- Now in it’s 7th year, Fat Records’ Chew The Fat night has become one of the longest running breakbeat nights in the world and has played host to breakbeat’s biggest names including the Plump DJs, Stanton Warriors, Krafty Kuts, Adam Freeland, Rennie Pilgrem, Meat Katie, Soul Of Man and many others of course and is hosted by none other than Fat Records’ head honcho, Paul Arnold. Chew The Fat now makes the transition from successful club to the world of mix compilations and to instigate the madness Fat have asked none other than Breakspoll 2003’s Best New Artist Friendly to provide the mix.
A slice of b-boy funk breaks kicks off the mix with Fort Knox Five’s Dodge City Rockers before getting right into the crossover house and breaks sound with Soul Of Man’s Shake Em Down - deep hollow beats, disco guitar licks and highly suggestive lyrics have made this tune a massive club hit since its release. Friendly’s fellow Aussie producers Nick Thayer and Bass Kleph have taken the classic Drumattic Twins tune Feeling Kinda Strange and injected testosterone into it with a dirty rolling bassline, funky tech stabs and an 80s rock style breakdown designed to get hands clapping.
Friendly then gets into a medley of his own tunes and remixes starting with one of 2004’s biggest breaks anthems The Bump And Grind - instantly recognisable for its “boom, boom, bap!” vocal sample and ear drum piercing breakdown. He then provides an electro remix for US breaks DJ Simply Jeff’s Your Body and finishes off his medley with the jackin beats and bouncy bassline of Jack (So Ride Me).
A few classics and anthems get updated for the mix with Friendly laying down some wicked acapellas. Le Dust Sucker’s Mandate My Ass gets mixed in with Fat’s latest release – the deep and quirky electro beats of Soho Jo’s I Like To Dance (with Satisfaction style robot vocals). The massive Stanton Warriors remix of Chicken Lips’ He Not In meets the acapellas of Mobilegazer’s My House - cleverly placed so that the bassline breakdowns coincide with the “Break it down!!!!” and the mix closes out with the Plump DJs’ Bullet Train which incites the listener to “tear the fuckin club up!” thanks to the Ghetto Tears acapella courtesy of Whiplash.
This first edition of Chew The Fat certainly encompasses what has made the club night so popular – it’s a fun mix which crosses the boundaries between house, electro and breakbeat seamlessly. The only drawback is that it has come out late and covers many tunes that have appeared in many other mixes.