(Falcon St Beats/Creative Vibes)

EK is one of Australia?s premium breaks DJ?s and originates from the south east suburbs of Melbourne. Having been brought up on a staple diet of hip hop, Eddie (EK) began DJing early in his teenage years. By the time he had completed high school had decided to pursue music as a career. After completing year 12 he enrolled in the Melbourne School of Audio Engineering and graduated a year later from the school. A strong fan of old analogue gear, EK?s sound can be described as tough and crisp dance floor oriented beats which still carry a huge amount of funk. His productions take after influences from favourites such as Africa Bambatta, Grand Master Flash and early p-funk basslines.

EK influences also including the tougher elements of techno and he meshes these sounds with hip hop and the epic melodies of trance. Having worked on a few local compilations and a debut CD titled Encoder of which the lead track ?Future Nation? which got significant airplay on Triple J. In his spare time he is often asked to provide cuts and scratches for Sonic Animation?s recordings and has supported names such as the Chemical Brothers. He has also released a number of 12? which has copped plays by Rennie Pilgrim, Koma and Bones, Plump DJs, Hybrid, Freq Nasty and many more. Mixed in amongst all of his production and remix work, Eddie still finds the time to tour and play both Live and DJ Sets all around the world.

The cd is full of quality tunes starting off with a couple of mellower tracks such as Price Cuts ? Sunday Swinger & Soma Rasa ? I Like It which both ooze a tight funky breaks sound and clever sampling. As the mix progresses the sound builds nicely to include a number of storming tracks which remain funky but slam through the speakers with deep punchy basslines and booming breakbeats. Some of the memorable tracks include Beatkeeper ? Stormer which powers along with a huge bassline and tough percussion. Elroy? Deep Underground is another highlight track with a great big room sound and nice dark synths adding melody.

Since the concept of the release is to showcase Australian breaks producers it is great to see inclusions from names such as Friendly, Nubreed and Bass Kleph. EK has also included a number of his own productions such as Keep It Casual & his remix of Sonic Animation ? Get Up which both retain a tough sound whilst incorporating some great melodies and the epic breakdowns. Overall my favourite tracks are the massive sound of Superfluid ? Big Phat Lick which lives up to its name by dropping an amazing bassline riff and the final track Fsard ? Waating. This one is another 2 step style monster with sultry whispered vocals and a dirty as hell bassline. A great finish to a well programmed mix and a superb tracklisting.

Overall, if you like tough bass heavy breaks then you simply must have a listen to this release. The tunes also present a great deal of variety even though they stick to one specific genre. This cd instantly has taken over as one of the most played in my household due its fitting build up in intensity, amazing track listing and tight interesting mixes. The concept of using and showcasing only Australian producers for this release both a tribute to the quality coming out of our scene and a great support to budding artists all around the country. Highly recommended!