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Proper Filthy Naughty
To The Beat
10 Kilo (UK) January 2003
Review by
PFN used to be a duo but apparently it's just Ronnie (aka Stir Fry) now.
Almost a year after the last single "Future Burn", 10 Kilo hits us
with a wicked new PFN 12" called "To the Beat". It's a filthy
slab of peaktime electro breaks with proggy keys, wobbly basslines and robotic
"check this out" vocoder hook. On side B, Ronnie hides behind his
alter ego The Light to deliver a storming progressive house remix with chunky
bass and cool phazer FX.
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Loes
Lee
Ash
Dangerous Drums (Germany) January 2003
Review by
Holland's breaks goddess goes solo for this release on Berlin breaks
label Dangerous Drums. "Ash" is a tight tech-breaks track in trademark
Loes Lee style, with housey hi-hat beats, tweaky keys and pulsating bass. The
UK's Spoon Wizard is on remix duty, delivering a Functional Breaks style groover
that nicely retains the hypnotic vibe of the original but adds bubbly acid lines
and scratched vocal snippets.
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Mulder
Listen to the Basstone
Plastic Raygun (UK) January 2003
Review by
Mulder is best known for collaborating with fellow jump-up junglists
Aphrodite and Mickey Finn on Urban Takeover. He was also responsible for the
drum 'n' bass remix of Fatboy Slim's "Rockafeller Skank". This 12"
offers his first breaks production, "Listen To The Basstone". Sounding
rather like an 45rpm jump-up record slowed down to 33rpm, it's a frenetic dancefloor
track with rolling breaks and a tuff 'ardcore bassline. It's a bit like hard
house with breaks, it's not very clever but the kids love it. Mulder switches
back to high gear on side B to deliver a drum 'n' bass remix of "Rub My
Boomstick" by Plastic Raygun's own Vandal.
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Soul of Man
The Drum / Acid Punch
Finger Lickin' (UK) January 2003
Review by RJ
Bass
Sometime around 1998 when I was still playing mostly Florida-based funky
breakbeats, a DJ friend of mine brought me a record and told me to give it a
listen. I asked him what it was and he said it was a newer label out of the
UK called Finger Lickin', the song was called "Everybody's Funkin".
I loved it and have since bought almost every Finger Lickin' record I could
get my hands on. Now it's 2002 and Finger Licken hasn't let up a bit, especially
with release # 37 from Soul Of Man. Side A contains the song "The Drum".
It's a bit more on the four-to-the-floor side of the dance music realm but is
still a great one all the same. Funky basslines, smooth but slight vocal samples,
and ripping guitar samples carry this track all the way through to the end.
Side B, is the now famous "Acid Punch". I can't get enough of this
track. Subtle but hyper all at once, the "Acid" comes from the various
bleeps and acid type synths and the "Punch" comes from the well-placed
congo drums. Soaring sonic builds come and go without the element of cheese,
and the beat moves steady as in any Finger Lickin' track.
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Solid
Ground
Never Let It Go (remixes)
Whole Nine Yards (UK) January 2003
Never
Let It Go (C83 remix)
True
Liberation (Sounds of Sough remix)
Review by
Class
of '83 (aka C83) and electro veterans Sons of Slough deliver two fantastic remixes
of Solid Ground's hot new single, "Never Let It Go". C83 (Sam Gordon
and Jon Guntrip) take the prize with a classy floor-filler unleashing the drop-dead
gorgeous female vocals of the original mix over infectious house/breaks crossover
beats. "A real crowd pleaser" according to DJ Hyper who awarded this
record a whopping 5/5 score in DJ Mag, while Madam Breaks liked the track so
much that she picked it as the opening track of her "New BPM" CD.
A very different kind of sound on the flip, as Sons of Slough rework Solid Ground's
"True Liberation" into a hard, minimal electro track with jacking
beats and pumping sub-bass.
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Cedric
Benoit
Multibass
Lab-Rok (France) January 2003
Review by
Another delicious slab of funky breakbeat from Lab-Rok Records, France's
answer to Finger Lickin'! The label broke through last summer with the fantastic
"Rok the Place", caned by the likes of Krafty Kuts and Plump DJs.
Lab-Rok main man Cedric Benoit goes solo for this lastest release, "Multibass".
Skip the four-to-the-floor mix and head straight for the breaks mix on side
A, a superb Seventies style funky guitar jam stretching over seven minutes,
with plenty of wicked scratching and a beefy bass riff.
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Placebo
Passive Aggressive (Hisham's Broken Mix)
white label (USA) January 2003
Review by
This one-sided white label 12" features a wicked bootleg mix of
Placebo's "Passive Aggressive". Hisham Samawi from New York's Native
Theory crew is rumoured to be the man behind this bootleg. The familiar Placebo
vocals ride on top of funky tribal beats and ethereal synth sweeps, creating
a deep, druggy progressive breaks groove perfect for late nite / early morning.
Supporters include Ashley Casselle (aka Ashtrax), Phil K and Danny Howells.
Apparently Danny Howells is working on a re-edit, and hopefully Hisham's breaks
mix will be included on the official release. In the meantime seek out this
white label!
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Flashpoint
Birth of Smurf
Sinister (UK) January 2003
Review by
Brighton-based Flashpoint (aka Sam Marshall) is Sinister's resident breaks
guy. He previously remixed Big Head's "Luv Liv", but this is Flashpoint's
first proper single on Sinister, and a lot better than the "Luv Liv"
remix. Carrying the rather odd title "Birth Of Smurf", the original
mix is a deep atmospheric instrumental tech-breaks workout with freaked out
synths, funky percussive beats and smooth techy bassline action. Sinister's
prog-house duo Big Head are on the remix this time around, delivering a dark
four-to-the-floor mix called (inevitably...) the "Gargamel" mix.
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MOMU
The Dive
Loöq (USA) January 2003
Original
mix
Review by
MOMU's
floaty, melodic, West Coast-style take on the progressive breaks sound has won
them international attention. Only recently, the San Francisco-based duo (featuring
Jondi from well-known prog-housers Jondi & Spesh) released a 12" on
Functional Breaks in the UK. A forthcoming release on Bedrock Breaks is also
rumoured. "The Dive" is their latest 12" on San Fran's Loöq
label, a deep, chilled out tribal groove with trancey keys and a freaky girl
singing "You're faaaalling" over and over again (with music like this,
who needs drugs?) Jondi & Spesh provide a four-to-the-floor remix on the
flip but it's the original that does the business. Fans include Nick Warren
who has already licensed "The Dive" for his upcoming mixed CD "Global
Underground: Reykjavik".
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Incredible
Melting Man vs Scissorkicks
Funky Plaid Coat 2002
2 Wars (Canada) January 2003
Original
mix
Review by
Canada's Incredible Melting Man crew broke through in 1998 with their
raggafied big beat tune "Funky Plaid Coat" (released thru Dust 2 Dust
in the UK) and a lot more recently, their "Red Skull" EP hit the top
10 of DJ Magazine's prestigious breaks 'n' beats chart. This 2002 mix of "Funky
Plaid Coat" has been raising ruckus in the breaks scene lately, with support
coming from the likes of Aquasky, Dreadzone and Freq Nasty. For this new version,
Incredible Melting Man have teamed up with UK breaks veteran Scissorkicks, and
the result is a kickass party track with wicked ragga MCing over a BIG warped
bassline. The 12" also includes a dub by Melting Man plus two remixes by
Scissorkicks, but the original mix is the one to play. Ruff!
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Invincible
My Mind
Freakaboom (UK) December 2002
Original
mix
Databass
remix
Switchshift
remix
Review by
Invincible
are Johan and Tommy Stisch from Sweden's Sound of Habib label, two guys who
have earned huge amounts of respect and praise in the international breaks scene
as champions of the harder side of progressive breaks. Their debut 12"
under the name Invincible, "Untamed/Acid Burn", was top-notch and
this sequel "My Mind" delivers another powerful, anthemic prog-breaks
track with the female singer who also graced "Untamed" delivering
a gorgeous full vocal performance. The package is rounded out with two fantastic
remixes on side B. Freakaboom label boss Databass (aka Justin Owen) takes the
original in a techy direction with housey crossover beats, while hot new artist
Switchshift delivers the best of the two mixes, a smooth, funky roller with
cut up vocal snippets and butt-shaking bassline action.
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Lee Coombs & Meat Katie
Two Men on a Trip / The Hum (Meat Katie remix)
Finger Lickin' (UK) December 2002
Two
Men on a Trip
The
Hum
Review by
Following
on nicely from Meat Katie and Elite Force's tribal breaks anthem "Toba",
this 12" sees the meaty one teaming up with Finger Lickin' studio wiz Lee
Coombs. The result is "2 Men on a Trip", also featured on Coombs'
recent "Perfecto Breaks" mixed CD. A big-room track that combines
Meat Katie style tribal percussive breaks with squelchy Lee Coombs style acid
madness. The lads also drop some great oldskool house piano stabs in the breakdown.
On side B, Meat Katie sneaks a bit of tech-house onto a Finger Lickin' release
as he goes solo for "The Hum", a cool housey track named for his London
residency Hum.
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Sunscape and Chris Dee
Freaksound
Kubist (UK) December 2002
Review by
Breakbeat gods Koma & Bones deliver another top class remix on this
12" from Sunscape (aka Ben Shaw) and Chris Dee. The four-to-the-floor original
mix is classy, a deep pulsating progressive house track drowning in spacey reverb,
with filthy bass and emotive chanting. Koma & Bones' breaks mix, taking
up the B-side, is decidely more progressive and chilled out than their usual
fare, a late-nite track starting off with a moody intro using the lovely chanting
from the original mix, then dropping funky infectious K&B style breaks,
accompanied by deep proggy synths stabs and atmospheric sweeps.
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Smithmonger
Fuckwits in Midiland / Outside My Flat
TCR (UK) December 2002
Fuckwits
in Midiland
Outside
my Flat
Review by
The
Australian-born, classically trained Smithmonger (aka Paul Smith) has already
made a big impression with releases on house labels such as Hooj and Bushwacka's
Oblong Records. Now he's set to conquer the breaks scene as well with this excellent
TCR debut. "Fuckwits in Midiland" is a brilliant infectious four-to-the-floor
party track with funky, bumpy bottom end and loads of silly FX piled on top.
The Plumps, Meat Katie and Lee Burridge are just some of the big names that
are caning this tune. Side B offers Smithmonger's take on the 2-step sound dominating
the streets of his Brixton neighorhood. "Outside My Flat" is a deep,
floaty stepper with a big bouncy rolling garage bassline offset by light, bubbly,
sometimes eerie keys. Not your average TCR record but I think this one of the
label's best releases in a long time. More, please!
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B-Phreak
Bounce / Phuzz Ya
Badaboom (UK) December 2002
Review by
Freakaboom's new offshoot label Badaboom introduces a new signing from
Germany on this 12" the label's final release of the year. B-Phreak (aka
Bernie Ott) previously teamed up with the talented Circuit Breaker on German
breaks label Timing and indeed, "Bounce" sounds a lot like Circuit
Breaker's Berlin style breaks sound - dark, bottom-heavy techno breakbeat with
evil b-lines and plenty of pissed-off punk attitude. The track's looped "bounce"
vocal hook gets a bit annoying in the long run though. Flip to the B-side for
"Phuzz Ya", with funky percussive housey beats, nutty warped basslines
and a hilarious, dead clever "making music to piss you off" vocal
sample. A bit odd, but I like it!
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Reza
Unspoken Words
Loöq (USA) December 2002
Original
mix
MOMU
breaks remix
Review by
Chilled-out
West Coast style progressive house & breaks from San Francisco's Looq Records.
The original is a classy prog house track with beautiful melancholic keys. Looq'
s resident breaks duo MOMU (aka JD Moyer and Mark Musselman) impress with their
progressive breaks remix on the flip, a lush late-nite groover with a hypnotic
main riff over dreamy ambient synths and cool PMT style breaks.
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Loes
Lee & Meneater
Territory
Moving Target (Holland) December 2002
Review by
"Territory", the latest single from Moving Target boss Loes
Lee and studio sidekick Peter Meneater, nicely blurs the lines between breaks,
tech-house and progressive trance. The hypnotizing original mix offers atmospheric
late-nite fare with high production values, running tight, techy breaks over
cool floaty keys. Check the B side for a remix by American talent Kemek the
Dope Computer with more rolling style breaks punctuated by tweaky Josh Wink-like
acid lines.
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Friendly
Greedy / Fucking in Paradise
Boombox (UK) December 2002
Review by
Produced by Australian newcomer Friendly (aka Andrew Kornweiler), this
12" offers a rather unfinished-sounding housey breaks track on side A called
"Greedy (Filty Dirty Remix)" which didn't impress very much. The real
goods are on side B - hey, you can't really go wrong with a track title like
"Fucking in Paradise", can you? The tune itself is smashing too, a
humourful peaktime party track rocking an over-the-top filthy bass riff from
hell over rolling breaks, topped by female vocal snippets and even some ravey
whistles (cheeky!) The BPMs are quite high though so you'll probably be pitching
this down considerably.
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Chad Jackson
Rock
Acetate Ltd (UK) December 2002
Review by
Until not so long ago, Acetate Ltd was known for its dark tech-breaks
sound. The recent Krafty Kuts remix of Afrika Bambaataa's "Funky Heroes"
has taken the label in a cool new electro direction that continues with this
great new single from former world DMC mixing champion Chad Jackson. Unlike
the dark techy rumblings of his last 12" on Acetate, "Rock" is
a fun retro-ish electro breaks track with moody synths, monster bass and vocodered
"we're gonna rock you!" vocal. The 12" also offers a tribal-tech
four-to-the-floor mix but the main mix is definitely the one to play.
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