Breakbeat Recommendations Best Of 2010

Review: The eighth volume of the Big M's sample heavy series gives some old school classics the dirty breakbeat treatment. First up sees Breakbeat Junkie and DJP take on Tag Team's "Whoomp! (There It Is)", while DJ Kid Stretch re-imagines the legendary "Rapper's Delight" by Sugarhill Gang, laying down some funky as hell strings and killer drum programming. Flip over for the twisted synth carnival that is "Disco Monster" by Niko and the wobbling "Kingston Funk" by Stickybuds, which samples Basement Jaxx's evergreen "Do Your Thing".

Review: One of Good Groove's most popular releases gets an exclusive repress on clear dark blue vinyl before the label ends its run of sample based funk-outs in order to focus on original output. Catskills artist Feature Cast gets busy with a bunch of accapellas including a certain woman of the ghetto over an uptempo horn heavy funk groove. On the flip the mysterious QDUP foundation drown a cavalcade of classic hip-hop samples over a loose mid tempo bump.

Review: Formerly known to fans as Quasamodo, producer Dimitris Nassios keeps the funk flowing with his new moniker The Q Orchestra. "Ritmo Diabolico" is an awesome slice of Latin-infused house, with nu-jazz touches to the production that include rolling brass, long rising filter sections and even the odd Cuica sound to keep it bouncy. "The Pink Raider" backs it up perfectly with its chop-socky guitars and smooth, Donald Byrd-style trumpet leads. Look out for the forthcoming album Journey Through Sounds if this rightly floats your boat.

Review: Coming on strong after their album of the same name, Dutch trio Noisia drop this EP of "Split The Atom" with some killer remixes. The original's already got enough fire as a deep and heavy breakbeat banger complete with some epic builds. The mighty Ed Rush and Optical speed things up into a charging D&B worker, before stunningly dropping the tempo down back to it's original speed but still keeping the energy flowing. Dubstep producer ???? forensically takes apart "Split The Atom" also and builds it back up in a manic way over a chunky half-step beat. Plenty of bass-heavy fun all round.