Back catalogue: Breakbeat

Review: Following great releases on Dansu Discs, Carpet & Snares and Timeisnow, Italian DJ and producer Davide Piras aka DJ Chupacabra returns this week on the second part of Innsbruck-based label Mont Lake's five-year celebrations. His track on side A 'Growler' is a dusty and swing-fueled deep house jam that is as much off-kilter as it is absolutely infectious. Over on the flip, it's over to Mias Void - better known as Matthias Vogt - the veteran German producer who delivers another offbeat cut on the darkly emotive hi-tech soul of 'We Used To Be Detroit' receiving a remix by Berlin's Iron Curtis up next, injecting it with some mad breakbeats.

Review: Moscow label FrouFrouFrou marks its eighth release with an all-star lineup. A braggadocious cut from French DJ Dylan Dylan opens up Side A, a funk-step number with a great vocal sample. Belgium producer Hatt.D steps up next for something more sultry in 'Emotionz (Part 2)', with a quintessential 90s flare complete with 808 State Loon calls. Speaking of birds, Australian disco collector Dawn Again's 'I'm Like a Bird' is a swansong of beeping synths and atmospheric drone synths and Manhood offers up a tropical vibe with a mid-tempo sunny house cut. Continuing on the expansive summer atmosphere, German DJ Palmate offers up a reverb-synth laden upbeat jam in 'Departure' that prefaces the tech-heavy deep house 'Pluto' by DJ Bigspin. A huge variety of upbeat tracks for the more mid-tempo deep house fan.

Review: It's time to strap yourselves in for another bumpy techno trip at the hands of the Eya label. Manuk kicks off with surging drums and cantering synth lines that all face into a future space on elastic basslines. Oli Silva will be known atop any fans of Craig Richards' The Nothing Special label as that is where he debuted backed in 2017 and firstly here he goes solo on 'Mutant Mindset,' a twisted bit of cyborg techno funk. Then he links with regular collaborator Manuk for the airy jungle breaks of 'Multiple Minglings' before a punchy analogue Hi-Ryze Freedom mix closes out.

Review: In an age when the techno shoved in your face is often the reductive bastard offspring of hard style and throwaway trance, releases like Maroki's latest for the relentlessly great Lobster Theramin are exactly what we need to keep faith. Caution, though - use what's here sparingly, as these be monsters. More than living up to the EP's name, Pots & Pans packs four tracks that emphasise playful and at times erratic percussion, used in similar ways across the lot but to different ends. The title number is a low-slung growler made for horizontal fist-punching, 'Boiler' drops dubstep-influenced breaks into the mix while stretching our minds through a wormhole - arguably the subtle winner here - while 'San Andras' opts for bouncing high energy acid worbles, and 'Hasnoot' goes for a main stage lengthy build followed by driving rhythms. Nothing you've not heard before, but all incredibly effective and perfectly executed.

Review: Second time round for Masarima's 'Freak Like U', a sparkling 2020 tribute to post-Italo-disco proto-house, co-produced by Whodamanny and Mystic Jungle. This time round, the track has been reimagined by two stellar talents: West Coast electro stalwart Egyptian Lover and Sheffield-based bleep, hardcore and acid revivalist Luca Lozano. The former handles side A, delivering warming, dreamy, tactile and glassy-eyed electro takes (vocal and instrumental) that reinforce the track's mid 1980s inspiration. Lozano, meanwhile, opts for another kind of nostalgia altogether, first combining house tempo breaks with echo-laden elements of the original (and a couple of hazy new synth stabs) on the 'Breakbeat Guy remix', before layering up the beats on a rather lovely 'Tribal Workout Dub' featuring percussionist Karlos Moran.

Review: Returning from a brief hiatus, Spin Desire launches its third release and it is one dedicated to spotlighting talented artists who are currently flying under the radar. This time, they present Mculo, a UK-born, Berlin-based artist known for his versatile production skills. Mculo's four-track EP offers a deeper journey than previous releases, showcasing peak-time house, UK-infused breaks, hazy after-hours vibes, and a captivating downtempo finale. It's a nice journeying EP that is unified by its sense of crisp design and fresh rhythmic invention. A fantastic work from an emerging artist who we shall now very much keep an eye on.

Review: With previous releases on Tombolo, Natural Sciences and cassette label Gin & Jazz XX, Mutant Joe is back with a new one this week on Los Angeles-based Evar Records. Since his arrival on the scene back in 2019, the Aussie producer's output has spanned diverse genres. There's four tracks featured on Wrong Way Out; he builds on earlier work with underground trap artists on opener 'Bangin On', the ketamine-laced electro of 'Static Effect' had us equally impressed as did the gnarly jungle deconstructions of 'Eyes Without A Face' and the brooding beat contortions of 'The Living Dead'.