Safebreaks Volume 1

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  • A lot of breaks compilations and mixed CD's have been coming out lately, and due to the overall quality of them, it's been hard to determine which ones are the ones to get and which ones would make better beer coasters. For those out there more inclined to the harder side of nu-skool (ie. TCR, Mob, etc), Safe Sounds has put out Safe:Breaks to showcase some of the more underground and lesser known breaks technicians out there. Solar's Return To iO is an electro charged breaks number, similar to some early work by FreQ Nasty back in his Freqs, Geeks and Mutilations days. Dan F's Interceptor is an awesome track which is highly recommendable to bassline fans out there. Nu-skool pioneers Koma & Bones offer up a tech-breaks remix of Cotton Club's Nu Jack 2K. Using a very melodic arpeggio line at the beginning, the track gets harder with some interesting bass stabs during the middle, before building up into a sinister sounding breaks track, utilising some interesting samples, one of which sounds like a laser slicing through some thick metal. To round it off, they bring back the arpeggio line from the beginning to soothe the soul. A lesser known but highly skilled producer, Kraymon, offers up a remix of Class Of 83's Neptune. This track is used to start the mix CD and it rightfully should with it's subtle introduction, it builds up quite nicely with some deep basslines and wicked drum fills - it's a breaks track after all! Dark Globe offers a remix of Loes Lee's Personal Space. Building by The Buzzard Necks is on a more groovy breaks tip and is one for the build up of a set. The mad bassline should get heads nodding easily. This track also features some really crisp drum patterns along with some interesting syncopation techniques. TCR cohorts 2 Sinners remix Psycho Friend by Duel featuring the vocals of Candy Man. An electro breaks version of Xpress 2's Lazy in a way with the vocals sounding a little out of tune and could be the answer to Dark Globe & Boy George's Autoerotic. Local boy, EK brings us the hard thumping bass drum sounds on Watch Dis which includes a dropping bassline and some tech stabs on the top. Lovely bass interlude in the middle, which bring out some electro elements into the frame. The bass drum patterns get into some quadruple beat thuds towards the end. Definitely the highlight track of this compilation Sound Of Habib's Stisch uses the tinny snare sound on Beat Shop then removes the beat altogether for a synth line acapella. Heavy bass with a little hard rock influence make up the rest of this track. The Swedish label providing a different outlook on the state of breaks in 02. Manchild's remix of Authors Of Streetology's Don't Panic is the first real foray into 4 to the floor on this release. Similar in sound to some Plump DJ's releases with the wobbly bass sound and the disco-like beat. Nice way to end the unmixed portion of this CD. Sound Of Habib's Johan gets busy with the 10 tracks on the unmixed CD and adds in a few others such as Bent Coppa's Break In Future Funk Squad's Direct D-Pimp's Sonar Objects' N00b and Random Source's Zombie Rats all thrown into the mix to add a bit of flavour. For fans of Tribalizm out there, the mix CD is definitely for you and speeds up the tempo a bit. You may even find this more refreshing as it does not have repeat tracks from other CD's. For DJ's out there who can't get their hands on the vinyl, then this is also for you. At least do it for the EK track! For those who aren't into breaks, Safesounds are also releasing a house compilation called, Safe:House. Should be worth getting.
RA