Kick It Recordings At Juno Download

Review: Austin, Texas might most commonly be known for the annual SXSW shindig - but 8Bit is doing his, er bit, to put the city on the breakbeat map. Once again turning out on the Kick It imprint, 8Bit brings the breakstep melding on "Powerpad" with a gritty steppah riddim surrounded by increasingly jagged mid range bass arpeggios - watch for the drop! The track gets the dust up treatment from both Vize and Sneaker & The Dryer, with the former twisting the track on some Utopian electro house tip replete with duck sounds whilst the latter house proceedings up good and proper.

Review: Flipping the bird from his high tower betwixt EDM, electro and breakbeat, Beatz Projekted's distinctive blend of spirited sonics has won him many fans over the last year or so with releases on labels such as Disco Bomb, Miami In Tech, Plasmapool and Redbox. His debut on Texan label Kick It is likely to score yet more; "Battleship" gurgles and glitches with vibrant funk flourishes and a vicious bass undertone that will sink any boat in a 20 mile radius. Remix-wise Kwerk adds a little more breakbeat swing to the melting pot while Tactical Groove Orbit throw down a whole new chapter in stomp. Heavy.

Review: US producer Bo Scott brings some devilish breaks magic to the Kick It label on this latest single. With an old-school, late-90s vibe to the spoken-word samples layered over the track, Scott keeps the bass funky and the rattling synths nice and thick - guaranteed to make a room pleasantly shake when played loud! On a more technoid vibe, Monk3ylogic speeds things up a touch and adds some tranced-out flavour to the leads, while Kick It star Direct Input provides a more soothing, blissed-out alternate remix.

Review: Pounding breakbeats are Direct Input's forte and the Florida-born producer serves them up with aplomb on this new LP from Kick It. From the swirling atmospheres of the opener "Continue", "Funksun" swoops through a series of styles - the jazz-inflected "Hold Up", the chilled ice-funk of "Intergruv" or the guitar-heavy "How I Feel" - and uses them beautifully to create an album that's full of progression and surprise, and one that's made for the head as much as it is for the floor.