Glasgow born producer Howie B has a list of production credits that place him behind the desk for some of the world’s biggest acts. His finest moment for me however was debut album “Turn The Dark Off”.

Howie B – Fizzy In My Mouth / Your Mouth

It’s a brilliant piece of work that managed to capture its place in time but also avoid any cliches that would have dated it badly. Packed with phenomenal drum work and catchy melodies, a smoky atmosphere hangs over the whole thing and it’s perfect Sunday listening.

Probably best played in that early evening spot where you’re considering going out for that pint to see you into Monday.

Howie B – Who’s Got The Bacon?

If you’d like a longer slab of Howie then grab this brilliant BBC Essential Mix from the man himself, originally broadcast in 1996.

We’ve previously covered 4 Hero’s downtempo material in the Classics section of the site and today we’re taking a trip back to 1991 with this breakbeat classic from the duo.

Kicking off with the creepy “your son is dead” sample and throwing ravey stabs over some classic breaks and a big truck full of sub bass, it’s an anthem that’s stood the test of time nicely.

Originally released on the “Combat Dancin” EP on Reinforced the track has seen many many remixes over the years – none of which have ever really come close to capturing the magic of the original.

Today’s classic sees us dive into the Warp back catalogue for this monster breakbeat number from Kid Unknown, released in 1992.

Taking an Ice-T sample and chucking it into the mix alongside big doomy strings, a couple of classic breaks and a catchy bass hook, for me this is one of the standout tracks from the early Warp catalogue.

Thanks to Boomkat you can pick this up in high quality MP3/FLAC format.

Kid Unknown – Nightmare

Today’s classic sees us wander into the back catalogue of perhaps the finest label to have ever graced drum n bass – Moving Shadow.

Originally released in 1993, this track samples the sadly recently passed away Loleatta Holloway and throws her vocals into a hefty mix of chunky breakbeats, bendy sub bass and rave stabs galore. Cloud 9 was an alias of Gavin Cheung AKA Nookie and this is just one of an arsenal of classic old skool beats from the producer.

You can pick this up over at the DnB Arena alongside the rest of the Moving Shadow catalogue.

Cloud 9 – You Got Me Burnin’

The 2 Bears (Raf Rundell and Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard) recently turned The View’s “Friend” into an uplifting slice of house, no small task given the original. This wonderful feat of remixing further carved the bears into our psyche following their fantastic “Curious Nature EP” so we were delighted to hear they’d be taking on “How Far”, the standout track from the recent EP from the Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs.

Once again they’ve come up trumps and turned in a brilliant rework with nods to garage, house and a quality old skool break that never gets tired. Download courtesy of XLR8R.

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – How Far (2 Bears rmx)

We’re going in with some rave breakbeat goodness on today’s Friday Classic from Acen. This is one of my all time favourites and still never fails to bring a shiver to my spine on each listen. There were three versions of the track and the stand out version for me was Pt3 – the Kaleidoscopiklimax. Charging breaks, uplifting pianos, chipmunk’d vocals and a tonne weight of sub bass. It doesn’t really get much better than this – so fire up the speakers and get some turbo foot action on the go.

All three versions were released on the legendary Production House in 1992 and as the other two versions were also totally brilliant and fairly different I’ve also included them.

Acen -Trip II the Moon (Kaleidoscopiklimax)

Acen – Trip II The Moon

Acen – Trip II The Moon (The Darkside)

The Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs really impressed us with their cracking remix of Wafa’s “Ewid Disco” and this brilliant chunk of wonkey/fidgety type goodness from their “All In Two Sixty Dancehalls EP” is a bit of a monster. Riko’s ragga-tastic vocals compliment a big chunky bassline, choppy old skool breaks and rave stabs, it’s got summer festivals written all over it.

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – Blood Pressure Featuring Riko

I was a huge fan of The Prodigy back in The Experience days (and still am to this day) and for years I’d been told that I should really check out The Art of Noise. The Fon Mixes album then landed in my lap in late 91 and I immediately headed straight for the Prodigy remix. It’s an absolutely brilliant chunk of breakbeat rave goodness that still sounds amazing nearly 20 years on from it’s original release. So sit back, light the fuse and get into the weekend spirit.

The Art of Noise – Instruments of Darkness – All of Us Are One People (The Prodigy rmx)

After listening to the Prodigy remix so much that I pretty much wore the tape down, I started to investigate the wonderful world of The Art of Noise and discovered the brilliant original of the track – here it is also:

The Art of Noise – Instruments of Darkness

The Fat Club gave away this brilliant Breakage remix of Massive Attack today so we thought we’d share the love.

Standing out as one of the best moments from the new album “Heligoland”, Breakage has done a rather fine job on the remix. It’s a bit dubsteppy it’s a bit housey it’s a bit good and when the 2 Bad Mice breakbeat drops about 4 minutes in, it just becomes amazing.

Right click and “save target as” to download:

Massive Attack – Paradise Circus (Breakage’s Tight Rope Remix)

And while you’re at it – check out more free downloads at Fat Club.