Break Beat Reviews
by Rj Bass
photo by Todd Comer
So September is upon us. Were getting out of the warm months and heading straight
for the cold months or as i like to call them, the Bers.
It wont be long before were all forced to stay inside to
escape the cold, wind and snow that generally come with
the Bers. That being the case I decided to cover a few different
radio stations in this months breaks reviews. Internet radio
shows can help with not being able to get out and enjoy
the night life. Internet radio shows are also an up and
down thing. One station may have over a thousand listeners
at any given time, while another may only have 10. Regardless
of the amount of listeners on any one given station, their
is almost always something good to hear. When it comes to
the breaks, we have a plethora of great shows and stations
for which to listen to, which is a good thing, because if
its cold outside and also if you live in one of the many
cities where breaks are not played out in the local night
life much, these stations can really help you get by when
you need your breaks fix. In the past I have covered individual
shows on certain stations, but since their are so many shows
from which to choose, I thought I would just stick to the
most prominent breaks stations and then next month I will
focus more on some of the individual shows that play on
those stations.
Breaks
FM
This station has been around for a minute now. Its one of
those breaks staples that when needed, changes hands/owners/operators
to keep it on the air. Breaks Fm features different types
of shows from different artist some of which are live and
some of which are pre-recorded. I have listened to Breaks
FM on and off through the years, and sometimes i really
enjoy what I hear while other times I'm not so sure. Breaks
FM seems to have more shows dealing with the harder edge
breaks sound, with lots of rasta and d&b influenced
artist doing the shows. I cant say that they are all like
that because I have not heard every show on the station,
but when I do tune in, i tend to hear the before mentioned
sounds. Regardless of your specific taste in the breaks
market, Breaks FM is consistent in providing music every
day that will please those with an ear for the breaks sound.
Nu
Skool Breaks (NSB) Radio
NSB Radio is a great one. NSB has done a fantastic job at
securing not only some of the best dj's out of the UK, but
also a very loyal listening audience. With artist like High
8, AWE Sound System, The Janatah Dj's and many more in the
weekly schedule, its no wonder they have such a loyal listening
audience. The wide variety of different shows ensures the
listener that they could hear any number of sounds on NSB
Radio from the harder more d&b influenced sounds to
the lighter disco breaks. The only problems with NSB Radio
are the fact that they don't broadcast in stereo, and they
have a low max listener allowance. Only 75 listeners can
be tuned into the high speed stream. However, if you need
your NSB fix and the high speed stream is full (as it often
is) you can still use their dial up connection as a rough
backup. NSB Radio is also backed up by a popular chat room
where the NSB show host are always at during their shows
so you can get the title of the tracks playing or even make
request.
iBreaks
iBreaks is a bit newer on the scene and thus far I have
not listened to their station as much as I would like to.
However I have heard a few shows, and J-Bass the stations
main operator is doing a great job of securing talented
dj's and artist to appear on the station. On the few shows
I have heard, I have had a chance to listen to The Future
Funk Squad, Rennie Pilgrem and several others live on the
decks. Like most proper internet radio stations they have
both high speed and dial up connections to be able to deliver
their sounds to whomever may want to listen. Their high
speed stream delivers at 128kbps stereo so you are definently
getting good quality radio. For more information about iBreaks
head to their site and take a look around.
Boombox,
Sirius 61
For you Sirus Satellite Radio subscribers this station is
where you need to be. Boombox is a bit of all the sounds
that are considered to be breaks or broken beat. From old
school hip-hop to mid 90's Florida funk, to modern nu skool
breaks, to d&b, they have your sounds. Boombox is backed
up by on air personalities and dj's like Liquid Todd and
Grandmaster Flash. Its always on, 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week, with no commercials, ever. The satellite streams
are always solid, and great sounding weather your listening
by direct source into your receiver, through a fm modulator,
or online at their website. Boombox is always breaking new
music before it hits the shops. When The Chemical Brothers
released their latest album, they were up in the Boombox
studio laying it out with Liquid Todd, when Elite Force
puts out a new one, you can bet Boombox will be jamming
it, and when Grandmaster Flash finds another rare hip-hop
jewel in his vast collection, you can be sure he will drop
it. Find out more about Sirius/Boombox and get a free three
day trial by going to www.sirius.com.
Frisky
Radio
Frisky radio isn't exactly one of the stations I would normally
cover when discussing breakbeats. Frisky has been known
to be mostly a prog house station with a couple minor exceptions.
However they have finally decided to start expanding beyond
the prog house scene and as such they have added a new breaks
show called Thrust and its hosted by the one and only Lee
Coombs. Although the show hasn't aired yet, Lee Coombs is
a fantastic producer and dj, and as such I suspect his show
on Frisky Radio will be off the hook. Unfortunately however,
Thrust will only air once a month.
