Meat Katie is one of the few DJs from the breakbeat scene who I follow.  His fusion of progressive styles with the edge of Nu Skool Breaks caught my ear around three years ago.  I found an older, single disc mix of his in a used bin in St. Louis a couple of years ago, and liked it so much that I started to keep my eyes out for more of his releases.  I picked up his contribution to the Bedrock Breaks series in late 2004, and while I really like it, I've been so busy (what with a new kid and all) that I’m just now getting around to sharing it with you.

One of the things I like about the breaks scene is that there is always a lot going on in a track, and while it is very danceable, the syncopation gives it a bit more variety than some straight up house tracks.  Also, there is often a surprise noise, clang or bang that producers bring in to keep it interesting for those who prefer to noodle and chill – it does not demand that you dance, just that you listen. 

CD1 is just such a breaks mix.   Dogzilla opens up the mix with “Big Chat”, a slow driving track that has an excellent spoken vocal overlay with a Jamaican accent as well as a breathy and eerie female vocal.  This driving beat is taken up to a more dance oriented track, “Line of Sight”, by  Dan F remixed by the excellent production team know as Infusion (who did the excellent mix a couple of years back of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”).

The mix then moves into something of a “filler” track, the Evil 9 remix of Santos, “Sabot”. The following track is probably my favorite on the disc, Rennie Pilgre’s “Jacknife”.  This is a great breaks track that has a great downbeat so that even us white guys should be able to dance while keeping the beat.  There is a great technoesque synth punch that flies through the speakers about midway through that just makes this track. The breaks continue with Future Funk Squad, Will Saul, Force Mass Motion and Dylan Rhymes making notable contributions. But then the mix takes a more 4-to-the-floor turn with Weekend World’s “Good Morning Mr. Acid Man”, which is much like the name implies, a great 4:4 track that is on the acid house side.  

This detour is slowly pulled back into breaks territory by the Christian J. Remix of “Pinrose” by Hinteraus,Pinrose and Walkner. This is a track with a repetitive acid like synth stab that is accentuated by a slight breakbeat.  Phillip Charle’s, “Elektrik Dreamers” follows up keeping the beat somewhere between 4-to-the-floor and breaks, which is the signature Meat Katie style. Tech Phunk and Koma & Bones finish out the mix in much the same vein with a great flourish and some great vocal overlays.