- Rat Records label owners, Dee Kline and Ollywood take to the decks alongside the Ragga Twins MC's for a 4-man, 4-deck mash up, 4 all da breakbeat heads in the place (4x4x4!) featuring the anthems that have made the breaks scene what it is today, and new tunes from the likes of Aquasky vs Masterblaster, Rennie Pilgrem, Zinc, Hype, Stanton Warriors all the way to local Aussie breakbeaters Nubreed, Ransom and Phil K.
Upon first inspection of the tracklisting, the CD seemed unextraordinary as there were plenty of tunes which appeared on other CD's, however Deek-Line and Ollywood breathe life back into the tunes cutting and scratching on top of them with ample skill, while the Ragga Twins fire off their vocal artillery with precision accuracy.
Aquasky vs Masterblaster make quite an appearance and rightfully so - they are one of the leaders in the scene at this point in time. Take It To The Floor starts off the mix as do collabos with the Ragga Twins, their newie Coffee and the massive All In Check - you think the Twins would keep quiet since they're were already on the record - Hah! they ripped into both routines not missing one single word, yet still being able to improvise.
Pilgrem's remix of Emit/Collect by Zer0 is still one hell of a powerful breaks tune thanks to that synth melody and overall aggressive feel. Rippin Up Wax is the latest tune done by Deek-Line and Pilgrem and there's definitely influences heard from both producers - the garagey basslines of Deekline and the crisp drum breaks of Pilgrem.
On an anthems tip, tunes like 138 Trek by DJ Zinc gets a subtle reworking with MC Skibadee doing his Man-A-Man routine on top of "that" bassline, whilst Shut Up & Dance's Nova and the Stanton Warriors' bootie of Cosmos' Break Me With You can hold their own as being the most party-oriented tunes in the list. Gotta love that Stanton style breaks/house crossover business - you gotta do what you gotta do to get the masses into the breaks sound!
Of course, it's pointless to release a mixed CD without adding in new tunes and showcasing the underground breakbeat talent, who'd buy it? Not really newcomers to the scene, but lesser known producers such as Ed 209, DJ's Mutiny and Quest get a chance to shine with their tunes Be-Bop, Scratch Ting and Storm respectively. All tunes on a wicked garage tip featuring filthy basslines - check out the rising basslines on Be-Bop for example. These breakbeat kids - the future generation of beatmakers!
Local heroes Nubreed, Phil K and Ransom alongside Deek-Line offer up the Bushpig, this time it features new vocals by vocalist Yolanda - for about 1 verse! It's a dope tune no matter how you look at it - hip hop vocal samples cut up on top of one big bassline and chunky breaks! The recipe for rocking a dancefloor.
To end it all off - Reclaim The Streets by DJ Hype vs Shut Up & Dance, a swingstepper with a discernable punk/ska feel to it - if the beats are hard to dance to, mosh!
What's really impressive about this mix, is the really live feel about it - the lack of editing tools used to create the mix, as evidenced by a slight loss of sound quality towards the end. The beat matching is tight, so what you get here is one slick mix, without it feeling too programmed - it's a collection of the phattest tunes that have made a definite impact on the breaks scene in the past 3 years. And then some...
Check out the Rat Records website for more breaks related info.