If you’ve been lacking in chunky bombas Latinas to make your sets super caliente recently, you could do a lot worse than cop the Beat Broker’s debut – new 45 El Barrio Strut the title track of which occupies Side A and consists of an uptempo keys-n-horns-led 60s Latin boogaloo-style banger. On the flip meanwhile not one but two cuts, both excellent but both weighing in at under two minutes, beat-tape style. Bass By Dope Demand loosely takes its bassline cues from the intro to King Bee’s classic hip-hop cut before dropping into heavy psych-funk mode while Steppa’s Delight is both a deeper groove and looser on its feet pairing Latin funk percussion with squelchy blaxploitation guitars and horns. It’s a release that’ll have you gagging for more and the Beat Broker could do a lot worse than actually extending/ remixing both the B-side cuts into full length tracks. You might also want to know that two pounds of the purchase price for this release contributes to the Ashley Beedle fundraiser.
(Out 12 October on Echo Chamber Recordings)