Breakestra Albums (3)
What The Critics Say
In 2005, Breakestra, the Miles "Om" Tackett-led band, released their full-length debut, Hit the Floor, an album praised for its loyalty to preserving the sound of the funky breaks later sampled in hip-hop. Four years passed between Hit the Floor and Dusk Till Dawn, but despite (or perhaps because of) the time elapsed, their sophomore follow-up lacks cohesion, feeling instead like it's been cobbled together from songs Tackett's been working on in fits and starts since the last album was completed. He is far and away the driving force behind the record, and the band (while they tour with an eight-piece, Tackett plays guitar, bass, keyboard, cello, and percussion on Dusk Till Dawn, sings on a handful of songs, and produced, wrote, and recorded everything), which perhaps explains this, but unfortunately doesn't help the fact that the album often feels as if it's dragging on far past where it should have stopped. It's not that Dusk Till Dawn is slow: it is a funk album, in fact, full of fast-paced songs that are quick and light on the beat, with plenty of horn and guitar riffs, and so tracks move along at a good clip. But because many of the songs are instrumental and structurally simple, when they stretch past the five- and six-minute marks, which they often do, it's hard to stay focused on what's going on. It's also not to say there aren't some bright spots here: "'Posed to Be," featuring Chali 2na and the late DJ Dusk (Tackett's old DJ partner) should have been a Sugarhill Gang hit, and "No Matter Where You Go," with vocals by Mixmaster Wolf, is a fun namecheck of contemporary soul and funk bands worldwide (the New Mastersounds, the Dap-Kings, the Bamboos, etc), and an acknowledgement that they know they're not doing anything new, that they're part of a scene. But this is also the problem with Breakestra: they are just part of a scene, and not at the top of it, so reminding listeners of the other bands also reminds them what those bands do better (vocals, hooks, choruses, etc), and ultimately, makes the weak parts of Dusk Till Dawn more memorable than the highlights. ~ Marisa Brown, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
A solid serving of contemporary funk at its finest, Breakestra's first outing for Ubiquity moves beyond the classic funk covers of their Live Mix series for a set of all original material, and the results are consistently impressive. Keep in mind that the songs -- roughly half of them instrumental, the rest mostly party-minded jams sung with ample soul chops by Mixmaster Wolf and Breakestra ringleader "Music Man" Miles Tackett -- aren't necessarily going to stick in your head for days; nor is it even all that easy to distinguish one from another (the soulful, midtempo "Hiding" and the street-racing story-rap "Hit tha Flo!" are among the more distinctive). But they sound great while they're playing, and most importantly they never get in the way of the relentlessly funky grooves and top-notch ensemble playing that are this record's unambiguous raison d'être. As contemporary interest in vintage funk and soul continues to develop -- by the mid-2000s, the music was becoming more prominent in the American popular consciousness than it had been since its heyday in the '60s and '70s -- it remains to be seen whether its current practitioners will find a way past the nostalgic lens that necessarily accompanies their chosen style (by which standard the highest possible compliment would be "Hey, this sounds like it was recorded in 1972!"). For their part, Breakestra seem content simply to channel the spirit of the classic funk bands -- the J.B.'s, the Meters, Tower of Power, etc. (something they do exceedingly well) -- with neither the self-consciously retro trappings of their East Coast counterparts the Dap-Kings nor any apparent compulsion to innovate, although they do highlight their hip-hop roots with the standout posse cut "Family Rap," featuring members of Jurassic 5 and People Under the Stairs. No more or less than flawlessly executed stylistic revivalism, Hit the Floor is highly recommended to anybody who enjoys a good groove. ~ K. Ross Hoffman, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
A year or so before there was an actual band called Breakestra, there existed a first Breakestra recording. An explanation is required. In 1996, Miles Tackett gathered together a group of friends for an extended jam session. The object: take vintage soul, funk, and jazz breaks and replay them as a live "mix," sort of funk with a hip-hop ethos. That session was recorded and became the cassette-only collector's item Live Mix, Pt. 1. The group, under Tackett's direction, would eventually evolve into Breakestra, and it sold the cassette in the Los Angeles nightclubs where it held a showcase fittingly called "The Breaks." By 2000, Breakestra had finally emerged on the international music scene, and after word had gotten out about Live Mix, Pt. 1 (particularly in Europe), Tackett and manager Charles Raggio decided to make it available for the first time on CD as a limited run of 1,000 copies, sold exclusively through online retailer Giant Peach. (It was also later made available in Japan by Stones Throw with initial sales of Breakestra's Live Mix, Pt. 2.) A complicated back-story that still doesn't answer the important question: Is it worth going to the trouble of tracking down? Indeed, it is. And it sounds just like you might expect from the above explanation: a Tower of Power for the rap generation. The set that takes up the opening two-thirds of the album is the aforementioned continuous mix of breakbeats (Jimmy Smith's "Root Down," Herbie Hancock's "Open Your Eyes," Bobby Byrd's "I Know You Got Soul") as sampled by artists like De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest and then translated back into the live vernacular. Breakestra's versions pass the blindfold test and then some. That leaves a trio of songs: the band's initial 1999 single, "Getcho Soul Together," a funky howl of a song that channels the spirit of the J.B.'s at their juicy best; a facsimile cover of the rare Sly & the Family Stone track "Remember Who You Are"; and "Sexy Popcorn Pot," which might just as well be an original as a hybrid of James Brown's "Mother Popcorn" and Tony Alvon & the Belairs' crate-digger classic "Sexy Coffee Pot" (the obvious prototype), even if you can never quite make the distinction of which it is. A bit rough in spots, but no matter -- funk is supposed to be messy. And this album is funk to the bone. ~ Stanton Swihart, All Music Guide
