Customer Reviews

Hit the Floor

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Combine the wonderful rhythms of funk, horns of jazz and some soul singing and what do you get. The positively glorious Breakestra! This album is just a bunch of fun. The lead man, Miles, has a great voice for what they are doing and the backing band can just jam! This project was spawned out of their performances at the root down in LA and if this is what they can do on an album I would be scarred to see them live. Not because they are bad but because they are so damn good! These guys are not looking to do anything but kick it and make some people party. The combination of Jazz, Blues, and Funk & Hip Hop is definitely proof positive that genre's are meant to be destroyed. While there are a few tracks that are laid back this album is basically a party starter. On top of that it is full of old school breaks that those beat diggers will know automatically. Breakestra is just a wonderful album that needs to be heard by all! No hype, no BS just good tunes and a fun time, put it on and enjoy yourself!

Hit the Floor is funky. If you like music you can just groove to, you'll dig this album. It sounds like it's right out of the funky late 60's to early 70's. Each track makes you want to shake your butt. You can't help but move when you're listening to this album. Buy it, you won't be sorry.

No one is going to mistake Breakestra for Sly Stone or Bootsy Collins, and that's alright. The L.A.-based outfit is looking to create its own legacy with a contemporary take on funk music. First heard covering classic breaks and beats in 2001, when Peanut Butter Wolf's Stones Throw label released The Live Mix Pt. 2, Breakestra has spent the intervening years honing their own material.

The result is a quality, if distinctly contemporary, funk record that sometimes wanders off into Latin and hip-hop detours. The tempo is fast and the grooves are deep. Songs like "Don't Need a Dance" with its anthem-type feel, gracefully update the funky precedents of the past.

But Breakestra isn't simply a funk band. These guys have spent the past six years playing next to a who's who of the West Coast underground hip-hop community at L.A.'s weekly Rootdown party. "Family Rap" reveals that pedigree with Breakestra providing the backing for a song that could fit comfortably inside an `80s-era hip-hop set. Chali 2na and Soup of Jurassic 5 join People Under the Stairs' Double K as the band plays the back to overall great effect.

The biggest problem with comparing this record to its funk ancestors is the notable difference in the playing styles of the old and new. The greatest parts of classic funk music were its rough edges that translated as grunts, groans, dirty instrumentalism, and a million other spontaneous imperfections. Breakestra eschews that spontaneity in favor of smoother vocals and cleaner instrumentation; in short a much more structured sound. It's impressive, but funk aficionados will notice the difference.

Breakestra's "Hit The Floor" does indeed sound straight out of 1972. This is highly recommended to fans of funk, R&B, jazz, hip-hop, and anyone who likes good music.

The songs lyrically are just alright themselves; they're not exactly blazing the lyrical trail here. However, the music, especially the drumming, is fantastic.

"Hit the Floor" is in the same vein of Medeski Martin & Wood, Stanton Moore/Galactic, Charlie Hunter, and Grant Green's funkier stuff. It also features Jurassic 5 in a song, which was my favorite song on the album. I would love to see Breakestra do an entire album as Jurassic 5's backing band.

Good stuff. Recommended! (I imagine these guys are an incredibly good time live.)

No one is going to mistake Breakestra for Sly Stone or Bootsy Collins, and that's alright. The L.A.-based outfit is looking to create its own legacy with a contemporary take on funk music. First heard covering classic breaks and beats in 2001, when Peanut Butter Wolf's Stones Throw label released The Live Mix Pt. 2, Breakestra has spent the intervening years honing their own material.

The result is a quality, if distinctly contemporary, funk record that sometimes wanders off into Latin and hip-hop detours. The tempo is fast and the grooves are deep. Songs like "Don't Need a Dance" with its anthem-type feel, gracefully update the funky precedents of the past.

But Breakestra isn't simply a funk band. These guys have spent the past six years playing next to a who's who of the West Coast underground hip-hop community at L.A.'s weekly Rootdown party. "Family Rap" reveals that pedigree with Breakestra providing the backing for a song that could fit comfortably inside an `80s-era hip-hop set. Chali 2na and Soup of Jurassic 5 join People Under the Stairs' Double K as the band plays the back to overall great effect.

The biggest problem with comparing this record to its funk ancestors is the notable difference in the playing styles of the old and new. The greatest parts of classic funk music were its rough edges that translated as grunts, groans, dirty instrumentalism, and a million other spontaneous imperfections. Breakestra eschews that spontaneity in favor of smoother vocals and cleaner instrumentation; in short a much more structured sound. It's impressive, but funk aficionados will notice the difference.

This album takes me back to a time when music was fun and made you want to dance. Everything, from the crazy drum beats to the vintage-sounding guitar, comes together to get you off your seat. These boys keep a raw sound that adds a live feel to their work, making it that much better. I can't help but start dancing when I hear "Recognize."

This is intense! A must have to groove along to!!!!!! Seriously, think James Brown with Jimmy Hedrix.

Good retro funk band, but could be tighter. Want to hear what I mean? Check out Keb Darge Presents the New Mastersounds. That band plays hard, takes no prisoners.