(Fabric/DMC)

For those who have succumbed to the machine that is Fabric Live here is yet another for you to collect and own as they push forward with their nineteenth in the series, starring the Freestylers. Anyone needing a quick refresher course on the ins and outs of the Freestylers, it goes a little something like this.

Sharing a common obsession for electro, breakbeats, Afrika Bambaataa and hip hop culture, Freestylers producers Aston Harvey and Matt Cantor got together in 1993. Soon after they hit the studio and released the seminal ‘Drop The Boom’. Being all about proper party music, (“as long as it’s phat, we’ll do it.”) the Freestylers went places at a rapid speed, picking up Best Band at the 1998 Muzik Magazine Awards, making appearances on MTV, and producing remixes for the Ministry of Sound whilst Grooverider, the Dub Pistols and Robbie Hardkiss were creating their own versions of B-Boy Stance, the track made famous from the much publicised brush with Oasis ‘Mr Bad Man’ Noel Gallagher, oh and we cant forget a massive 500,000 plus record sales.

So, just how do these self confessed sample plunderers fare this time round? With their usual drive and enthusiasm the Freestlyers have taken some of breakbeats freshest new talent along with Deekline and Wizard to put together a fast moving and tumultuous blend of jump up ragga, drum and bass and hardcore infested British urban breaks. Having strayed from the breaks sound for some time, I was surprised and somewhat disappointed to hear how very little progress had been made to what was previously dubbed electronicas freshest new sound.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love the ‘wamp wamp’ and the build ups and I did find myself breaking into a few moves more strenuous than a toe-tap to SCAM’s Killa, Merka’s Holding On and Baobinga’s Bashment Track, and to the horror of many I thoroughly enjoyed Take Me Away from Napt featuring Julie Morrison. My main problem was that I found everything a little too ‘samey’ and I got horribly over the random shouting of the word ‘Freestyler’ (we get it guys, we know who you are), and lastly if Dooms Night is going to resurface for the umpteenth time, lets try and make it a little more interesting.

For diehard breaks fans, you may want to skip this one, but for those who want some summertime no brainer action, why not give it a go.