Review: A stellar partnership for this latest volume in Bombstrikes' series of funk 'n' breaks party weapons, which came about after Ali B called in on Nick Thayer during a recent Australian tour. The pair fuse together a wild set of influences and sounds, as on opener "Music" which evokes Cypress Hill, Jay Z and classic '60s soul whilst still staying true to their block-rocking breaks sound. "NE Way" dips into a riff made famous by Dillinger and pimps it out gloriously with heavy drums while "Back To You" samples a line from one of De La Soul's classics and adds a Moog-ish bassline and all manner of funky sampled breaks.
Review: Krafty Kuts & Bomb Strikes, two names that when combined leave us with potentially incredible results. They join forces here to curate and design the fifth edition of 'Bass Funk', showcasing some of the most prominent faces across the entire breadth of breaks. The tracklisting for this one looks pretty monstrous, featuring the likes of A Skillz, Dubra, Arteo, Fort Knox Five, K+Lab & more. There are a couple of immediate stand outs however, with the latin horn melodies and vibrant rhythms of Ninjula's 'Spanish Princess' and the pure rawcus devilry of 'AI' from the legendary Delta Heavy both standing out!
Review: Mooqee's label Bombstrikes is doing all right for itself. So much so in fact that they've reached that milestone - a label's first compilation album. Here Mooqee has selected 25 sizzling bangers new and old that do it for him, and hopefully will do it for you too. Highlights include the compressed electro steamroller that is "Back To School", the crunch synth funky freakout of "Come On Bounce" and the devastating bass that's eaten all the pies of "Let's Do It Right Now". Heavy!
Review: Bomb Strikes, the UK hip-hop/funk/soul/breaks label headed up by Mooqee & Beatvandals, celebrated their 15th birthday in 2019 with a fantastic compilation album, and to further celebrate the success of the label in 2019 they're releasing another compilation featuring 15 of their best cuts from the past 12 months. What's most impressive is the variety on offer, ranging from straight-up hip-hop from Alexander Norman Prosper & Stabfinger, to party breaks from Ali B and Krafty Kuts, to 'new old' soul from Flevans, to the fairly self-explanatory 'Disco Weapon' and 'Mirror Ballin'' (by Shaka Loves You and X-Ray Ted, respectively. Tons of fun for festive season funkateers of all ages!
Review: Fun loving Party Breaks and Beats label Bomb Strikes serve up a retrospective collection curated by label bosses Mooqee and Beatvandals. With 31 full-length cuts plus a one-hour DJ mix, there's no faulting the VFM as we move through breaks, funk, hip-hop and the occasional gnarlier nugget. Standouts include Andy Cooper & The Allergies' rework of Run DMC's 'Mary Mary' and Beatvandals & A Skilz's 2007 cut 'Sunshine', which mashes up Roy Ayers and Indeep. But the one we keeping back to is Mooqee's 'Supacat Police' (2006), which makes devastating, ragga-fied use of chunks from a certain KRS-One classic that we won't insult your intelligence by naming!
Review: Glasgow's Shaka Loves You has rightly earned a reputation as disco-centric duo on the rise. Because of this, it's little surprise to see them at the controls on Bomb Strikes' first foray into the disco-focused compilation market. The Scottish pair have naturally pulled out all the stops for the occasion, selecting 20 hot-to-trot cuts that aptly blur the boundaries between disco, funk, nu-disco, electro and boogie. Highlights include, but are in no way limited to, the hazy, sun-kissed soul of Lack of Afro's "Back To The Day", the thickset P-funk revivalism of Kraak & Smaak's "Dynamite" and the rubbery disco-house-meets-UK soul flex of the Reflex's remix of Omar's "Vicky's Tune". Throw in a tasty selection of the pair's productions and you have a suitably strong collection.
