Review:
Breakerz Banquet switch the feast to a BBQ flex with a quartet of laid back summer vibes. Fresh from fronting the label launch, El Bomba takes the lead with "Party Your Ass Off". A refreshingly honest ode to smoking, drinking and fun times, it's an instant smiler. Knuckle Fingerz plays the spot-the-sample game with a whole range of well-known lyrical hooks and a Tribe Called Quest level groove. Cris Crucial plays a similar rap homage with added Dee-lite and Maars. Finally the whole team collide for the 'banger' of the bunch... Muscular drums, a clinically obese groove and party chants a-go-go, if you're not popping within 30 seconds, your volume function is faulty. Yummy.
Review:
Four party-shaped edits from the always-reliable Gamm label, this time by DJ Will Rock who tweaks the smoky soul of Moses Dillard's "Got To Find A Way" into a canny nu-funk block-rocker and blends Ripple's classic b-boy anthem "A Funky Song" with a late-period Pete Rock beat on "Sure Is Funky". Best of the bunch is the weaving of Busta Rhymes' vocals over the JBs water-tight funk on "Ass On Fire".
Review:
Party breaks producers always say that it takes a long life of slogging before you make it to heaven, but not for this mash-up king who had reached Breakbeats Paradise early. That said Tom Showtime has paid his dues too with years of delivery the party ammunition. Here he joins forces with the aforementioned label to provide more of the usual light-hearted floorfillers. There are five jams to enjoy here including the funky, Fresh Prince-era hip-hop vibes of "Supernaturalflow", the tough breaky grooves of the Salt-N-Pepa-sampling, "Dancefloor Seasoning" and the sunshine vibes of dubby dancehall jam, "King Of Clubs".
Review:
Here's something to set the pulse racing: a collaborative debut album (on Sound Signature, no less) from London broken beat veterans Dego and Kaidi Tatham. As with their previous joint releases on 2000 Black, Rush Hour, Eglo and, of course, Sound Signature, it's the duo's love of rich, jazz-fuelled musicality, sun-kissed melodies and loose, languid rhythms that shines through. There are naturally nods towards disco, boogie, jazz-funk, Afrobeat, hip-hop and classic "bruk", with a stellar cast list of guest musicians and vocalists swinging by to lend a hand. If Herbie Hancock decamped to Ladbroke Grove and made an album with Bugz in the Attic, it would probably sound like this. In our book, that's a very good thing indeed.
Review:
For their latest statement of intent, Bristol's nu-funk troubadours The Allergies have found a new home at Goodgroove. They've consummated the relationship in fine style too, going a whopping four times in the process. "Special People" is a roaring breaky funker that could easily be mid-70s O'Jays. Elsewhere we get daisy age hip hop jam "React", vintage Stax-style stomper "As We Do Our Thing" and guitar-led rap "Feel Alright". We're glad they're back!
Review:
Here we have some Trans-Atlantic business going on, with San Diego's DJ Pnutz (pronounced 'peanuts') and Ireland's very own Bulabeats teaming up to present the former new LP, The Good Wife's Guide To Beatmaking. There are 16 brand new cuts from Pnutz (plus some cool skits too), all of which are choc-full of tirelessly sourced samples. Highlights include the chopped-up floaty soul of "April 6", the 90s-tastic big beat rocker "Boogie Down Dago" and the jazzy Endtroducing feels of "The Forgotten". Cool things.
Review:
Phibes has a track record of repeatedly delivering merciless mayhem and this latest jam on the aptly named Bomb Strikes is no different. Each of the three new tracks featured here is produced to be loud and party demolishing. "Raw 2 The Floor" is bonkers, with a demented build-up and vintage Timbaland-style proto trap beats. "Ain't That Fresh" features the classic eponymous hip-hop sample (as made famous by Les Rhythmes Digitales) getting chopped up and sprinkled over an edgy breakbeat. Lastly "Come To Get Down" riffs off classic daisy age hip-hop - all funky drummer beats and that party vibes "Whooo, yeah!" sample.
Review:
This one's been on the slow roast. Juss B's spacious, spellbinding sound has always hinted at an album excursion and, from the moment the title track's cosmic synths take you to the stars you know he hasn't disappointed. Highlights at every corner: the physical, sub-aquatic trap elements of "Dime", the devil vocals and ghetto diesel of "Hater Blockers", the seasick riff trippiness of "Grand Hustle", the glock-knocking barbed wave weaver "Starry Eyes"... The list goes on. Juss B is in his sonic element right here.
Review:
A breakers banquet sounds like quite a messy affair - all those head spinning moves sending plates of food flying in all directions. Cris Crucial's Flawless EP thankfully fails to make a mess. Instead he delivers and unapologetically retro riot of late-80s, early-90s hip house jams that are all about the party. Highlights include the big beat scratch-a-thon "Anything Funky", the laid-back gangster funk of "Big Crucial Thing" and the 60s funk-sampling instrumental "Trouble Bucket".
Review:
The Ghost House imprint keeps the tempo up and emotions running with new collection of spectral bass cuts by the fledgling Filthy Gears. This guys is totally on-point in terms of a match with the label, with his floor-minded beats ranging from the deepest of dubstep to trappiest or trap. This release is jam-packed with quality, from the gunshot synths of "Gully Ends", to the wobbling mutant bass of "Rapture", and the Skream-like wobble rhythm of "Midnight Creeper", he makes quite the entrance and steps right into the limelight. Other killer on here include the deep and cerebral bass folds of "Torture Chamber", a straight-up grime nugget by the name of "War Machine", and the dreary-eyed sway of "Vulture". If hazy, spliffed-out bass is your thing, then look no further.
