When it comes to DJs specialising in beats of the broken variety, Krafty Kuts is the man. The don. The king. The heavyweight titleholder. A regular fixture on the Australian party scene and returning regularly to rock the crowds at Sydney’s seminal NYD event Field Day, there’s little doubt there is much love for Krafty in the local breaks scene. It’s been a few years since we got his A-Skillz collaboration Tricka Technology, but since then he’s been promising his debut solo album – more than simply an excursion into funky hip hop, and showcasing breaks of all shapes, sizes and varieties. Finally we have Freakshow.

Krafty Kuts’ debut effort is an album full of storming breaks tracks that you’ll already be familiar with if you’ve kept your ear to the ground over the past few months, the tunes slowly filtering down to the international breaks massif – and now we get them all together in the one package. With an old-school funk intro featuring rhymes from MC Dynamite, it’s almost like you’re listening to a bona fide Krafty Kuts set. And this pretty much sums up Freakshow – it’s Krafty Kuts to the core, showcasing all the different sides of his musical personality.

Like one of his legendary extended club sets where he’s given the freedom to take the crowd on a journey over four hours or more, Freakshow spans the whole spectrum of breaks. From the party hip-hop of We Do This (again with Krafty sidekick MC Dynamite), the filtered disco of his very own breaks anthem Tell Me How You Feel, the old-school electro of his collaboration with Scratch Perverts or the slamming nu-school beats of Basketball Jam – it’s all here on Freakshow.

Krafty has delivered something that really flows across the different styles, and all the trademarks are here – the flowing hip-hop accapellas, the devastating basslines, the slammin’ chunky beats and an overriding sense of fun that permeates everything. As silly as it may sound, the overabundance of happiness and positivity may grate a little on some listeners – there’s certainly nothing dark, edgy or complicated about Freakshow. At a time when so many of the scene’s DJs are turning their attention to electro house, Freakshow is unapologetically breaks. Even joyously so.

Freakshow encapsulates Krafty Kuts to a tee – his vibe, his sense of fun, his cheekiness and his unmatched ability to rock a party – much better than a mix compilation ever could. His sincerity and passion for the music shines through and somehow, he’s pulled off the near impossible task of delivering an album that both works on the dancefloor and plays well on your home stereo. Usually it’s one or the other, but Krafty has managed to straddle both worlds. It’s one of the best ‘pure’ breaks albums you could possibly get your hands on: for all the Krafty Kuts fans out there, picking up a copy of Freakshow is a forgone conclusion.