- For the past 5 years Fingerlickin' Records has made a huge name for itself in the breaks scene, picking up a best label award at the 2003 Breakspoll awards and being able to show off a roster of artists which includes the likes of the Plump DJ's, Krafty Kuts, Drumattic Twins, Lee Coombes, Stereo 8 and of course label owners Soul Of Man. Fingerlickin' Thang is the label's showcase of past, current and future Fingerlickin' tunes is now up to volume three and as usual Soul Of Man take to the wheels of steel to drive listeners through an hours worth of funky breaks tracks.
A. Skillz provides a cut up intro to volume 3 before Slyde's Slippedy Slide kicks off the mix. Definitely one of the funkiest breaks tunes from 2003, Slippedy Slide features a 70 funk style bass line, horn stabs and vocal samples (from where Coolio got the inspiration for his Fantastic Voyage). Slyde then return much later in the mix with That's It for more funky acid induced basslines, percussive breaks and feel good vocal samples.
Soul Of Man themselves provide a few cuts for the mix including two exclusives, the first being the deep and discoey Shake Em Down - a tasty slab of deep tribal beats, a funky disco guitar hook and old skool house samples. The bass heavy Acid Punch is apparently the second exclusive in the mix and was originally meant to be the flipside to The Drum, however they accidentally put Overdrive on it instead and labelled that Acid Punch. Speaking of The Drum it too appears here, and is definitely one of the highlights of the mix - percussive tribal beats with plenty of build ups and 2 or 4 bar breaks (making it slightly tricky for DJs to mix) scattered throughout.
A Fingerlickin' release can't exist without a few cuts from the Plump DJ's and they're featured on the electro influeced In Stereo with it's dirty funk bassline and vocodered vocal samples. When The Funk Hits The Fan has been recieving its fair share of club play and commercial radio play as well making it one of 2004's biggest breaks anthems and you can't go past the wicked bassline, synth hooks and the old soul vocal offering commanding listeners to get down on the dancefloor and "do your thing!".
Bristol's Stereo 8 are one of Fingerlickin's favourite new signings and the group have also made an impact on the dancefloor with their two singles, Groove Diggin' and Can't Stop b/w Flipmode. Groove Diggin' takes a fat, funky bassline and cheesy old skool disco/funk vocal samples to create a slick groove. Can't Stop makes use of a percussive break, acid-induced bassline and electro synth hook while Flipmode on the flipside goes slightly harder with an old skool latin influenced breakbeat and darker bassline.
More recent signings appear in the form of Brothers Bud vs Z2 who's Herbgrinder makes an appearance here in the form of a Drumattic Twins Remix who take the original ragga jump-up party breaks tune and turn it into a booty bass influenced stadium rocker featuring lots of old skool acid rave flavours and build ups. The Twins themselves offer up old skool funk and disco flavours on Mind The Gap taken from their wicked Drumattical LP, before the Plumps close out the mix with their latest offering Creepshow featuring a fat bass line, Kool & The Gang style horns, vocodered vocals and massive buildups.
For what's on offer here, Fingerlickin' Thang 3 nicely sums up the Fingerlickin catalogue for the past 2 years and provides a couple of eagerly-awaited exclusives, as all releases should. This is perfect for those who love their breaks funky and those who are curious to see what the fuss is all about, but doesn't provide much for DJs, vinyl collectors and hardcore breakbeat fans as many of these releases have been caned in the clubs and appeared on several other releases.