Breakbeat Science Recordings was a drum and bass record label and record store of the same name based in Manhattan in New York City, New York; both the label and the store were founded in 1996, and a website was launched in 1997. Breakbeat Science was the first store dedicated to Drum and Bass music in the US, [1] at the time of its opening the scene was still primarily based in the UK.
Breakbeat Science moved several times over the years. The first location was on 9th Street and the store later moved to Orchard Street, both in Manhattan's East Village. [2] After the Orchard Street location closed, the remaining backstock was moved to the Halcyon record shop in Dumbo, Brooklyn.
The label has been associated with a number of respected DJs and producers, including DJ DB and DJ Dara, who along with Paul Morris and Sean "Shooter" own the store and label, [3] and also Pieter K, DJ Abstract, and AK1200. Other former employees include DJ Reid Speed [4] (who later founded Play Me Records) and DJ Clever [5] (who later founded Offshore Recordings). It has also brought releases by UK acts High Contrast, London Elektricity, Klute, and others to the United States, along with releases from acts outside the US or UK, like the Norwegian duo Rawthang; Breakbeat Science often works with other labels (for example, Hospital Records, the home of both High Contrast and London Elektricity) to do this. The label has no branches outside of the United States, but it does have a sublabel, Orgone [6] that cultivates American talent.
Breakbeat Science Recordings should not be confused with Breakbeat Science, a short-lived label with only one release (in 1999) according to Discogs: .
Drum and bass is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast breakbeats with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, samples, and synthesizers. The genre grew out of the UK's jungle scene in the 1990s.
DJ Dara is an Irish drum and bass DJ who performs mainly in North America. He is also a co-founder of Breakbeat Science, a drum & bass record label and store in New York.
Daniel Robert Kausman,, better known by his stage name DJ Die, is an English DJ and music producer. He was a founder of drum and bass label Full Cycle Recordings and a member of Roni Size & Reprazent and Breakbeat Era.
Suburban Base Records is a British breakbeat hardcore, rave and jungle/drum and bass record label. It is based in Romford, Havering, England. It was established by Danny Donnelly and operated in the UK from 1990 to 1997 and in the United States from 1994 to 1997, however, started to release again in 2014.
Lincoln Barrett, better known by the stage name High Contrast, is a Welsh electronic music producer, DJ and record producer. He produces drum and bass music, and his 2009 album Confidential reached BPI gold certification.
FFRR Records is a dance music label originally founded by London Records in 1986, with A&R run by English DJ Pete Tong, from the start. Originally a part of London Records' label roster, FFRR is currently a sublabel of Parlophone, a division of Warner Music Group. Its activities were mostly halted in the early 2000s, until the label was revived in 2011. Its catalog was sold off in 2017, but the label was revived a second time in 2021, this time with a new identity.
Liquid funk, liquid drum & bass, liquid DnB, melodic drum & bass, or sometimes just liquid is a subgenre of drum and bass. While it uses similar basslines and bar layouts to other styles, it contains fewer bar-oriented samples and more instrumental layers, harmonies, melodies and ambiance, producing a sentimental atmosphere directed at home listeners as well as nightclub and rave audiences. Music genres such as jazz, soul and sometimes blues have a pivotal influence on liquid funk.
Hospital Records is a British independent record label based in South London. Primarily releasing drum and bass, the label was started in 1996 by Tony Colman and Chris Goss, and has grown in recent years to become one of the most well-known labels within UK dance music. The label has been home to artists such as Blame, Danny Byrd, Camo & Krooked, Logistics, Nu:Tone, Metrik, Fred V & Grafix, High Contrast and S.P.Y and releases tracks from across the DnB genre. In Forest Hill, South London, Hospital runs the publishing company Songs in the Key of Knife and their worldwide events brand Hospitality. Until the end of 2019, they also ran the more experimental label Med School Music.
FabricLive.25 is a DJ mix compilation album by High Contrast, as part of the FabricLive Mix Series.
Daniel Edward Stein, known professionally as DJ Fresh, is an English DJ and record producer. He is one of the principal members of the drum and bass group Bad Company, alongside Darren White (dBridge), Jason Maldini and Michael Wojcicki (Vegas). He also owns and runs the drum and bass label Breakbeat Kaos with Adam F.
Luna-C is a British DJ and record producer, known for his work in breakbeat hardcore music. He was a member of the group Smart E's in 1992, who scored a No. 2 hit on the UK Singles Chart with "Sesame's Treet" which samples the Sesame Street theme song. He founded Kniteforce Records in 1992, for which he produced tracks and remixes under various aliases. The label was sold in 1997 but resurrected as Kniteforce Again (KFA) in 2001.
Drum and bass is an electronic music genre that originated in the UK rave scene having developed from breakbeat hardcore. The genre would go on to become one of the most popular genres of electronic dance music, becoming international and spawning multiple different derivatives and subgenres.
Danny Byrd is an English DJ, record producer and musician from Bath in the South West of England. He is influenced by genres such as house, UK garage, R&B and the jungle sound. He primarily releases his music through Hospital Records, the UK-based independent dance music label. In 2009, his track "Red Mist VIP" reached number one on the UK Dance Chart on the week ending 25 July 2009, and on 7 February 2010, his remix of Liquid's Sweet Harmony gave him his first success on the UK Singles Chart, making No. 64. In October 2010, Byrd reached No. 36 in the UK Singles Chart with the track "Ill Behaviour".
Cereal Killaz is an American record producer and DJ outfit, now consisting solely of Alan Linhart and raised in Bowie, Maryland, United States. The music style of the act is classified as breakbeat and nu skool breaks, and has many other influences including nu metal, Florida breaks, drum and bass, industrial and indie rock. The Cereal Killaz have been listed by Annie Nightingale of BBC Radio 1 as one of the movers and shakers in the breakbeat scene.
J-Break is an American music producer and DJ.
DB Burkeman is a British jungle/drum and bass DJ who moved from London to New York in 1989. He was an early pioneer in rave culture in the U.S., credited as being partly responsible for bringing drum and bass to America. He was the co-founder of Breakbeat Science recordings and store, the first record store in the United States to specialize in drum and bass. He also was hired by both indie and major record labels, as well as music booking agencies to do A&R. Since 2010 he's mostly retired from DJ'ing, and has worked in the art and publishing worlds, curating exhibitions and authoring 5 books focused on various aspects of pop & counter culture. He's currently working on several new books, and his own publishing company, Blurring Books.
Camo & Krooked are an electronic music duo from Vienna, Austria with their musical roots embedded in drum and bass, consisting of Reinhard "Camo" Rietsch and Markus "Krooked" Wagner.
Deekline is a British producer and DJ of breakbeat, breakstep, drum and bass and garage music. He is the innovator of breakstep music which is bass-heavy, breakbeat-infused 2-step, first characterised in his 1999 hit "I Don't Smoke", which reached No. 11 on the UK charts. He is the owner of Rat Records, which has released material of such artists as DJ Fresh, Jack Beats, Stanton Warriors, Wiley, Skinny Man, Rennie Pilgrem, House Breakers and Freq Nasty. Deekline has also had notable collaborations with British electronic music producers Ed Solo and Wizard. In 2011, he opened up his online clothing store, Bass Boutique.
S.P.Y is a Bristol based Brazilian DJ, record producer and musician from São Paulo, Brazil. He is influenced by genres such as house, UK garage, R&B and the jungle sound. He primarily releases his music through Hospital Records, the UK-based independent drum and bass music label. His DJ name was Spyder, but two months before the release of his first track he had to change it because another producer from America also released an EP under the same name. He left the last three letters out and changed his name to S.P.Y or SPY.
The Criminal Minds are a British hip hop group first formed in Milton Keynes, UK in 1985, who would later have success with breakbeat hardcore music during the peak of the early-mid 1990s UK rave scene.