- One of the major players in the realm of nu skool breaks Chris Carter is renowned for his tech-infused and sometimes percussive flavours often standing out from the rest of the pack. Chris has been associated with various breakbeat labels such as TCR, En:Vision and Botchit & Scarper and it is with Botchit that he puts out his latest mix CD - Apply The Breaks - with the most blantant use of the "breaks" pun since Krafty Kuts' Slam The Breaks On mix series.
Apply The Breaks opens up with Chris' remix of Jason Sparks' I'm In You featuring The Vanity Set on vocals. It's a traditional rave style breaks number - melodic synths, rave style female vocals and squalchy acid bass sidled with some hard breakbeats.
Plump beats and fattening basslines feature heavily on JHZ & Mark Audio's Marshmallow with which Carter lays down the intro to Deekline & Wizard's tribute to old skool acid house tinged with breaks, 4x4x4. 4x4x4 has a tough housey vibe with killer synth lines and well placed drum fills that command attention on the dancefloor and is featured here in the original Botchit Breaks 5 version.
Chris brings the rave breaks element back into the mix with his remix of the Lawgiverz' Passion. Carter's remix lays down a rolling techy break while keeping the tweaked up synth melody and "feel good" female vocals - with Carter's remix adding some more techy tweaks and stabs to the mix overall.
From here the mix takes a darker tone beginning with JHZ bringing out the dark tear out breakbeats and rumbling bass on Azures. It's tough and should bring out lots of aggression on the dancefloor. Backdraft's Road Hog makes good use of industrial sound samples and heavy squelchy acid bass and finally Aquasky vs Masterblaster end the tear out session with the fart-like basslines on Disco Biscuit taken from their massive Beat The System LP.
Finishing up the mix are two Carter tracks, the first being Xing (most likely pronounced "crossing") - melodic tech breaks with a sample of a sublime jazz tune layered on top - crossing borders between jazz and nu-skool breaks. Carter then slows down the tempo for the ambient Semi Circle - showing a little influence from the likes of the Orb. Atmospheric synths, minimal beats and textures permeate the entirety of the track leaving the listener feeling a little comatose. For me it's a really bad way to finish the mix and I'm finding that I'm searching for the rewind or (even more so) the stop button.
If hard, techy breaks is your thing then there is definitely something for you in Apply The Breaks. While it is an adequate selection of tough beats and breaks, Carter's mixing ability just doesn't seem to cut it when it comes to the slice, with a few poor transitions between tracks - Marshmallow to 4x4x4 to Hootenanny and what's worse it just leaves you feeling somewhat shortchanged on Semi Circle. On a more positive note, as a producer Chris' beats are worth checking out. If the breakbeats released through Botchit & Scarper are your sounds then the Lawgiverz' Bass Instinct is worth forking out the cash for.
Tracklisting:
1. JASON SPARKS featuring THE VANITY SET-I'm In You (Chris Carter remix)
2. ATOMIC HOOLIGAN-6AM Beigel
3. JHZ & MARK AUDIO-Marshmallow
4. DEEKLINE & WIZARD-4x4x4
5. SOTO-Hootenanny
6. LAWGIVERZ-Passion (Chris Carter remix)
7. JHZ-Azures
8. CHRIS CARTER-Echo Babylon
9. BACKDRAFT-Road Hog
10. SICKNOTE-Strech
11. AQUASKY vs MASTERBASTER-Disco Biscuit
12. CHRIS CARTER-Xing
13. CHRIS CARTER-Semi Circle