Review: Matt Edwards departs from the script for his latest Radio Slave material. Taking influence from old school hardcore and a cut and paste production approach, on "Stay Out.." he delivers twitchy, good-time break beats that are full of hip-hop and soulful vocal samples. It's quite a departure for the creator of linear techno tracks like "Grindhouse" and "Another Club". On "Wait A Minute", Edwards returns to the techno realm; while still containing a repetitive vocal sample that intones the track's title, the rattling percussion, tough kicks and driving rhythm all come together to form a deadly effective big room techno track.
Review: A known producer for the Cuttin' It Fine label and Breakbeat Paradise, Crash Party sets a select sequence of straight-laced, funky and snare heavy drum lines to this EP. Sweet rhodes, keys, space pongs and bouncing disco turns to fire in "It's On Like That" with "Funk It Up" cutting up all matter of vocal snippets and hip hop samples to a James Brown groove. Heavier basslines and vocal progressions in Swim Incs remix, with Natty Speaks preaching good times in "What You Come To Do".
Review: The consistency of In:flux over the lockdown period is something we never seem to be able to keep quiet about, purely because it becomes more impressive with every release that seems to land into the store. This latest helping from Ekula is a perfect example of that as we kick of with the shuffling, breaksy drum works and sizzling sub-bass structures of the title track 'All Night', before 'Afterparty Sunrise' combines with sunshine chords with a more scattered drum design for some fantastic variation in rhythm. Next, 'As I Go' arrives with Ca$tle on collaboration duty, unleashing marching kicks and smooth melodic chimes, reminding us of early Anti-Social radio shows, before we get into a pair of weighty remix creations. Firstly, Dystinkt gives 'All Night' a bit of a hardcore face-lift, upping the energy levels dramatically, followed by the legendary Benton arriving to rework 'Afterparty Sunrise' into a nostalgic party starter. Excellent!
Review: Breakbeat Paradise first released the various artists EP 'Funk Originals' back in April 2017; now, nearly three years later, it's back with a new set of remixes. The EP as a whole is very much the proverbial game of two halves: the four original tracks are aimed fair and square at lovers of "new old" funk and soul (think Speedometer, Dap Kings, etc), while the three remixes ('Stand Up' doesn't get one, oddly, but its P-funk/Zapp-isms will delight funkateers nonetheless) are altogether more squelchy and electronic-sounding, and as such will be better suited to broken beat or funk-breaks sets.
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: It's been raining Luke Vibert in 2020 with the legendary producer teaming up with Hypercolour for a trilogy of LPs, bringing with it new and neo genres like Modern Rave, and now Rave Hop. restoring some credibility to the lost art of breakbeat and sample culture, Vibert's productions are on point here while exploring different eras of dance music history in the process. Crafted with unique, original and refreshed vintage samples, each track, depending on its element, will transport you across a classic timeline; be it straight up old school hip hop, 90s drum and bass and early chicago house, to soul, disco and jazz before that; all cut up and repackaged in a contemporary and referential approach to rave and its continued legacy.
Review: Pater party starter Father Funk shows us who's the daddy with four more slinky, sample-soaked nu-funk jams. Ranging from the ballsy swing of "Jungle Strut" to the more salubrious, well-oiled slinks and winks of "Start Movin'", once again FF's EP lives up to its title in every way... Climaxing with a smoky-eyed shake up of Dusty Springfield's "Spooky". Sexy.
Review: DJ Badboe and Wiccatron's Brekabeat Paradise Recordings masterfully re-enter our charts with their singular approach to breakbeat and electro - this time with a mini compilation! The Danish label has to be given a shout-out for having always done what they believe in, and it's clear they got their strategy right. The numbers don't lie, and these guys provoke quite a few downloads on the ol' Juno system. Breakin The Riddim is a wild and diverse affair, full of sampling grace and brimming with party-ready material in every sense of the word. All of it, however, is heavily centered around break sampling and an audible 'ragga' influence - tunes from DJ Maars, Basschimp, Leygo, Cockney Nutjob and Fredy High are the only solution to any bashment or dancehall DJ wanting to fire the place up!
Review: Bomb Strikes are back! Yet again they have brought some serious ammunition with them as they welcome Prosper & Stabfinger for three tracks of seriously groovy delight. We kick off with the title track 'Down In The Basement', which combines disco-like melodies with funky clav experiments and patois vocal lines for a real mashup of styles alongside Awoke. Next, 'Lucky Six' wheels into play with its jazzy horn lines and party flavours, also featuring work from Lions Pride. Finally, Fedorovski gets busy with a super experimental take on 'Boogie Bugi', smashing affected vocal lines with a potent bassline and crunchy percussive influxes. Tasty!
Review: Bomb Strikes are back at it again with more explosive behaviour here as they continue their thoroughly enjoyable run of releases, welcoming two original smashes from Lack Jemmon. We kick off our look into this release with 'Don't Stop', which takes its place as title track for a reason as we are engulfed in a wash of sumptuous eastern melodic plucks and big room drum snaps, giving us a worldly level of production. On the flip side we take in 'I'm A Boss', another eastern inspired piece when it comes to melodic structure, this time using tooting saxophone lines over blippy drum expressions and well placed vocal samples to round the project off with a bang.
Review: No introductions necessary: Suburban Base shaped and fuelled rave music as knew it. Uncle Dugs documents, celebrates and champions rave music as know it. On this quarter-century retrospective Dugs brings everyone up to speed as he moves through the 90s and, in turn, the development of hardcore into jungle and drum & bass. 50 seminal tracks deep, from Remarc's soundclash slewing "RIP" to Marvellous Cain's jungle blueprint "Hitman" via Q Bass and E Type's early explorations into synthesis on "Hardcore Will Never Die" and formative junglism from DJ Hype, our affable Uncle continues to join the dots with the past and the future with supreme levels of detail and knowledge.
Review: Four reggae-riddled bootlegs from breakbeat's favourite Nutjob. We kick off with a bulbous flip on Desmond Dekker's "Easy" before 'lively mode' is activated with a very well polished take on a classic reggae version of Smokey Robinson's "My Girl". You want to get even livelier? Look no further than "Heads Boppin'", Nutjob's twist on The Selector's "On My Radio". "I'm Skankin' Out" is the cherry on top of this very tasty cake. Adding a Jamaican sparkle to the Diana Ross sampling Biggie classic, Nutjob's successfully fused hip-hop, disco, reggae and breaks all into one track... And he's done so in style.
Review: One thing we are very proud to represent heavily here at JunoDownload.co.uk is breakbeat music, which has seen a major resurrection over the past few years. This latest five track rework extravaganza from Haynesy is a perfect example of that, kicking off with the vibrant drum chops and scratch heavy arrangement of 'Big Mouth'. Next, 'Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em' gives us a funkadelic vocal switchup, followed by the old school hip hop infusions of 'Root Down' and the more uptempo bass grooves of 'Set It Off'. Finally, DJ Jabbathakut arrives just in time to add some magic to 'I'll House You', a percussive explosion of tooting horns and sumptuous basslines, putting the perfect final touches on an excellent collection.
Review: Next up from the Studio Barnhus Sweden crew we see them welcome back the wonderful Bella Boo, this time reworking a number of previous releases into vibrant remix creations, kicking off with the trippy melodic swirls and punchy bass slaps that emit from Off The Meds' rethink of 'She's Back. Next, Karima F gives 'Can't Leave You' a potent tribal rethink, Shy One delivers a spacey roller revamp of 'Tuesday' and Kornel Kovacs sends 'Stars' to the breakbeat manipulation machine for a sombre lick of paint. Finally, Matthew Styles provides us with a stripped back 4x4 overhaul of 'Sin Sin' rounding off a fantastic selection of fabulous recreations.
Review: For this, the latest in a long line of high quality Cuttin' It Fine drops, we welcome the expertise of Roast Beatz, who here unveils a feature length album project entitled 'Electric Pistachio', featuring twelve wicked originals. The features really bring this one to life, with guest appearances from the likes of Kurnel MC, Natty, PRofit, Broken Poetz, Mysdiggi, Ella Mae and many more highly renowned names. For us, there are a couple of immediate standouts when talking through this one, the first of which has to be the skippy drumwork of 'Keep It Movin' alongside the smooth vocal presence of the legendary Rider Shafique, alongside the groovy-heavy rhythmic twists of 'The People' with the fabulous harmonies of Greg Blackman.
Review: It's time to get uber groovy as Ragtime get down and dirty, bringing in Ninjula for a super punchy six track extravaganza, buzzing from start to finish with volcanic breakbeat energy. The title track 'Bass 'N Honey' is a reesey grooveball, with 'Deadbeat' alongside Nyxe being an exciting play on big band themes. We hear 'St James Infirmary' sample the classic blues record into a stinking dubstep-infused belter next, with 'Rat Trap' giving us a swingy send off and 'The Hardest Show On Earth' providing some serious grit. Finally, 'Low Bones', wraps the project up in style as it's hard house inspired bass tones fidget away amidst growling vocal slices and sharp drum work.
Review: Royal Soul bring us an EP featuring five remixes of three tracks from two French producers. 'Big Bamboo' gets two re-rubs: Cupcake Project's mix sits somewhere between Zapp-esque electrofunk and shimmering Nang-style nu-disco, while the Trotter Remix is a more uptempo funk-breaks pass. There's a dark, wonky nu-disco/Italo nouveau flavour to Cupcake Project's take on 'Time To Go Back', too, while Adam Polo's remix of the same track is a more straight-up disco-house affair. The EP's then completed by a Boogie Remix of 'So Classy, So Nasty' from Austrian producer Shantisan that does exactly what it says on the label...
Review: Next up on Friendzone we welcome a very exciting pairing as both Mark Archer & Luke Vibert link up for a masterclass in breakbeat production. We kick off firstly with Mark's two originals, beginning with the scattered yet sub heavy rhythmic designs of 'What's The Name', which uses dusty vocal samples over crunchy drum rolls to set us on fire from the off. Next, the higher tempo of 'Pump It' links together smooth chords to give us something completely different before moving onto Luke Viberts two originals. The first of these takes the name 'Phoam', which links together acidic bubbles with slower broken beats, before the more classic 4x4 sounds of 'Acidhouse Ecstasy' calls time on a very interesting project indeed.
Review: Next up from Breaka we see a return to the home imprint known as Breaka Recordings for a fantastic three set release, showcasing a fantastically refreshing set of originals. We begin with the super bouncy drum work and pleasing harmonic structures of 'Liquid Gold', combining subtle break inputs with catchy piano riffs and encapsulating vocal drives to create something wonderful. Next, 'Ease Up' links together punchy drums with shimmering rave chords and smooth subs to bring us something extremely different, alongside the super fresh pad designs and sweeping atmospheric feelings of 'Steeze Flex' to round us off with a dash of finesse.
Review: It's common knowledge at this point that Bicep really is a generational talent when it comes to production. The impact of 'Glue' was off the scale and it's clear to see he has no intention of slowing down as we dive into another monumental single, this time taking the title of 'Atlas'. As ever, we witness pure melodic mastery as we are greeted by an array of spacey, emotional pad textures floating around the background, whilst popping arpeggios and shuffling drum beats breathe effortlessly across the front of the mix. When this is then coupled with pulsating sub lines and stunning vocal switches drenched in luscious big room reverb units, we sure are in for an absolute treat.
Review: When we dive into the Breakbeat Paradise catalogue, it's clear to see that they are one of the real leaders across the breakbeat genre, with this latest powerhouse drop from Nasa Funk being a perfect example of why. The original of 'Gonna Work It' is a super wonky creation, slapping together quirky vocal lines with stuttered live drum rhythms and an overall funkadelic feel. The remixes however are what bring this release to life, with four impeccable recreations being brought forward. Prosper & Stabfinger give the track a vibrant 4x4 lick of paint, alongside JayL Funk's smooth hip hop recreation and Mount Ten's spacy overhaul. Finally Cayetano sends the track down a crunchy halftime route to round us off in style.
Review: Chopshop mark the completion of their first decade in the game with this 17-track compilation of funk n' breaks nuggets from the label vaults. Groove Armada and Situation both feature, but generally the emphasis is on less well-known names, who serve up a mixture of cheeky bootlegs, re-edits and original material. Dave Gerrard samples the Average White Band on 'Drop The Pieces' and George Kelly & DJ S's 'Movin' To The Groovin' takes Wild Cherry to the breakbeat party, but the majority of the tracks draw on less obvious sources of inspiration, with standouts including the big beat/lounge-y vibes of Senior Citizens' 'What A Body' and the ghetto disco groove of Appo's 'Getaway'.
Review: Bomb Strikes bring us two fat-assed slabs of contemporary from X-Ray Ted, a producer from Bristol, UK with the best artist name we've come across since Ken At Work! 'On The Floor' centres around a plangent six-string riff that plays throughout, augmented by two competing vocals - one male and chanted, the other a more discofied, female "get on the floor, let's rock, let's do it some more" - and underpinned, naturally, by a full-phat bassline. 'Chopsy's Groove' opens with more guitars and a Lightnin' Rod-like spoken vocal, then develops into a sax-led jazz-funker with a seriously hefty bottom end. Dancing will ensue, you mark our words.
Review: Dealing strictly in extended collections, Funk Fusion continues its extensive work into 2015 with a 22-track compendium of killer edits, bootlegs and reversions. With an emphasis on fine-tuned, low-swung party jams; highlights include the subtle acid treatment of En Vogue ("Get It"), silky, synth-slapping disco boogie ("Mistery Island"), badass blue grass ("Bluesy Bounce"), Chic-style Public Enemy subversion ("Funky Enemy Number One") and smoke-stacked skank science ("Method Man"). Fusion by name, funky by nature: no party should be without this collection.
Review: For a label that only launched this spring, four volumes of creatively executed party jams is beyond impressive. We reckon this could be Funk Fusion's best yet, too. From Rhythm Scholar's respectfully tripped out twist on "Lucy In The Sky" to Fabioulous Barker's slap-bass blazed take on Skeelow via the funkiest ever version of 2Pac's "California Love", it's an impressive collection that leans towards the more subtle art of editing rather than crass bootleg cut-and-shuts and will have a lot more timeless appeal as a result.
