Let’s talk about…bootleg music – specifically the work of Mr Bristow (who is shortly to deliver an official release according to rumour), which regularly consists of whatever he can get his hands on and is then chopped, spliced and diced before being re-presented it in recognisable but breakbeat-augmented form. Why, he’s like some sort of musical chef! In this instance he serves a dish where the main ingredient is M’s new-wave-y
…MORE
Monthly Archives: January 2014
MR BRISTOW: Pop Muzik (2014) Free download
TOM DRUMMOND: Thick Shake EP (2014)
Oz producer Tom Drummond goes at the bass like a bulldog on his second outing for Breakbeat Paradise with the Thick Shake EP. The opener and title track plunders Eminem’s Shake That to deliver ghetto funk then Walk It reworks UNK’s Walk It Out on what you might call ghetto crunk, followed up by a Marlena Shaw vocal on the punishingly heavy Ghetto Blaster leaving the whole affair to be
…MORE
DEROBERT & THE HALF TRUTHS: I’m Tryin’ (2013) + Going Places video + Free downloads
Rating: 
The latest release from Nashville, Tennessee-based funk/ soul label GED Soul comes from house band DeRobert & The Half Truths in the shape of the twelve track album I’m Tryin’. The thing is, it nearly didn’t. Get released that is. Times are hard these days for indy soul labels and also bands too. While, on the plus side, hardship does tend to encourage a certain feel to the music (we’ll call it ‘soul’), on the
…MORE
TRU FUNK: Tasty Beats Vol. 1 (2014)
As promised at the end of last year, the Polish funky breaks mafia (a.k.a. the Tru Funk label) return for 2014 with a brand new series – Tasty Beats Vol. 1 – and a truly international smorgasbord of dancefloor snacks. Bosnia’s Funk Efemdzemov provides a refried soul starter, Germany’s Jayl Funk keeps it hot with a bass-poppin’ main, Phunk Sinatra supplies a Greek beat
…MORE
ZAMALI: The Rebirth (2014)
The Timewarp Music nufunk tree has flowered early this year it seems with Belgian beatsmith Zamali‘s The Rebirth EP which yields five original instros and three remixes. Two of these remixes focus on the filtered guitar ‘n organ ‘n breaks of opener Funky Rotator but spin off in different directions. Apedroid plays up the more programmed aspects while Mister T emphasises
…MORE
FUNKOSOL: Fresh Beats Vol. 3 (2014)
The Funkosol label continues to join the unlikely dots between funky breakbeats and eighties synth-pop (yes, I’m talking about you, Junskee, with your penchant for a bit of Carol Williams) not to mention what sounds like the co-opting of house-y nineties soul (that’ll be you, Max Revolt) with the third volume of Fresh Beats Vol. 3. Funk Efemzdemov is also on hand with a brace of good-
…MORE
COCKNEY NUTJOB: You Make My Heart Go (2014) Free download
Now then class – hands up! What’s the most interesting thing you can do with a lollipop? No, not that Moneyshot, you pervert! Oh never mind – Bournemouth breaks brigand Cockney Nutjob has just finished conducting major beat surgery on Millie Small’s 1964 ska-pop version of My Boy Lollipop and now after multiple bass bypasses it starts, it stops, it swings, it skips a beat and it doubles its
…MORE
RACKABEAT & BAR-LOW: Step Out/ Air Tight (2014)
Hey everybody, let’s pull the lever on the Riddim Fruit machine and see what turns up for the start of 2014. Here we go – all the reels are spinning – hey – hold on a second – looks like someone’s been having a tinker with the workings – only two tracks have turned up instead of the normal four! There’s a punchy, paranoid bass-heavy bunch of cherries augmented with a little bit of Biggie 101 called Step
…MORE
DJTZINAS feat. CLINTON SLY: Real Good Gal (2014) + video
An Irish record label gathers no moss it seems for here is the Dirty Dubsters‘ label Irish Moss hustling out another drop a mere month after the remixes package for their very own collab with Jamaican roots man Turbulence. This time around it’s a Greco-Canadian team-up as Clinton Sly praises half the human race over Djtzinas‘ jolly (and jolly bass-y) version of the This Is Jam Hot
…MORE
GHOSTFACE KILLAH: The Champ (FREQNIK & WDRE rework)(2014)
NY duo Freqnik & WDRE continue to cement their reputation for quality throwback boom-bap production with this rework of Ghostface’s pugilistic parable The Champ from his 2006 Fishscale LP. Where the original lumbers around with a plodding beat, weighed down by rock guitars and intrusive crowd samples, the bootleg is a stripped-back alternative with a break that offers a much funkier
…MORE
