Gay Felony: Alpha Runner is the ongoing research journal of Scallion Chloe 8800. Monthly, she presents TransSensational documentation of her time-altering synthesis pursuits. These Post-Physical operations transcend genre but often take the form of House, Disco, Soul, Boogie and Techno of the recent past, with New Age, Ambient, Synth-Pop and Rock on the periphery of her experiments. Join monthly to add your grace to this incorporeal laboratory and assist with the ultimate queering process.

This edition of the Alpha Runner progressive queering archive gathers from a familiar and potent portal: Breakbeats. A post-human synthesizer holding epic trans-genetic qualities in its proximity to and responsibility in the foundation of contemporary movement-inducing sounds. When funk and soul players let their melodies rest for one phrase while their drummer played on, a revolution of communication was born. Foundational in United States hip-hop, the breakbeat traveled to all razor-n-tape genres of the 80’s, staying in hip-hop as home while landing prominently in England to give rise to UK Hardcore Rave (and its Italian, Belgian and German siblings) and Jungle/Drum & Bass. In the States, the breakbeat stayed in dance music via Tommy Musto, Justin Strauss, Mr. Lee, occasional use by UR-affiliates and other R&B/hip-hop-influenced house producers. The birth of Acid House in Chicago (Phuture) would be handed off to global (largely San Francisco and UK) rave producers, creating the holy bond of breakbeats and 303s which carried breaks into progressive house and trance in the mid to late 90’s (Future Sound of London, Caffeine Records, Deepsky, Band of Gypsies, Northern Exposure mixes by John Digweed & Sasha, to name very few.) While not lost, the breakbeat lessened in prominence in house music in the 2000’s as Drum & Bass loudness/tempo/choppage wars raged on to the point of AKAI-made full-sample-based breakbeats being nearly obliterated by more compressed, louder drum samples arranged as breaks on desktop computers (an important distinction!) Recently, after dance music took a long breather from the early 00’s Breakcore scorching, breakbeats have seen an enormous revival in bass and house music by way of harbingers T4T LUV NRG and LA, Brooklyn/Nowadays and Oakland renegade and after-hours scenes (I must disclaim that I can only name what is in my orbit, contemporary music is quite the unfathomable fractal.) This mix is merely what was on my shelf and what worked together to make a nice time for two hours (I’m also remiss to have only found this moment in this essay to note breakbeats in trip hop and pop music.) Listen to this mix for now, then explore the endless catalog of its artists and the bibliography below.

Bibliography:
Brian Belle-Fortune – All Crews: Journeys Through Jungle Drum & Bass Culture [UK Rave, JDB birth through 00’s]
Douglas Rushkoff – Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Hyperspace [UK & SF Rave, Acid House]
Josell Ramos – Maestro [Birth of House, Acid]
Carl Hindmarch – Pump Up The Volume [Birth of House, Acid]
John Digweed & Sasha – Northern Exposure [Breakbeats in 90’s Progressive House]
Global Underground Mix Series [Breakbeats in 90’s Progressive House]
Posts and e-journals by Eris Drew and Octo Octa [Hip-hop, D&B, Sampling, Acid]
Going to parties, listening to a whole lotta records and reading those labels…