Back catalogue: Breakbeat

Review: The Distorsion camp offers up its first sampler as a way of teasing you with the sort of quality sounds and artists it has on its roster. First up is a three-way collab between Citybox, Hankook & Orebeat whose 'Dangerous Changes' is an intense breakbeat workout for the peak time. Orebeat & Alex Clubbers keep the energy levels high and inject early 00s video-game style synths, Orebeat & Citybox keep it dark and raw with 'Gangsta' and Orebeat & JottaFrank laced up their thrilling breaks with acid lines and sleazy vocals on "Noche De Paris.' This is potent stuff for strobe-lit floors.

Review: Handsonwax top up their esteemed repertoire with another four tracks added to their anonymous white labels series. 'Volume 3' continues the elusive label's preference for cheesy breaks lent to classic dance music motifs, leading the charge with a whomping breakstep version of Max Romeo's 'Chase The Devil', followed by a blissful dub techno excursion. The B-side rerubs Moodymann to delicious ends, while the star of the bunch reworks a rework; that is, Herbert's snappy version of Louie Austen's 'Hoping', except this time it's lent a swath of extra soulful house ornamentations.

Review: REPRESS ALERT!: Burnski's superb Pilot label is back with more club-ready gold and this one is from Hatori Hanso. He opens up by covering the gorgeously deep and soul enriching sounds of a Pepe Bradock classic but reworks the pads into a more thumping breakbeat rhythm. 'My Chorus' is a soft acid delight with surging breaks heading off into the cosmos and 'I'm A Taker' then has a squelchy bassline to die for that dances about between snappy snares and lively kick drums. 'Kraulen' shuts down with some boogie energy, radiant chords and more crispy drum patterns for good time fun.

Review: 'Loose Fit' isn't always the first song name that springs to mind when thinking about the Happy Mondays, but the immediately identifiable opiate guitar riff is up there with the band's most memorable and infectious. A highlight of the group's third album, Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches, the track was already dancefloor ready before this pack of re-dos arrived on the scene. We're glad it did, though. Greg Wilson and Che Wilson open the scoring, keeping things thoroughly Manchester and acid-tinged, it's a trip through the blue lights and sweat of a warehouse at 2AM. The Grid's EOE Edit and subsequent Remix take the tempo down and the atmosphere deeper, almost druggier if that could humanly be possible given the wider context here. Topped off with a post-club overture in the form of the epic downbeat Perfecto version, and you might want to stick it in the shopping cart now.

Review: This one hits like a love letter to the raw energy of early warehouse nights. From a UK producer who's been around the block more than a few times, the EP drips with old skool DNA but never feels like a copy-paste job. It's gritty, sweaty and awesome. 'Moved (part 2)' kicks things off with a pounding rhythm and a melody that instantly pulls from the golden age of rave. There's something serious in its tone, dramatic even, with a warped vocal sample urging you to move. Think late nights with strobe lights, where records like 'Energy Flash' or 'Testone' were gospel. 'What Is Houz' flips the mood but keeps the intensity. This one rides a low, tracky groove, dipping into minimal and funky acid touches that feel tailor-made for a dark room dancefloor. Turn the record over and you're tossed straight into the breakbeat jungle with 'Satisfaction'. It's all rattling drums, big vocals and classic rave swagger. No subtlety here, just full-throttle. 'The Prowl' closes things out on a moodier note, with acid lines creeping through a dark, melodic structure that echoes vintage Belgium techno. It's the sound of someone who's been through every era and still knows how to light the fuse. This isnt a copy cat trip down memory lane. This really makes you feel like a movement could happen again with these vintage sounds.

Review: Will Hofbauer and Igaxx collaboratively expand the all-too-easily received palettes of electro, techno, garage all in between, and even more yonder, proving to us that the boundary edges of each genre may be blurred without worry. Sharing three groove-bays each on this latest 12", Hofbauer indulges an across-the-pond sojourn, guesting on Japan's Ladybug label, which is managed by the also eminent Igaxx, who occupies the B with equal grip. Hofbauer's 'Cricket', 'Clod' and 'Cocodrilo' bring three endocrine C's to a singly sanguine side, echoing a Hessle Audio-esque experimental dance sensibility while secreting all manner of vital sonic fluids from his ears unto ours; the last track is especially alarming; cursedly toothy, its growly lead zombifying the elsewise rapid mix by way of an enthralled grunt. Igaxx's contributions are relatively supportive and yet mad, moving from the squelches and pipey ascensions of '4 5 SL Trip' to the parabreaks flows of 'Liquefy' and the sloshing cosmo-funk astro-vista that is 'Ray In Space'.

Review: Yet another early Masters At Work proto-jungle cut gets released on the inimitable Kay Dee recs. 'Blood Vibes' (Demo Version) is a desirous gemstone whose best facets reflect reggae, hip-hop and party breaks, though each side can only partially bend the unmissable light that is Kenny Dope" Gonzalez's production touch. Built around elements of Junior Reid's reggae classic 'One Blood', 'Blood Vibes' came about amid the pose-striking ballroom craze in New York in 1991, and even now we can hardly prepare ourselves for the riot that ensues on the following B-side, 'The Madd Cry'.

Review: London underground night train riders Deadbeat Records prioritise techno-breaks handmade for late night and early morning dancefloors, times when both the best and worst comes emerges from each of us. Their inaugural Deadbeat Breaks compilation hears six out of ten full digital curations brought to a shadowy, space-invaded black vinyl truncation, with modern talking synth vomits from Olly Rant, booty bass hups from Hunter Starkings, hackney parroting hurtles from Rnbws, and a closing breakstep broil from Hooverian Blur.

Review: Swung Selections is back with a second volume of club ready tech house bangers. There is a great blend of retro nostalgia and fresh and forward-facing sound designs across the four-track selection. Soulfreq's 'Holiday Break' begins with twisted old shock bass and slapping hits. Retrospect then keeps it smooth with the nice cool tech bubbler 'Pickled Moose,' No Results Found wigs out the floor with the wriggling synth madness and electro rhythms of 'Tackle Maestro' then Harrison BDP shuts down with the thumping house of 'Buggin Out.'