- Now into their sixth full length album (well fifth if you don't regard Aftershock as an album - to those who don't know, it's a remix album of tracks from their Bodyshock LP - I like to think of it as Bodyshock part 2) Aquasky vs Masterblaster are now settling into the breakbeat sound they showcased on their last LP, Beat The System. Stayfresh is a collection of 12 dancefloor oriented tunes and they've already caused a lot of dancefloor damage leading into this album with the release of the two singles, Coffee and Take It To The Floor b/w War, both inciting mayhem and getting massive plays by DJ's the world over. Originally released on Shadow Cryptic, a breakbeat sub label to Rob Playford's legendary Moving Shadow imprint, the Australian release is overseen by those Sydney based breakbeat nutters Fuzzy Breaks who've previously released Krafty Kuts and Q45's Fuzzy Breaks CD and The History Of Breaks mixed by John Wall - one third of the Fuzzy crew.
Aquasky kick the proceedings off with Ill Method setting the mood for the rest of the album with its heavy basslines, melodic synth hooks and crisp breakbeats. It sounds like it's designed more for causal listening or a good track to open up a set with and the same can be heard on tunes like Planet Earth which appears toward the end of the CD.
Aquasky once again team up with hardcore favourites the Ragga Twins for a cup of Coffee which, since its release at the end of last year has been inciting dancefloor chaos and it's easy to see why - Coffee is an uplifting mix crossing the borders between breaks and garage with a distinct 4/4 edge to it. For those fluent in the rude bwoy tongue will be able to understand the Twins but their flows nicely compliment the melodic bassline and female vocal samples perfectly. Aquasky and the Twins team up once again for Dem No No We which harks back to when the Twins collaborated with Shut Up And Dance during the hardcore/old skool era. This one is a little more dancehall than Coffee and uses a fatter, squelchier bassline. For those who are digging Freq Nasty's take on 2-step/garage beats will dig this one.
Stayfresh isn't all about breaks I'm afraid with Seville going on a progressive trance vibe with Aquasky shedding off the breakbeat skin in favour of a four to the floor outfit featuring massive synth hooks and percussive beats throughout. Apparently (according to some well informed sources *cough* Phantom Beats *cough* *cough*), the trance/breaks sound is big in Spain so Seville is a perfect name for it and for those out there whose fancies have been tickled (does that sound right?) Aquasky are planning to inaugurate a brand new label, 777 specifically to showcase this sound.
For those like their breaks funkier are treated to the rolling beats on Take It To The Floor, funky horns, disco style guitar riffs and the occasional rave siren sit atop a pumpin' bassline with the 'sky showing off some scratching talent - yes it's designed for the "da-a-aee-aa-a-ancefloor". On a more old-skool b-boy tip is the title track featuring sped hip hop vocal samples that made hardcore beats from the mid 90's so good. If you liked Take It To The Floor then Stayfresh is right up your alley - B-Boy breaks, 80's funk style bass licks and more scratch talent from the boys.
Aquasky seem to be the first breaks artists to speak out about the war on terrorism and they do so on War featuring the vocals of Daddy Freddy who's gained even more fame by appearing in the Guiness Book Of Records for being the world's fastest rapper. War is a dubby reggae breaks affair, similar in style to the likes of Red Star - ragga style offbeat keyboard melodies and really deep basslines, hard enough to rumble any bassbin. Thankfully Daddy Freddy doesn't live up to his world record here, instead providing his point of view about GWB, his gangster tactics and war in general.
Fans of the harder, bassier style of breaks (me! me! me!) will get down with tracks like Dominatrix rinsing out the massive basslines and S&M oriented female vocal samples with peaktime buildups. Shadow Breaks which I first heard on Krafty's Fuzzy breaks CD appears in a new form - the Keep On Movin' Mix - and this time they've given it a bigger bassline (with massive bass stabs) and kept the female and robotic vocal stabs.
As a finale they close off Stayfresh with the Original Aqua Decaf Mix of Coffee, this time without the Ragga Twins on vocal duties. Aqua Decaf is right - it sounds very wet with it's squelchy acid hooks, spongey synth melodies and farty bass lines while keeping the bassline melody and female vocal stabs that made the breaks/garage version so popular.
As they did with Beat The System, Aquasky provide a second CD taking in the 12 tracks from the LP and mashing them up to provide a wicked mix. The boys have been kind enough to include 3 bonus tracks such as General Midi's awesome remix of Seville - straying away from the trancey 4/4 beats and moving into phat basslines and heavy breakbeats. Deekline and Ed Solo remix Coffee into a minimal Miami booty bass influenced monster and they include the original version of Shadow Breaks which the boys claim as being on the best breaks tracks they've ever made.
Stayfresh covers a pretty generous cross section of the current breaks scene as we know it. Aquasky bring out the deep and melodic as much as the funky, the hard and not to mention a good portion of the middle ground. A mate of mine (who has released on their Passenger label) has said that this album is all designed for the floor... awwwwtch'yeeeaaaah!