Back catalogue: Breakbeat

Review: Based in Reykjavik, Iceland, since 2012 and established by by Jonbjorn Finnbogason & Viktor Birgisson, Lagaffe Tales celebrates a decade in the game with this terrific various artists compilation. Label staple Felix Leifur serves up the slo-mo balearic bliss of 'Cohen Social Club', Moff & Tarkin get some emotive sunset breaks in effect on the mood music of 'Pure Fury' while Jonbjorn - on point as always - contributes the glassy-eyed electro cut 'We're Not Alone' and finally Viktor Birgiss delivers the deep and dubby afterhours cut 'Ad Handan'.

Review: Romanian minimal rising star Macarie claims the 5th release for Alter Hour, and what a way to mark it. Macarie brings us three new tracks with a remix from Algorhythmic founder and one half of Dubsons, Vlad Arapasu. Dipping into atmospheric synths frequently, Macarie once again focuses on the listening atmosphere in a project that would feel like surround sound even in mono. The title track is an absolute winner, a broody minimal tech-house magnum opus that is sure to become a hot favourite in international DJ sets, with the following track 'Nuttertools' living up to its cheeky title - calling upon a late 90s videogame soundfont to create a midtempo clash of drums, chiptune and bouncing synths. 'She Man Down' samples a rap vocal that I'm assuming is Three 6 Mafia but couldn't find (Macarie out-dug me on that one,as to be expected); The Arapasu remix is stellar, playing with progressions and drops like it's nothing and creating a spooky effect with the chopped up vocal.

Review: After first surfacing digitally late last year, Matisa's Steel City Dance Discs label debut finally makes it onto vinyl - and not a moment too soon. Hard to pigeonhole but fiendishly heavy and floor-friendly, the four cuts on offer are rave-igniting workouts that somehow manage to sound both nostalgic and genuinely fresh. For proof, check opener 'Brillatine', where a warped, all-action bassline, fizzing electronics, Orbital-style female vocal snippets, jumpy stabs and pots-and-pans percussion hits cluster around a skittish, warehouse-ready breakbeat. 'Eyeliner' is a slightly more rave-centric chunk of heady breakbeat hardcore revivalism with added M1 organ motifs (and a rap-less accompanying hip-house style tweak from label boss Mall Grab), while 'Lip Plumper' is a muscular, hands-aloft house workout with layered percussion aplenty.

Review: Giorgio Maulini comes through to H24 with this two-track lip-licker, 'OG Kush', which, as the title should suggest, evokes the feeling of smoking herb when ingested correctly - without haste or anxiety. Exemplifying the incipient talent of his local scene, the title track is a smooth and snappy dream-whirl, synthetic organs and wahhing pads sloshing around the mix, while a remix from fellow producer Pressure Point seems to smoothen out and intensify things in equal measure.

Review: Megaphonim are an Isreali 'supergroup' whose chosen mode of expression is the twin use of the megaphone and the balaclava. Laying somewhere between booty bass, dream pop funk and anarchic punk, all its vocals are quite literally phoned in via an amplified and re-recorded megaphone, while its beats sound nearly as industrial as something produced by Cabaret Voltaire in their heyday. Techno informs on this EP only in its deconstructed, intertextual moments, as on the breakdown before 'Mainstream'. An impressive and different EP from the German group.

Review: Nsyde is one of those labels that only release music it truly believes in. This means there hasn't been a whole load of it, and it doesn't come on a regular basis, but when it does arrive, it's more than worthy of your attention. Mesak is next up with any electro-techno mix that opens with the thoughtful synths and skittish broken beat patterns of 'Katosi'. 'Narina' then layers up loopy drums and fuzzy sine waves that eventually grow into a celestial broken techno workout and Poborsk remixes with a flittering sense of rhythm constructed from infinitesimally small sonic details. 'Post Sweat' is a warm and balmy cosmic house closer.

Review: Three years in and Guachinche are proving themselves to be an essential outpost for UK hardcore and rave styles in Spain. Making their interests abundantly clear, their latest 12" is a VA affair simply titled The Rave. You know exactly what to expect from this release then, and DJ Rasco and Bubble Couple more than deliver on the rolling breakbeat and euphoric piano of 'Old Groove'. Suga7 mixes things up a little with some trancey elements folded into a deft, moody workout, while Mutantbreakz brings all the emotions to 'Keep It Up'. Raverman completes the set with a sound which is closer to the US big beat style of the late 90s, complete with some cyberpunk acid lines and a thread of mysticism in the breakdown. If you want big, bold rave styles, this record has got them in abundance.