Breakage – aka James Boyle – is a wicked DJ-producer and Digital Soundboy label legend. He first appeared around the turn of the century as an underground drum and bass DJ, making a name for himself by utilising percussion in inventive ways. However, I first fell for him by discovering his more dubstep-orientated work towards the end of the noughties, a year or two after his overlooked debut album This Too Shall Pass. His use of bass felt less abrasive than other similar producers and he never lost his touch for high-speed breakbeats, even when crafting dubstep.
His 2010 album, Foundation, was an amazing scrapbook of all the types of music that Breakage had turned his hand to during the decade leading up to it. His collaboration with Burial, ‘Vial’, from that album was my favourite track for quite some time; it managed to capture the whole dark, urban vibe that I associate with Breakage.
I’ve seen him DJ a bunch of times and the sets have always been different depending on where he is and who he is playing to. I’ve witnessed some brilliant, frantic DnB at Fabric, some gritty bass-heavy dub at various festivals, as well as more experimental, Aphex Twin-type electronic music in East London. Whatever genre he focuses on, Breakage always smashes it. Go see him ASAP.
Joshua Burnside
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