Juno Recommends Breakbeat: Best of 2022

Review: Arriving some five years after the original 12" created a dancefloor paradigm shift, Roy Of The Ravers returns to his 'Emotinium' classic with an EP of updated retakes, complete with the previously unheard original demo mix in all its twenty minute glory. 'Emotinium' first appeared on the '2 Late 4 Love' cassette in 2015, and caused a storm as part of a four track EP with the same name a year later, played as a festival opener by the likes of Bicep and in Sameheads' Berlin basement parties. The dreamy electro meets 303 melodics of the original are brought up to breaks speed accompanied by an Ambient Dub for afters and of course the longform demo.

Review: Well this one is fun. And fun, just about, in a good way, rather than stupid silly un-cool and uncouth fun. Kolter's Breakarama EP kicks off with the title track which makes use of the melodic motif from TV's much loved animation Futurama. It is sure to get some super reactions in the club with its playfulness and charm. 'Ghost In The Breaks' is more serious, with a slick and futuristic feeling breaks vibe then 'Get Out James!' is another laugh that makes use of the iconic riff from James Bond over some sleazy and dark UKG. 'Horny Breakdancers' is an airy, uplifting one to close.

Review: REPRESS ALERT!: Pilot comes correct with a third new release in quick succession. We were big fans of the first two and this one is another muscular, action packed slab of wax from North Phase. Once again he draws on many different genres to cook up his floor filling beats. 'Electronic Funk' is a bit of a throw back to when the Plump DJs were good, while 'D1000' then gets more down and dirty on scuzzy bass and electro pops. 'Escape & Evasion' is the most heady of the lot with its sparse atmosphere and old school breaks and 'Halo' closes on a cosmic borne beat wig out.

Review: Since joining forces as Soul Mass Transit System a couple of years ago, Baby J and D Jason have released a wealth of club-ready 12" singles, many of which explore their love of vintage UK garage. This EP on Vivid is a little more eclectic but no less celebratory or peak-time ready. For proof, check saucer-eyed opener 'Set You Free', where giddy old school piano stabs, stretched-out sub-bass and spinetingling female vocal samples ride a rolling breakbeat, and the revivalist hardcore hedonism of the ludicrously bass-heavy 'Nah Nah Nah'. They doff a cap to their bassline roots on crunchy breakbeat roller 'Phat Booty', before drawing a fine EP toa close with the two-step-goes-Niche heaviness of 'Smoke'.

Review: Breakbeats have been back in fashion for a hot minute now. They are reliable vehicles for many things - all out high energy raving or piano laced uplifting joy. We get a bit of all of that more on this new selection of remixes of Andonicus's 'Make You Whole' tune. Dusky go first with a feel good and euphoric sound that is old school in mood but new school in execution. Coco Bryce then deploys some of his masterful jungle breaks for a high energy trip and after a remaster of the big and bouncy original version comes a Smokin Jo dub that is pure fire.

Review: Kraak & Smaak are back on Jalapeno with their inimitable brand of big, bad and bold beats. Ben Westbeech guests on their new hit 'Squeeze Me', which manages to strike a balance somewhere between big beat, hip-hop and funk, with a soulful vocal turn which has its eyes on crossover success. The stabs alone have 'drivetime hit' written all over them. On the flip you get a slinkier disco house vibe as 'Bobby & Whitney' slides out across the grooves of this 7". Boogie synths aplenty, a catchy chorus and some killer wah wah guitar chops abound - all the goodness you need as we enter the warmer months of the year.

Review: The Jalepeno label is a famously fiery funk outlet that serves up more of that dance floor heat here. It comes from Skeewiff's One Sample Short Of A Lawsuit EP back in 2000 and gets pressed to its own tidy 7" here. As the title of that EP suggests, this is music that mashes up the past with a serious of sizzling samples over driving rhythms. 'Shake What Your Mama Gave Ya' is real horn led b-boy stuff with crashing breaks, and on the flip is 'Man Of Constant Sorrow' with its nagging and iconic vocals over a more country-fried funk beat.

Review: Vivid's unashamedly retro-tinted breakbeat assault continues apace with five more high grade suggest. It is the newly emergent, in form Daffy who follows up a nice EP on Time Is Now earlier in the year with throwback mash up. There are rigid metal chords panning about the mix next to bleeping fax machines and bustling breaks on the opener and from there he doesn't let up. 'Dents' is a bass heavy garage workout with razor sharp hits and 'No Caller ID' drops deeper into warped garage basslines. 'Palm Tree' is pure jungle goodness, and last of all 'Don't Think' is maybe the best of the lot.

Review: Here's some no-nonsense breakbeat powered party tackle from a shadowy crew simply called Fellas With An Attitude. This is one of those flips which will have you roaring with approval on the dancefloor, as an iconic vogue-centric rap gets framed by a rolling break, nagging cuts and jagged samples. It's not as rough as you might think though, and there's a plush pad to smooth everything over and help this party rocker go down easy. On the flip, another version channels a slow proto-hardcore vibe from the era when Blapps Posse et al were working out what to do with breakbeats, electro drum machine beats and hip hop sampling. This one will do some damage.

Review: After this pair of Leeds residents made waves last November with their first EP for Pilot, Bobby O'Donnell and Reeshy return to lay down four new tracks that definitely stray towards the electro end of the breaks/electro spectrum. There's a sense of continuity, as the first EP's tracks - labelled 1-4, are followed by tracks 5-8, as well as being executed with a proper human touch that not all such machinefunk can boast. '6' is full of spiralling Drexciyan mystery, before being pared down to an LFO-style bass prod. '8' also echoes the former legends of Leeds with its dreamy pads and acid backdrop - something in the local water supply. Definitely funky enough to keep the breaks DJs onside, but with a thorough knowledge of love of 40 years of electronic music heritage at its disposal too, this is one release you should make sure you not miss.

Review: The latest from Burnski's Vivid label is a three way split, six track affair with Oldboy, Xander and Longeez each dispatching a pair of tunes in the label's trademark roughneck breakbeat style. - Oldboy kicks off proceedings with the speedy junglisms of 'Blackbird' before the chunkier, funkier and a little more traditionally paced breaks heft of 'Walrus Party'. Xander's 'If I Tell EM' and 'Get To The Point' both plays off two step rhythmic twists and menacing bass against dreamy synths and more breakbeaty flourishes, before Longeez closes proceedings with the slightly sparser 'Evermore' - super sharp hi hats and echoing rasta dialogue - and the appropriately spinback-peppered 'Wheel Up'.

Review: Way back in 1994, two San Francisco scene sorts - Courtney Nielsen and DJ Spun - joined forces for a debut single as Central Fire. Heavily influenced by sub-heavy UK breakbeat but blessed with the kind of psychedelic acid lines and trippy electronics that were then a big part of the Bay Area free party sound, 'This Is Going Out' has become something of a cult classic in the years since. This much-needed Mint Condition reissue boasts all three tracks from the original EP: the pleasingly rolling and dubby 'Into The Future' and marginally chunkier Jim Hopkins' mixes of 'This is a Shout Going Out', and the freewheeling dub disco-goes-house heaviness of 'Central Fire (Yes People's It's Time: part 1 & 2)'.

Review: After some wicked EPs by Yosh, Etch and Tom Jarmey, here is some proper underground UK flavour courtesy of Burnski's Vivid imprint - a new sub label of Constant Sound. The latest one this week is by the enigmatic Tamoshi. On the A side, we have the snarling minimalist roller called 'The System' which is quite reminiscent of early DJ Krust. Over on the flip, hear a convincingly old school junglist stepper, the fittingly titled 'Darkside' that goes all the way back to '95. One for the heads.

Review: Dolly Records secure our latest dose of heat. The holy trident of breaks, trance and acid is achieved in a single track, condensing the three styles into a 'Single Scene' that we could more than imagine would take most club culture capitals by storm nowadays. The follow-ups 'Solar Cycle' is a moody, reesey, wondrous gem, cut across by its high pluck synth, which is hilarious in its fitting contrast. 'Paradise' bloops away, meanwhile, into discordant robo-blivion.

Review: Astonishingly, a quarter of a century has now passed since The Prodigy released The Fat of the Land, the inspired rock-rave fusion opus that helped rocket the Essex combo towards superstardom and converted a whole generation of spotty indie kids to the joys of rambunctious rave music. It's certainly worthy of this limited-edition anniversary pressing, which comes on eye-catching silver-coloured vinyl. Of course, we all know the smash hits - the bustling, acid-flecked roll of 'Smack My Bitch Up', ultra-heavy 'Firestarter' and funky, low-slung 'Breathe' - but the set's lesser-celebrated moments, such as hip-hop jam 'Diesel Power', Meat Beat Manifesto-esque 'Serial Thrilla' and punky 'Fuel My Fire' have aged equally as well.

Review: Johannes Kolter is Kolter, an artist formerly known as DJOKO, and now a hotly tipped breaks and garage head who has already got plenty of attention. Here though he makes a grand and widescreen statement with the first release on the all-new Pilot label. It is a stylish and adventurous record with plenty of killer cuts from the downbeat hip hop opener to the deep house delights of 'Journey' via the elastic and energetic future house kicks of 'Roboflow.' Showcasing both a knack for well craft synths and expert drum programming precisions, this record plays out like a mini DJ set with all the twists and turns you need to keep you on your toes and fully engaged.

Review: Since he first landed on our radar via Vivid a few years back, Yosh has dished out enough high grade garage and breakbeat gear to fuel the scene on his own. Not only a prolific producer, he's also got a razor sharp flair which edges him in front of a crowded scene, and now he's back to Vivid to show us exactly what he's about with a 12-track double-pack, his biggest release to date. In one sense you should know exactly what to expect - elevated steppers and deft rollers, but the fundamental appeal of Yosh is all those ear-snagging traits which make his tracks sparkle, and you never know what they're going to be until the needle's tracking in that groove. Now you can enjoy that sensation 12 times over - a good deal if ever we saw one.

Review: After the best part of waiting for a year, Dusky finally bring vinyl Joy into our lives with last year's remarkable LP. One of their most explorative albums to date, over 13 tracks the Anjunadeep alumni get busy over a vast euphoric terrain. Flexing from their now signature bouncing breakbeat excursions such as 'Soundcheck' and 'Invisible' to more floor-focused cuts like 'Eros' and 'Lift', the London duo maintain a vitality and energy throughout the instrumental excursion, taking scenic routes at every surprise turn. From the surging piano uplift of 'Local Newspaper' to the beautiful and arresting ambience of the closer 'Silver', this is Dusky's most accomplished LP so far. Third time's the charm.

Review: Second time around for '90s jungle and drum & bass revivalist Coco Bryce's 2020 Lobster Theremin debut, the 21st century junglist classic that is Deep Into The Jungle. The prolific producer hits the ground running with the weighty but rolling 'Flight Six Six Six', where sustained chords and bubbly electronics catch the ear, before opting for a rave-inspired deep breakbeat hardcore sound on 'Vegan Library'. Over on the flip, 'Deep Into The Jungle' is a barnstorming, 21st century jungle anthem full of tightly-edited breaks, dub-wise breaks and manipulated vocal samples, while 'Only When I'm Dreaming' is a deeper, more sparse-sounding affair that pushes picturesque melodies to the fore.

Review: Ludwig AF 'Air - A Retrospective' was made over the course of the last eight years. It is, says the artist, a hugely personal collection of music that isn't officially a debut album but instead a lot back on what has been achieved so far. This is dreamscape music, techno with airiness in it an ambient synth design that soothes the mind, body and soul. Sometimes it is full-on new age, post-rave tackle doused in rushes of E-ed up emotions like on 'Sequoia' and at other times it is more quiet, reflective and introspective such as on the star-gazing 'Mycena Lux Coeli.' Whatever he is doing, the results are timeless.

Review: BufoBufo aka. Ben Murphy debuts his first LP on Altered Sense, breaking away from his own self-run label Ritual Poison for a long-form demonstration of ambient breakbeat in multiple movements. At first cochlear glance, each track here appears as simple ambient braindance a-la Global Communication or Kid Spatula, but the progression of each tune is much more fleshed out than what would normally be expected of your run-of-the-mill Apollo Records wannabe. 'Water Scorpion' is the post-rave reesey highlight, while 'Starmetal' continues into uncharted techstep trance territory.