Breakbeat Recommendations Best Of 2011

Review: Veteran Australian sample plunderer Nick Thayer returns to the always dependable Bomb Strikes imprint with a triplet of speaker worrying bumps that demonstrate the producer has lost none of his bounce. Hogging the A Side, "Do You Want More" cheekily snips off the hook from a UK rock classic and marries it to a heavyweight synth lead that gets full marks from the head nod committee. From such rowdy beginnings Thayer continues in similar fashion on the flip with the AV8 leaning bump of "Rhythm Method" swerving between synth heavy bumps and more sample centric moments, whilst the concept for "Ladies Love Cool Jams" is fully unveiled in the title, focusing on one of rap's greatest.

Review: Breakbeat Paradise comes through with this twelve of expert nu-funk from an international cast of players with France, the UK, Canada and Denmark all repping! It's the Gallic sample fiend Prosper who lays down the gauntlet on "Freak Hop Part One" which slips in a spot of everyone's favourite Hispanic potheads before working in a record 4,726 further samples (we got our intern to count them) before the track finishes in sultry form. Danish don Badboe takes up the reins on the sequel which ups the pressure with some slick B Boy attitude whilst almost matching Prosper in the sample stakes. Not to be outdone, the UK is fully repped by Breakbeat Junkie and DJP who drop some vociferous old school vibes on the third part - just wait for those MOP horns to drop! Finally Canada's Audited Beats goes for the low slung vibe - cramming more bounce into the ounce amidst the usual dizzying array of samples.

Review: The inimitable funkateers known as Funk Burners return with a second round of self styled Funky Burner party heaters effortlessly proving there ain't no party like a Funk Burners party across the five tracks/tools. Anyone with a base appreciation of samples will recognise much of what makes up the two variants of "Funky Music Party" though it's the devilish potency with which the Burners assemble the bumping rhythms and funked out riffery that impresses on both the beat heavy and scratchadelic versions. An accapella tool is also included for the more imaginative minds out there. On the flip "Party Of The Century" is a pretty self explanatory shameless melding of many a party mentioning track across a neat mid tempo disco rap bump, whilst "Manifest Party" ramps up the speed but retains the hip-hop feel.

Review: The third instalment in Fat Hop's series of jukebox 72 singles sees self-confessed 'ageing hipster' Itsu Uno deliver another pair of B-boy friendly breakbeat bombs. In the best traditions of the cut-and-paste record - think Steinski's "Lessons" or "Say Kids What Time It Is" by Coldcut - "Noise Of The B-Boy" whips through a barrage of classic funk breaks at a furious pace, adding all manner of floor-friendly samples and thunderous basslines. It's fast, funky and incessant - funk and breaks dancefloors will love it. Flipside "Murder Scene (Concerto In Bass)" offers a pleasingly heavy hip-hop tempo mash-up of Psycho strings, hip-hop vocal samples and tight scratching.

Review: Bomb Strikes drop their first twelve of the year filled with all the weaponry a house party needs on one handy twelve inch. Pimpsoul commences proceedings with the chunky mid tempo electro bounce of "This Time" which craftily utilises a well known vocal hook, twisting it around the speaker worrying crunch. Bomb Strike regular Parker occupies similar territory on "Hear Ya Say" opting for a classic psychedelic rock staple to base his multi-layered sampledelic sound around. Antipodean talent Slynk opens the B Side with the Tom Drummond featuring "Woah Now" an expert uptempo melding of p-funk, boogie and filtered breaks whilst the excellently monikered Neon Steve goes all schizoid analogue freakout on the punchy dubstepper "I Got The".

Review: The Breakbeat Junkie and DJP join forces for the latest drop on the Baffin Island Beat Brigade label - with the results just the sort of incendiary prime time club heater you'd imagine. First up the boys join forces on the mid tempo bump of "Time to Roll" all heavily filtered hunks of funk horn and big slices of synth bass dirt. The always dependable All Good Funk Alliance ramp up the tempo for the accompanying remix - twisting the track into a killer electro funk odyssey replete with jagged laser beam synths and plenty of rhythmic shifts. On the flip it's solo efforts ahoy as The Breakbeat Junkie takes the lead with a homage to DJ Mink via "Flip The Mink" which contains loads of classic breaks whilst DJP ends proceedings with "Controlling The Club" - an exercise in the producer's adeptness at flipping a million well known samples.

Review: Signed by Wass Records head Smoove to inject a healthy jazz and swing flavour to the label, this debut album from Renegades of Jazz's David Hanke stays loyal to the original beats when he samples them - as on opener "Hooked On Swing" or the brass-packed "Get A Wiggle On". Pitched somewhere between electro-swing and more hip-hop orientated cut and paste samplers, this is an album full of thrills and spills, with plenty of jazz and beats to keep fans of multiple genres.

Review: Heavy Duty Booty return for a seventh round of funkafied delights with Portuguese tweaker Mr Bird once again at the helm. The A Side contains the Latinised bombastic sounds of "Dr B's $ Bills" which dovetail nicely with the incessant funk riffery of "Funky Honey" with sweet vocal hooks soon joined by a grimy moog lead! On the flip "Super Stitch Up" provides DJs with an alternate take on the oft requested Stevie Wonder classic which bolts on a great big funk break to give the track a nice dirty feel. It's probably the centrepiece of a release that ends on the uptempo jazz funk stomp of "Theo's Theme".