Rocstar At Juno Download

Review: As old Grandpappy Juno tells all the staff on their first day, 'always pack a hardhat'. At first you haven't got the foggiest what he's on about... Then a cut like "Favela" crashes through the speakers, and it hits you like a slo-mo hardcore techno brick. Softened slightly by tingling rave rushes, this is hardhat-level electro at its grittiest. Rough Draft's remix, on the other hand, needs no safety headwear. In fact his funkified dubstep version is so slinky and sprightly you could jump around to this in that cracking birthday suit of yours and fear no real danger whatsoever. Hoi! finishes the set with a remix and while it's back to a hardhat level of electro energy and oomph, you can wear it at a jaunty angle as the basslines are much squidgier.

Review: Two former members of D&B trio Resonant Evil (Renegade Hardware, Moving Shadow) have branched out and found a new breaks-friendly home on Cut La Roc's Rocstar label. And boy have they got material to share: with 31 tracks included plus remixes, they've clearly been busy boys, but thankfully not at the expense of quality. "1,2,3,4" comes charging in with live-sounding drums rattling heavily, while "Wipergroove" and "The Calling" show off their deeply tech side. Unable to leave D&B tempos alone, there's even a few hyped, jump-up tunes in there too, making this an exhilarating roller coaster ride of an album, and an impressive debut to boot.

Review: Hot on the heels of a killer remix package of their 2008 anthem "MSG" Afghan Headspin release the Schwarzenegger sized "Total Recall" which blends Happy Hardcore piano hooks and chipmunk vocals with heavy breaks and trancey synths for maximum effect. Japanese breakbeat artist Eshericks drops a killer progressive breakbeat banger with a very effective breakdown whereas as Jersey quartet Schema add further to their reputation with a mid range dubstep tear out. Afgan Headspin finish off things themselves with "5 Years 10 Years" a cheeky little dubstep number with menacing bass stabs, off key hats and comedy samples.

Review: Few producers can boast a name as cool as Cakeboy. It's actually his real name, too; we know a funny story about him looking like an eclair when he was born. We don't have time for such frivolous anecdotes though. Not when the beats are as creamy as "Skyrider": Cakey's original bubbles between low-swung nu-funk and a more melodic, organic, star-gazing groove while JFB adds a glitchy halfstep hybrid with plenty of bass. Both are, as another big player in the cake game might say, exceedingly good.

Review: Caper?s "Poker Ghost EP" gets a release on Cut La Roc?s excellent Rocstar label. Featuring three original productions, Caper explores the deeper side of dubstep whilst melting together the sounds of dubstep, garage, breaks, grime and even reggae. Having released on a number of other imprints, it now looks as though Caper has found his home on Rocstar.

Review: A five-piece breaks band that made some serious noise on this year's festival circuit, Council Estate Super Models keep the heat turned up with new single "Video Game". Recalling Metronomy's "Radio Ladio" with its spelled-out chorus, the group work up a huge anthemic build before dropping into a crunchy, DFA-esque guitar and live drum groove, complete with sharp synth stabs and plenty of wonky and woozy textures.

Review: Back with his third album, Big Beat pioneer Lee "Cut La Roc" Potter has created a kaleidoscopic set of songs that make his early days on Skint suddenly seem like a very long time ago. As someone who grew up on hip-hop, it's maybe not surprising to hear so many influences at work at one time. There are plenty of B-Boy references, most notably on "Come Get Some" which features an amazing guest spot from MC Donald D, as well as a choice sample from Big Daddy Kane's "Warm It Up Kane". There's also the use of classic UBB tune Pussyfooter on the schizoid party-banger Jump Up & Down.

But surprisingly, there are a host of other styles on show here as well. Pop gets a look in on For The Kids, which uses a Robbie Williams chorus as a hook in between raps from The 6th Letter. Gary Lightbody from Snow Patrol even makes an appearance on Mishka, with La Roc making a soundbed of sampled strings for the singer to let loose on. A pair of songs with vocalist Alex Larke also showcases some unexpected influences. Don't Stop seems pleasantly indebted to The Rolling Stones, while their other collaboration Candy Man is a slow and sentimental piano-led ballad.

There's still a lot of jump-up club tunes that fans would expect from a Cut La Roc album, like the awesome Nightlife Love and Hey Girl which features a great performance from Ragga MC Lion D. But it's refreshing to hear a DJ produce an album that takes them out of their comfort zone, especially when it works as well as Larger Than Life.

Review: A very pleasing step away from his usual punchy, bassy breaks sound as Cut La Roc embraces all things deep and house-shaped on the slow-burning "That Man Is Dirty". With an epic rising filter bringing up some hugely funky vocal stabs over a jacking house beat, CLR keeps his hard-hitting sonics in place but wraps them around a much more subtle and tense arrangement - something that's made even more obvious on the accompanying (and very essential) dub included on the single.

Review: An impromptu single from breaks meister CLR, joined by UK rhymer Coppa for the subtle yet very cool "Riot In The Club". You might expect a tune with "Riot" in the title to be a cavalcade of noise, but the duo keep things nicely on the down-low, with rounded, subby basslines and a simple breaks drumset forming the backbone for Coppa to flesh out with his rhymes. And what rhymes they are - if you know of another tune that name checks Elmer Fudd, Dawson's Creek and Nigella Lawson in the same verse, we'd love to hear it!

Review: As Rocstar head honcho, Cut La Roc has championed the spectrum of breakbeat styles with open-eared enthusiasm and nary a care for fly-by-night trends. Practicing his preach on every release; you never know what you're going to get from old Roccy, but you're guaranteed it's going to rock. "Roll The Dice" is no exception as it tips a nod to Get Physical's early days and classic UK house with stabs that you may well recognise from "Fly Life". Spine-tingler AND party banger, Cutty's nailed it once again.

Review: Exclusive to Juno Download, Rocstar main man and nu-funk breaks king Cut La Rock slams it on this cheeky one-off single. Running at a hip-hop tempo and sporting a tight, old-skool loop featuring plenty of Eastern percussion, CLR offers up the beat to two UK MC's - Coppa and Native Sun - who both kick unique verses with killer lines in each. Don't ask us to pick a favourite, they're both pretty tight spitters who both marry their flow to the beat perfectly here.

Review: The second single from Cut La Roc's Larger Than Life album sees a host of talent get under the bonnet and tinker around with this effortlessly cool collaboration. With the original crammed full of poppy hooks and Fangs' addictive vocals, Superfrank transplants the vocal onto a sophisticated nu-soul beat, full of harps and 60's drums. His instrumental is a joy that really shows off his studio smarts. Nitenoise by contrast turns "Deathstar" into a breakbeat rinseout complete with acres of bass. Fog's Sledgehammer mix takes things even dirtier, brilliantly using whispered layers of the vocal over a devastating LFO-riding breakdown. Fat Dad and Udy also compensate for the original's more laidback feel by pumping their mixes full of high octane electro fuel.

Review: What we have here is a rather resplendent head nod to Cut La Roc's early days as the big beat DJ du jour. With hip-hop sensibilities and a penchant for the groove, while others swashbuckled, he strutted. This emotive, string-drenched hip-hop cut would've sounded just as good back then as it does now. Timeless, perfectly arranged, soulful and coated with some decent rhymes, it's not dissimilar to that poignant-but-funky-but-sad-but-happy hip-hop that Ugly Duckling do really well. For kicks he's thrown in the instrumental, making this a great battle tool for some hip-hop trickery -the type of trickery Cutty became known for in the first place.

Review: Although now based in Colchester, Cut La Roc (aka Lee Potter) originally hails from Brighton where, in the heady days of the '90s, he held a four-year residency at the Big Beat Boutique. He's still going strong; often recording with Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody and releasing solo albums (his most recent being Larger Than Life). This latest release on his own Rocstar Recordings sees Potter team up with The Sixth Letter & Kimberley Kennedy for a summery jam that recalls the hazy party tunes like "I Wish" by Skee-Lo.

Review: Cut La Roc and Tricky Micky's tongues are so far in their cheeks right here, they're almost doing rude things to themselves. Spitting sharp, snide commentary on the faults, foibles and funk-ups of his life, Tricky's lyrics are so rude they'd make Gordon Ramsay run away crying to his mum. More British than The Queen having a cup of tea in the boot of a Mini, about a million times funnier and a billion times funkier, this is a great example of unique UK party hip-hop. Just for added japes, they've thrown in a radio edit and, in case you can't relate to Micky's messed up diatribe, there's a great instrumental on board too.

Review: The alias of producer Stuart Green, Houseplayaz has steadily built up a following on the house/electro/breaks scene, enjoying big support from Seb Fontaine, Dave Spoon and the Plump DJs to name but a few. Cut La Roc's Rocstar label is the latest to get on board, releasing the summery pop-trance of "Yes Man" which features a hook-laden vocal from Tricky Micky. Look out for the build 'n' drop-filled "extended' version too for a more club-friendly rework.

Review: Veteran Scottish scratch master general Krash Slaughta rocks up with three prime slabs of head nod tackle for the Rocstar imprint. "Spaceship" comes at you with the psychedelic sci fi dancefloor heat, a crackling countdown dropping into an expertly cut up synth freak out over a lolloping break, whilst "Watch The Birdie" is much more of a B Boy scratching showcase, tweaking out vocal and ornithological samples over a uptempo funk breakbeat. The pace is upped yet more for "Bedop" the final track which expertly cuts up an organ heavy funk groove. Sterling work as usual from Krash Slaughta.

Review: Exclusive to Juno Download, this is a big release from Cut La Roc's Rocstar label, courtesy of Norwegian dub 'n' breaks mentalist Mindflow. Keeping on a half-step rhythm but given extra bounce thanks to thick and joyous rave stabs, "Need To Be" is hot to trot for either dubstep or nu-school breaks fans. London duo Afghan Headspin give it a D&B rerub but at a housey tempo, with an Amen-soundalike beat and killer white-noise breakdown working wonders on this mash up masterpiece.