Posted by: Cor

This mix has been a long time coming. Since we first started the Beatery I’ve wanted to record a set of my favorite old-school funky breaks tracks, as the podcast is the perfect vehicle to revisit past songs and styles. But it turns out digging up and recording vinyl long forgotten is time consuming, and creating a set with songs you don’t spin anymore just doesn’t come naturally. So it’s taken until now, a full year and a half later, until I’ve finally gotten around to dusting off and digitizing these old records and mixing it into a fun and nostalgic set for any old school breakbeat fan. If you’re one of the ex-ravers out there who’s been listening to breaks for more than a decade, I hope this brings you back.

One last note: because I didn’t have quite enough 90s breaks tracks for a complete set, I included a few contemporary songs that share that same old school sound. Have a listen and see if you can tell which tracks are from which era. The years are in the track list after the break.

DJ Cor - Back In The Day (right-click to download)

Last note: If this didn’t complete satiate your appetite for classic breaks, check out DJ Ghost’s Acid Breaks mixtape from 1996. Great stuff.

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Posted by: Cor

Ready for another beautiful summer weekend? I sure as hell am. And to kick it off right, here’s a (relatively) fresh Krafty Kuts mix to get you in the mood. Enjoy!

Krafty Kuts - Fresh Kuts 2010 (right click to download)

Posted by: Matt

Lawgiverz, two masked British dudes, melted my drug-addled brain a few years ago by dropping a savagely techy breaks set just before sunrise from the bow of a pirate ship.

Let’s let that sink in for a second.

Anyway I left the playa that year so excited about these two masked mystery men that I told everyone who would listen about how great they were, what a bright future they had, and so on. And then….kind of nothing. They followed the great Breaks Migration to SF and played a few sets around town, but nothing really seemed to click the way it did that one night in the desert. They released a single or two, but nothing very unique or forward-moving, and lately I haven’t heard much at all out of their camp. Maybe they are busy with other things, or maybe they just ran out of creative juices.

However, what made them great was that they played “live” in a way that few duos can manage. They had an energy and vitality to their laptop and deck antics that felt so much more fresh and hands-on than most DJ tag teams and button pushers out there, and you can hear it in all their sets from that time. They may have faded away, but their quick flash was so bright. It’s still inspirational to me, to have seen what’s possible, and also a lesson that many great things just aren’t meant to last.

Their live sets seem to be somewhat hard to come by but I found this recording that is supposedly from a music festival in Spain from 2006. The quality is excellent, so it must have been a soundboard recording. Enjoy!

Lawgiverz - Music to the Core (Live in Spain 4/14/2006)

Posted by: Cor

Time to take a trip down memory lane. Breakthru marks my first foray into the new and exciting world of breakbeat, not to mention my first use of the requisite “breaks” pun.* There are some absolute classics in this one… some early Plump DJs, Timo Maas, Bassbin Twins, Plump DJs, Krafty Kuts, Fatboy Slim, the Plumps, Electroliners, and a think there are a few Plump DJs tracks in there as well. On second thought, I don’t know whether the fact that I’m still spinning several of these tracks today means they are absolute classics, or indicates that I really haven’t grown much as a DJ in the last 8 years. Maybe it’s both.

*See also “Slam the Breaks On”, “Breakdown”, “Give a Po’ Man a Break” and so many more.

DJ Cor - Breakthru (Right-click to download)

Expand for track list
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Posted by: Cor

Ahhhh… I like that. I credit my wife for bringing this mixtape into the relationship; it was a permanent fixture in her car stereo when we first started dating. I also credit this tape for being my introduction to wonderful world of breakbeat (unless you count James Brown, Afrika Bambaataa or other precursors to the modern breaks genre.) It’s crazy to me how different these tracks sound than the aggressive, bass-dominated breaks of today… these beats are looser, the production is thinner, and a simple modulating 303 synth can carry an entire song. Here’s to old skool breaks!

Acid Breaks - Side A (Right click to download)

Acid Breaks - Side B (Right click to download)

BONUS BEAT:
Electroliners - Loose Caboose