Artist: Nuddles
Title: Locked On
Label: Bedrock Breaks
By: Simon Jones | 28 January 2003
Tracklist:

• A: Original Mix
• B: Meat Katie Mix

Nuddles "Locked On"

For many years, breakbeat has played a large part of both the Bedrock nights at Heaven, London and also with John Digweed, who is known to thrown down a few ill sounding breakbeat tracks within his sets and mixes. Therefore, it was only a matter of time that this influence would grow in prominence within the Bedrock brand, first with the Bedrock Breaks mix compilations, and now with the dedicated imprint, Bedrock Breaks. Kicking off the imprint are US production outfit Nuddles, with the track 'Locked On'.

Nuddles' own mix of 'Locked On' isn't strictly pure breakbeat. From the intro, there is a clear tech house influence within this mix, with quirky fx and a pulsating synth line drilling into the beats with eerie results. A big groove sits underneath the twisted beats with some major analogue riffs dispering the beat patterns. It all sounds slightly different to many other breaks tracks out there, but perhaps could have done with having a tougher edge.

Mark Pember, better known as 'Meat Katie' drops in a big and funky b-line, weaving the percussion in and out of the groove with assassin like execution. This allows him to twist and flip the beats in any direction he so chooses, and as they get pushed through all manner of fx layers to come together as fresh, floor moving rework that shows a slightly different side to Mr Pember's talents.

Whilst both mixes here try to do something different than the norm within the breaks scene, they perhaps may not get as much support for straying from 'territories' some breakbeat djs stuck to, and hence isn't the best single to have started this imprint with. However with one of the leading names in breaks today working alongside John Digweed to push this imprint further, things should pick up sooner rather than later. Already confirmed is new material from MOMU, watch out for it.