The Breakspoll 2010 line-up has been announced, and there are some heavy names involved this year, with a lot of back to back and vs performances! You’d never see this line-up at a festival, so make sure you buy tickets as it’s gonna be a roadblock (as all the kids are saying these days)!

With a 4500 capacity, that will be a lot of bald headed goatee beard sporting parka wearing DJs dancing around 12 girls! Yep Breakspoll can be a sausage fest, but with a line up like this, I don’t mind a sweaty cuddle from someone into the scene like me – especially with a line up like this!

I’m shortlisted for two awards this year, Best Radio Show and Best Podcast so if you fancy showing your support, then head over to Breakspoll.com and vote for me!

Breakspoll 2010 Stats

Two massive events with a huge line up to be held in two of London’s most prestigious venues, Fabric and Matter. Both have killer sound systems and a huge, huge line up!

• 4500 people
• 70 artists and
• 18 awards
• 2 nights

Breakspoll 2010 at fabric Line-Up (25th Feb 2010)

• The Breakspoll Awards – presented by Janette Slack & Ken Mac
• Afghan Headspin vs Pixel Fist ft Stapleton MC
• Apply The Breaks
• Ben & Lex
• Bombstrikes pres. Mooqee & Pimpsoul
• BSD
• Cut La Roc vs Peo De Pitte
• Deekline vs Keith Mackenzie ft Sporty O
• Elite Force
• Eshericks
• Farace
• Featurecast
• Flore ft Rodney P & MC Chickaboo
• Freestylers vs Ctrl-Z
• Future Funk Squad
• High Rankin vs Gella
• Left/Right
• Karl Sav
• Krafty Kuts vs A-Skillz (4 decks)
• NAPT vs Beat Assassins
• Quadrat Beat
• Shut Up and Dance
• Smash Hifi (ft Martin Hoerger & Leeroy Thornhill)
• Specimen A vs Pyramid ft Miss Trouble & MC Incyte
• Swifty B & LockUp ft C.A.$.H MC
• Vent
• 9B0

Stanton Sessions presents Breakspoll Aftershow at matter, London (Friday 26th February)

Working closely alongside the Stanton Warriors, Breakspoll delivers a line-up of the Worlds freshest producers spanning breaks, dubstep, hip-hop, and house, combined with the powerhouse system at matter providing an all encompassing musical assault.

Breakspoll Afterparty @ matter (Room 1)

• Stanton Warriors
• KOOL KEITH (Ultramagnetic MCs / The Black Elvis / the one who done Diesel Power w/ Prodigy)
• Adam Freeland
• Bassbin Twins (live)
• Doorly
• Sick Rick
• More TBA

Breakspoll Afterparty @ matter (Room 2)

• The Freestylers
• Drummattic Twins
• Lady Waks
• Slyde
• Adsorb
• Richie Balboa Vs Will Streetwise Feat MC Benny C
• More TBA

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The West Country’s breakbeat mafia, Ben and Lex are back after a 7 month break… and they’ve come back with the goods this time with a fresh release; Tha Bizniz! This is the 12th release on Ape Music, and it features a wide range of remixes, from breakbeat to dubstep to bassline wonk and techno. I am loving every version, particularly the 2 Bit Thugs gangster-esque take on it.

If you’ve not heard of Ben and Lex, these two award winning DJs and producers, you need to seriously get involved! Ben and Lex have played alongside the likes of Rennie Pilgrem, The Freestylers, Wu Tang, Afrika Bambaata, Grandmaster Flash and James Lavelle (UNKLE).

Ben and Lex – Tha Bizniz Minimix

This release is huge, with five tracks… each one a banger. Don’t believe me? Then you best take a listen to the mini mix showcasing this fine, fine release.

01. Ben and Lex – Tha Bizniz [Original]
02. Ben and Lex – Tha Bizniz [Benjamin Vial Remix]
03. Ben and Lex – Tha Bizniz [Metro Boy Remix]
04. Ben and Lex – Tha Bizniz [2 Bit Thugs Remix]
05. Ben and Lex – Tha Bizniz [Mskr-nt Remix]

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Ben and Lex – Tha Bizniz Minimix

Ben and Lex – August 2009 Promo Mix

Not only have Ben and Lex put together a minimix, they have also furnished us with a stonking 65 minute mix featuring some of  the fattest tunes to grace the dancefloor this year. The tracklisting for which includes:

01. Baobinga and ID – No Bright Lights
02. Audiofly – I Cant Remember (Eric Prydz Remix)
03. Aquasky ft Tee Ski – Back To The Top (Vandal Remix)
04. The Loops Of Fury – Flick A Switch
05. Disco Of Doom – Warpig
06. Zodiac Cartel – We Don’t Play That
07. Rack N Ruin – Skitzo VIP
08. Hyper vs Vandal – Fugazi (Vandal Remix)
09. Future Funk Squad – RaveULator
10. Plump DJs – Soul Vibrates (Enough Weapons Bootleg Mix)
11. Beat Assassins ft Sweetie Irie – Boom Style (AC Slater Remix)
12. Ben and Lex – Tha Bizniz (Mskr-nt Remix)
13. Freerange DJs – Gotta Get High (=AVE= Mix)
14. Audio Bullys  – We Don’t Care (2 Bit Thugs ReRub)
15. Rico Tubbs – Lumberjack
16. Enough Weapons – Super Sonic
17. The Proxy – Dance In Dark

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Ben and Lex – August 2009 Promo Mix

Ben and Lex 2009 Tour Dates

Ben and Lex will be performing all over the UK this autumn, and you can catch them at the following dates:

If you would like to find out more about Ben and Lex, check out their MySpace page, better still, go catch them live!

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Live UK breakbeat act Diverted have been busy in the studio for what seems like an age now putting the final touches to their hugely anticipated first album which is being released on Air Recordings.  They have attracted a huge fan base that includes Gilles Peterson, Laurent Garnier, Justin Robertson, Eddie Temple Morris, Radioactive Man, and their tunes have received airplay and support from the likes of Plump Dj’s, Lee Coombs and Meat Katie.

Diverted have built their reputation for energetic live sets via their monthly residency at London’s Air, seeing them playing alongside acts including the likes of The Bays, Justin Robertson’s, Thee Earls, Kraak & Smaak, Minuit and The London Breakbeat Orchestra. In February this year, they opened at Breakspoll 2009 providing almost an hour of live breakbeat, with Lee Richardson drumming at the centre seeming to have the solid timing and consistancy of something you’d buy from Roland or Casio.

Breakspoll 2009 was the first time I had had seen Diverted perform live, having already bought Frederick, as well as hearing their vocal edit of dub-step Visions on YouTube, I was suitably impressed, and it only made me even more curious to hear what their debut album was going to sound like.

Diverted’s album sees them carry their own, but also team up with the likes of Nathan Flutebox Lee (The beat boxer that also somehow manages to play the flute at the same time) as well as Rhys Baker (Our Own Devices) and globetrotting Australian MC, Nine Lives the Cat. Stand out tracks on the album include Frederick, the dub step banger Visions, summer smasher Summer Hiding featuring the rather haunting harmonic vocals of Danielle James and Big Baby Fear.

The album sounds really polished, warm and there is a dark undertone to its sound. It features a wide, wide, wide range of musical genres on it, from your basic club style breaks to vocal driven dub-step to intricately drum filled glitchy electronica to some rather warm summer-esque jazz. There is seriously something for everyone, give it a chance, it’ll be the best £9.00 you could spend this side of a recession… better still also go see them live, you wont be disappointed!

Diverted Tracklisting

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Frederick

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Get Loud

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Visions

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Summer Hiding

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Big Baby Fear

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Try As You Might

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Rogue Devices

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Do You, Is She, ft. Nathan Flute-box Lee

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Goose ft. Rhys Baker

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Plum

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Creeping Up ft. Nine Lives The Cat

Diverted’s album is available digitally exclusive from Beatport, and a CD version will be out soon.

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I’m always happy to see an artist who I was more or less obsessed with in earlier times, inadvertently follow my similar musical paths as my tastes change from one second to another. Baobinga has always be one of my favorite producers and his tunes, historically, have graced my mixtapes more than any other artist. I think a major part of his appeal for me is his unbridled appreciation for, and application of, current music’s roots and influences. Not in a tawdry way like some people often do, assuming a hoover means its a ‘rave’ tune or a half time beat makes it ‘dubstep’. He has a clear grasp of the subtleties and nuance of what makes a song unique. Boabinga’s proficiency is evident in this pair of little mixes he’s given us to give to you. He’s also been kind enough to give a little description of each tune a la discobelle’s mixin it up series.

The first is an ode to the ever present Amen break. Starting with Baobinga’s native breaks genre it works its way up to drum and bass, both new and old, ending with, IMO, the best drum and bass tune of the decade, Danny Byrd – Shock Out. It also has Krust – Cloaking Device which made me larph. I hadn’t heard that on in eons. Here’s what he said about it:

“So I played before Potential Bad Boy on NYE in Milan this year, and the promoter asked me if I could link things into his set a bit. I didn’t want to play a load of new DnB and take any shine off him, so I put together a bit of a classics set. Which then got me thinking about how many of them were based around the Amen break, which got me thinking about how much I love the Amen break… and hence the following mix :)”

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A Merrye Collection of Ye Olde Amen Breakes, Mashedde Up on Two Technicks, by Baobinga, in Thee Towne of Bashment

01. Skream & Cluekid – Sandsnake – Disfigured Dubs
Not a huge amount of Amen’s in dubstep, but this one is badman tings…
02. Baobinga & I.D. – Extravaganza Man – Pure Filth
…and double drops with this surprisingly well! We’d been chatting with Ollywood about how great Bonanza Kid is, and he challenged us to do our take on it. It then developed into a tribute to our favourite jungle tunes – count the basslines, basically!
03. Backdraft – Time To React – Downbeat Productions
The best Amens in breakbeat. Forgot how utterly heavy this is.
04. Baobinga – The Session – Fusetrax
The first tune I did that got any attention really. Spoke to Kalbata recently and he told me he used to cane this tune, which was nice to know :)
05. Remarc & Simpleton – Unity (Re-Mix) – Kemet / Planet Mu
All of Remarc’s stuff is doubly impressive when you think about what he most likely made it on…
06. Remarc – RIP – Suburban Base
Nothing to be said.
07. Ray Keith – Jah Dread – Dread
The most brutal Amens ever. I played before Ray Keith ages ago and brutal (in a good way) would describe his set. Glad I had ear plugs though.
08. Breakage – Stagger Dub – Critical
Biggups to Jim from Eastern Bloc for pulling this out for me about 5 visits in a row until I recognised its greatness.
09. Digital – Waterhouse Dubs – Function
First time I heard that riff it absolutely blew me away. Still does really. Great sub.
10. Krust – Kloakin Device – Full Cycle
Can we have this Krust back please?
11. Zinc & Eksman – Roll Slow – Bingo
Pretty simple Amen business but it rolls so nice. I saw an interview with Zinc where he said he was in the studio one day, called up Eksman who happened to be in the area, he came to the studio and put this down and before they knew it, it was a massive tune. Wish my tunes came together so easily.
12. Cool Hand Flex – Must Feel (Serum RMX) – Mac II
Strictly jungle, but fully modern.
13. Q Project – Credit Crunch – Hospital
Massive Q Project fan. Much harder than his usual stuff but equally amazing.
14. Dub One – Volcon – Xtinction Agenda
This is why I love record shopping. I’d decided I’d do this mix but I wanted to get something pretty fresh on there. Went into Eastern Bloc and Jim pulled this out for me. Perfect!
15. Dawn Raid – Try To Believe – Rain
Have played this out at the end of sets for quite a while now. Always sends everyone batshit mental.
16. Danny Byrd – Shock Out – Hospital
Good times to finish with :)

The second is a more modern and diverse affair expressing Baobinga’s varied and unique taste. The focus on big beats is obvious though. He also had something to say ’bout this one:

“Well, I did a mix for Mad Decent not so long ago and that had a load of dubs from me and my crew in, so I didn’t see the point in repeating that concept. Also that mix was done on Ableton, and it was cool to work that way, but I love going into town and picking up 12″s from the various record shops in Manchester (which really is a great city for anyone into record shopping), and then working them into a mix the ‘proper’ way (ha!). So I had a few records that I’d been meaning to use in a mix for a while, and figured this would be a good chance to pull em out. Some are old, some are new, and in a couple of places shit gets pretty old school, but a general theme of interesting drums and plenty sub seems to shine through. Hope people enjoy it!”

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Baobinga’s Pulling Random 12’s Out Mix – Early 09

01. The Cool Kids – 88 – XL
Great drums, and lots of em.
02. Bangers & Cash – Shake That – Downtown
Depraved filth, 808 subs and lyrics like ‘man this dick to cash that cheque’. How could anyone not like this?
03. Dukeyman & Lil Mama – Git Da Handclap (Remix) Crosstalk International
Wicked drums, nuff sub and a repetitive vocal sample… Pretty much the essence of good dance music right there.
04. Jan Driver – Rat Alert Dub – Made 2 Play
Not house, not breaks, but sonically and rhythmically so interesting.
05. 2000 And One – Get Down – Intacto
I’m a massive fan of 2000 And One. When he gets it bang on, like with this one from 2005, he can just loop up some tuff drums and I’m happy.
06. Rod Lee – Let Me See What You’re Working With – Dress 2 Sweat
Pretty much my favourite label of 2008, such good quality control. The new Rod Lee one is great too.
07. Seiji ft MC Dolores – Todo Mundo – MAN Recordings
Chopped this one down a bit afterwards to keep things moving, but the fantastic production still cuts through.
08. The Body Snatchers – I Like What I See (HiJack RMX)
Passenger – Fidget without the stoopid.
09. Rob Le Pitch – Sticky Fingers (Baobinga & I.D. RMX) – 777
Plenty stoopid, but a lot of fun :)
10. The Ragga Twins – Ready 4 This (Baobinga RMX) – Passenger
Taking it back a bit. Really happy with how this remix turned out, ragga at dance speed essentially. Well chuffed that Tayo picked it up for his Fabric CD too! (more…)

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