped & Skipped, which includes stuff like Saul Goodman's jarring "Twice the First Time", a live Kid Koala track recorded at Chicago's Metro and a Tortoise remix of Coldcut's "More Beats and Pieces". Predictably, this novelty-centric disc can't quite match the cherry-picked goodness of Xen Cuts' first two volumes, but it should satisfy the anorak brigade.

Ninja Tune endured a few lean years in the mid-to-late nineties, when for a while they seemed so far ahead of their time that less adventurous listeners were frightened away. In the twenty-first century, they've come into their own. If you have any doubts regarding Ninja Tune's importance to the modern-day music scene, Xen Cuts should put them to rest. It's inexpensive, it's satisfying and it'll make you feel very, very smart -- reason enough to acquire your own copy, surely.