Successful breakbeat maestro Krafty Kuts delivers the goods on his contribution to the Fabriclive series. The album features straight-out breaks plus plenty of influences from other musical genres as well. Krafty Kuts, aka Mr. Reeves, puts it this way. "It's all about the depth, the musical range. I'm taking all my influences from Latin, to a little bit of hip-hop, to funk, keep it pumping though and keeping it groovy. I also work really hard to put my own exclusive tracks on there to make it interesting with lots of scratching, quick mixing, lots of loops and edits - kind of like throwing everything into the cooking pot and mixing it around a little bit."
His bottomless record bin yields material ranging from such crazy fare as Joe Jackson's "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" to classic selections like Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five's "The Message." Krafty also throws in a bunch of extremes from the obligatory secret-handshake names like Lady Waks, Splitloop, and Friendly, and such well-regarded breakbeat peers as DJ Icey and the Plump DJs. And, of course, he occasionally scratches his vinyl! However, knowing that showing off one's turntablist skills is only appealing to his closest allies, he limits himself to the occasional bout and leaves us wanting more rather than less. Along with some comical numbers, a dose of Latin groove, and a minimum of long-winded instrumental blandness, this becomes a very fine dance album.
The album's tracks start out kind of rough - full of scratches and hip-hop influenced grooves. I started really jamming when I heard Krafty Kuts & DJ Icey's "Thru The Door," a totally raucous sound of blazing synths. Then the back-to-back cuts, Krafy Kuts' "Beer Chicken" and Maelstrom's "Disto Funk," get the breaks party riled up with more sizzling instrumentations and groovy non-4/4 dance beats. Smack in the middle of the set are four solid numbers that continue the finger-lickin' party: The Plump DJ's "Listen to the Baddest," Madox's "Roger Milla," Ralph Robles' "Takin' Over," and Joe Jackson's "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" The closing track, Primal Scream's "Funky Jam," has an ethereal, other-worldly feel to it, and doesn't even sound like a traditional dance or breaks number.
Before this release, I thought Krafty Kuts was just a scratch / turntablist DJ. Now I know he is much more than that, and I feel all the better for the increase in knowledge. I have gained a deeper level of respect for the amount of effort and influence an artist puts into his mix.
