Breakbeat Recommendations February 2011

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: Picture disc vibes from veteran Dutch party starters Kraak & Smaak with "Dynamite" the prelude for a third album due out later this year on spiritual home Jalapeno Records. Seemingly occupying the previously unmined space where breaks, electro, deep house, funk and mainland European rap meet, "Dynamite" is idiosyncratically Kraak & Smaak in it's delivery, aided and abetted by the contribution of DJ Git Hyper and Sebastian (not thAt one!) A less flammable but equally danceable Boogie Funk remix from Kraak & Smaak driven by a funked out bassline occupies the B Side.