Tags: Breakbeat House

Review: Floorbound body-occupiers from Papa Nugs and The Trip for Tessellate, blanching wildstyle hip electro and irky rave sounds. With the A-side totally taken up by 'Keep Rocking' in two versions, we've a modish street style version in 'Casa Nova' form and a 'Hip House' breakbeat rendition. Then come the underside dread ones: 'Fearsome' tilts in the direction of ever more raviness with tuned, sandstorming stabs and gated voxes, while 'All Night' takes a dash of speed garage to the mishmash, air-raid sirens sounding through held chords all around.

Review: Two years on from his first M.A.D Edits EP, 'Rakim Redun Volume 1', Karim Sanchez once more dons the Rakim Under alias for round two. As with its predecessor, the four-track EP sees him breathe new life into lesser-known cuts from the past while adding his own samples and nostalgic musical elements. Clips of opener 'Transfer 91' were not available at the time of reviewing (too hot to handle, we assume), so we'll start with 'Gulf of Space', which sounds like a take on a turn-of-the-90s, bleep-era electro-meets-house jam underpinned by deep, heavy bass and peppered with spacey synths and sampled spoken word vocals. 'Wonderbean' is a more rubbery, elastic and energetic affair - all restless, jazzy bass, post-electro breaks and mangled vocal snippets, while 'Ko-Ko' is a tweak of what sounds like a proto-bleep electro workout.

Review: Break The House, the turbo-charged offshoot of Rave 2 The Grave, reworks two stone-cold anthems into modern rave weapons. Cell Out's take on 'Where Love Lives' strips things down to bare percussion and weighty low-end before the original's euphoric vocal and piano hook come surging back in full force. Meanwhile, teaming up with Sleeper Cell, they flip 'Good Life' into a break-laced juggernaut, distorting the bass and stretching the groove into something rougher and sweatier while keeping the heart of the classic intact. A high-energy, no-nonsense update built for the peak-time rush.

Review: It's five up for the small but already fine NRV label who welcome Me&MyDog for this one. There is a darkness to their brand of tech that is evident from the off with 'Body Move' with its stark drum hits and twist deadline, all topped with some moody vocal mutterings. 'Moonside' brings kinetic rhythms that have carefully designed percussion sprinkled over the top to bring some looseness. A login bassline keeps things firmly rooted to the floor while 'GR308L (6AM mix)' gets more trippy with some acid modulations and wispy synths all fleshing out the minimal grove.

Review: Kito Jempere delivers a fiery four-track package that will electrify dance floors with his first outing of 2025. A bold departure from today's mainstream dance sounds, his New Life EP blends adventurous beats with a rebellious spirit and the lead track channels New Order's Technique era but is infused with early hip-hop breaks and a mix of acid, happy hardcore and ghetto tech. 'LoveFilter' takes a dreamy, chilled trip across electronic landscapes while 'Killer Line De-Part' combines trance, grunge and '80s analogue vibes for a thrilling climax. Closing with 'Put Love Into Your Heart (Club Mix),' Jempere leaves us with uplifting, feel-good energy.

Review: Neoclassic acid-from-garage movements from Peter Reilley aka. Persian, a favourite of the UK dance music scene since as long as anyone can remember. For 20 years, Reilly has gone his own way, operating in and on genre after genre, up-peggable as he is adept, blending breaks, digidub, electro, garage, house, and jungle across a repertoire of no less than 50 EPs. Though this release serves as his farewell, as Reilly formally steps back from music production, it beautifully showcases his skill in programming, with 'Questions 2' proving a sleight hand for twinging post-funk leads, and 'Questions 7' bringing unprecedented sci-fi desolations to an erstwhile jam-funky tune collection.