サイケアウツ (Cycheouts) - King Of The Beats, Album review.

I figured a fitting first post for a blog primarily focusing on breakbeat music would be a review/analysis of a classic 1996 jungle album, this album more specifically falling under the category of "nerdcore techno". This album is often mentioned whenever searching for nerdcore techno projects online, Cycheouts' King of the Beats being a particularly early and influential release. The album's themes, primarily derived from its sample choices make its influence on modern jungle/breakcore quite apparent. The group from Osaka, Japan went through a few different alias's after their original debut as Cycheouts from 1994-2004 and are

thankfully still making music under the name "Cycheouts Ghost". You can checkout their full discography here.

King of the Beats kicks off with the silliest track of the album "Cyber Pirates". Which hilariously samples the "Pirates Life For Me" sea shanty. Following this comes my favorite track on the Album "God O.D." that showcases a wide variety of vocal samples and wacky synths. This strong beginning is followed by a middle with more instrumental melodic parts over the masterfully chopped breaks (more on that later). The track "Dark Entry" is essentially some surf rock riffs over unpredictable break chopping. The following track "I Got The Fear" is more laid back but very funky, putting the spotlight on this album's funk influence. I think this song would fit very well in some sort of platforming video game lobby, before the level starts. The ending of the album however, is where the true action begins. Tracks like "Strap Down" and "New Rally X96" Are some of the most fast paced hard hitters, and really scratch the itch I'm looking for with 90's breakbeat music. "New Rally X96" in particular takes influence from video game sound tracks from the times, and would fit so well over a 90's racing or platformer game. One thing every track shares in common is its pristine break chopping, with these beats being more broken and unpredictable than most jungle music of the time, allowing this album to fall under the breakcore umbrella, which has became very loosely defined these days. 

Every track on this album is a unique jungle masterpiece and regardless of its genre, King of the Beats is a must listen for fans of all kinds of breakbeat music. I particularly recommend this album to fans of more modern jungle acts who are looking to explore the genre's origins. It's pretty amazing to see how clear the connections between such an early nerdcore techno release compare to that of modern jungle music, and the nerdcore techno subgenre's evolution into the 2000's with artists like DJ Sharpnel making music influenced by the style of Cycheouts, yet sonically much different and influential in its own right.

I don't really do number scores, but at the end of the day King of the Beats is FIRE and if you love breakbeats and silly samples anywhere near as much as me you should give it a listen! Same for the other Cycheouts projects.