The duo's long awaited album is finally here, the mighty JDS' album is out but does it meet the hype?

JDS – Adventures of The Purple Funky Monkey (TCR)

Finally it is here, the long and probably most eagerly anticipated breakbeat album of the past few years. JDS has been together since 1997 and they first came to light with Nine Ways on FFRR. Darren Pearce and Julian Napolitano aka JDS then really hit the breakbeat massive with the huge anthem known as Blackout, which is on this album, then they released the even more massive “Purple Funky Monkey” on TCR in 2004, which rocked dance floors, the world over. Now they have finally finished their mighty album and they have called it “Adventures of the Purple Funky Monkey”, so read below for the review

JDS – Adventures of the Purple Funky Monkey (TCR)

1.Purple Funky Monkey
2.Dirty Funk
3.This is Kalifornia
4.Freaky
5.Don’t Be Alone
6.Blackout
7.Rockstar
8.Good Old Days
9.Breezin
10.We got Conga
11.Runaway
12.Zeon
13.Daylight
14.Disco Rockers
15.Detonate
16.Jump Around

Purple Funky Monkey is probably what made everyone realize that JDS were not just pretenders, that they were serious about their music. The CD starts with a kid saying, “Welcome to the adventures of the purple funky monkey yo”. I get to relive one of my top ten tunes from last year. If you have not heard it before, it uses some filthy lines coupled with a very addictive bassline and then the “Get down with the purple funky monkey” vocal. This is a really good start; use your best tune to draw everyone in for your album. I love the breakdown, talking about do you like sex, do you like drugs, or do you just want to get down to the purple funky monkey. Certainly a solid opening for JDS with Purple Funky Monkey.

Dirty Funk is track number two and it does exactly what the song says. It is a slower moving track with some real drums as the bassline and the main part of the track is a slow moving dirty funky beat with a voice that keeps coming in and going ‘dirty funk, funk, funk”. You hear a trumpet at different times in this song and it brings the album down a notch here. Dirty funk is still wildly addictive and the breakdown uses a wild number of sound effects but remember this is not your standard breaks album. This is just nasty and it certainly adds to what has already been shown.

This is Kalifornia follows “Dirty Funk” and what a song this is, it uses old skool funk samples complete with crowd noises, giving you that late 70’s feel. They throw in, the vocal “thanks for coming out”, with some really addictive old skool funk and some drums as the bassline and then add in some scratches. I like how JDS don’t wish to make breakbeat track after breakbeat track and they inject some real different influences here. We go to an updated version of a 70’s funk track with that hip feel. The best part is the scratches and it ends with the kid from the beginning, saying “funky, funky”

Freaky comes in next and it has an echoed bassline but it has a real hook to it and then the mainline comes in and it has a real funky feel to it. Funky is the name of JDS’ game here and they have thrown it in everywhere. The child vocal of “Funky, Funky” is used in the background for freaky and you gain the sense that JDS seem to love throwing in samples, which seems to be a lost art, these days.

Don’t Be Alone starts with a female vocal singing, “Don’t be alone”, which gives you this house feel but then a breakbeat bassline comes in. I suspect that the tune is probably more breaks than house but it uses both genres well. The female vocal is powerful, when she gets singing, it is pure aural bliss. The vocal is what guides this song and it takes it from beginning to finish, it reminds me of some 90’s house. JDS is throwing in a lot of their influences to their music with this album

Song six is probably what made everyone remember JDS again, they had basically not done that much since Nine Ways but then this track hit in 2003 and then the world took notice and JDS have not looked back since. This was another of their old skool influences, with the vocal asking you, “Are you ready to have a party out there”? With a bassline that just throttles you and that addictive hook that got every big name deejay playing it. There is nothing like reliving old memories and this certainly brings them back for me.

Rockstar continues the already outstanding groundwork laid down by the earlier tracks and this uses an almost trancy riff at times with some incredible sound effects. The male vocal sounds like a proper rockstar voice, he says “Rockstarrrrrrr” and then just when you think a guitar is going to come in and mash it up, they let the bassline dictate the song but then you do hear a guitar in the background but not in the fullness that you expect it to. A trancy riff comes and just takes you away; it shows that JDS are using every trick in their bag for this album and just about every influence. This reminds me of Nine Ways at times but this would cause dance floor mayhem, if played out.

Good Old Days brings us to the halfway point of the album and it uses a female vocal talking about “Everyone talks about the good old days” with a real different bassline, that seems to have that old skool funk but still has that 2005 sound (if that makes any sense). I love how JDS did not decide to make 16 tracks of pure breaks but instead they decide to add old skool funk, some rock influence and even more.

Breezin is the shocker of all the songs on this album because it uses a guitar that gives you that beach feeling and then adds a few sound effects with that drumline and it is not breaks, it is almost an interlude here. Who knew JDS could make chill out music? It reinforces the point that they are not just a one trick puppy

We Got Conga makes use of guess what, no take a wild guess? Congas with a dash of funk. The congas make up the bassline and some sound effects add to it, this is really different but also really funky. It is not a shocker like Breezin was but this still breaks new ground. I never realized that you could do so much with congas but now I see the error of my ways, thanks JDS for that reality check.

Runaway is a house track that uses a breakbeat bassline, it could be classified as epic breakbeat house. The vocal is very powerful with a diva that can really sing and the song is an epic, and that not over the top Hybrid epic style but it really grabs you and the beauty of the song is hard to describe but it really works well. JDS is using different genres that some would claim as a death sentence but they took a chance and it really works.

Zeon uses what sounds like a folk guitar and it is almost chill out at times as well, it is shocking because you don’t honestly expect breakbeat artists to try something like this. There will be the few purists that will disregard this as just a breakbeat duo losing their mind but JDS is not willing to just sit and hammer you for seventy minutes with pure breakbeat and the duo are open minded and they want you to feel that as well. Zeon would fit in a Rob Da Bank set, that’s how chilled it is.

Daylight goes back from the experimental last four tracks and goes back into breaks. This is breakbeat meant for the dance floor, with a hypnotic bassline and some wild sound effects, this is quickly transformed into something that deejays will love to have in their bag. This does have a trancy riff that really just takes the song over, you do have a vocal but it is pushed to the back and then the sound effects and the trancy riff take over here. As the song progresses, it seems like it gains more and more energy and that’s why it will wreck dance floor after dance floor.

Disco Rockers was originally released as a single but JDS decided to include it on their album. It could be described as another mayhem causing tune because of the heavy funky bassline and the subtle yet really well placed sound effects. That’s all before the German sounding male vocal comes in talking about “Dirty, Dirty Disco Rockers” and then the track takes off into its own and just really hits its stride and by then, you are dancing around to it.

Detonate was the one of the two tracks that were released before this album and the other side is the next song called “Jump Around”. This is a current fave of Meat Katie who enjoys dropping it at HUM nights. I love the techy breakbeat used here with the almost siren sound effects and the quickening bassline that just pushes it from A to B. You can see why Meat Katie has continued to hammer this, it contains a fierce amount of energy.

Jump Around is the final track for “The Adventures of The Purple Funky Monkey”, it uses a heavy bassline coupled with Plump DJ style energy and jump up breakbeat. This ends the album on a high note

Conclusion:
JDS have proven with “Adventures of The Purple Funky Monkey” that they are more than just a duo who makes amazing singles, they have transferred some singles to this album but they have explored 70’s funk, chill out, house and even used some trancy riffs in their songs. This is the album to beat as far as 2005 breakbeat is concerned, it will certainly play on my stereo for months to come. Just Incredible

Check TCR’s site for the release dates in your neck of the woods.