DJ Hyper has been a busy man this year, he has found time to remix numerous artists like Paul van Dyk, Sugababes and Sarah Mclachlan and tour with Crystal Method. Some say he has arrived well does this compilation show that he has?

Hyper – Wired Review (Kilowatt/Thrive)

DJ Hyper aka Guy Hatfield was named as a face to watch by numerous of the big Breakbeat deejays, some years ago. Well DJ Hyper has finally hit the bigtime and 2004, so far is shaping up to be his year. He remixed Crush for Paul van Dyk and made it a mainstay in many deejays’ boxes. His biggest claim to fame, so far in 2004 was when he remixed Sarah Mclachlan’s Stupid song and turned the song into a club destroying monster. If you have not heard it yet, you probably will with just about every big name deejay playing the song, it will be released on the forthcoming Stupid E.P on Nettwerk. DJ Hyper only got started with the two remixes, he has done a 2 CD mix for Kilowatt Records in Europe at the end of May, which will be reviewed below, it has already been released on Thrive Records in North America.

Tracklist

CD 1
1.Mobilegazer – My House
2.Hyper – Shock Proof
3.Hyper vs. General Midi – We’ve Been Waiting
4.Moguai – Get On (Hyper Mix)
5.PMT – Necromancer
6.Plump DJ’s – Pray For You (Lee Coombs Vocal Mix)
7.Planet Funk – Who Said (Moguai Mix)
8.Hyper – Outsider
9.Infusion – Legacy (Junkie XL Remix)
10.General Midi – Entertainer
11.Soul of Man – Dirty Walker (Santos Another Planet Reprise)

1.Mobilegazer – My House

We begin CD 1 with this tune, which is new to me. The song starts with a bassline and then the vocal “Welcome to my house’ comes in and it is repeated a few times. The bassline drives this track with the funky vocal, which is a great song to start out on. We have a pause then the vocal of “Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to my house”. You hear some claps behind the vocal and the song is bass heavy. The song is a good warmup and it continues on with “My house” and continues till the song is mixed out and we hear song two come in

2.Hyper – Shock Proof

“Shock Proof”starts with a tapping, which is surrounded by drums and a very heavy bassline. Then enter the sound effects, which sound like weird sci-fi noises. A guitar plays a few notes, which they repeat and the track starts to build. You realize that this CD will be a journey just like Hyper’s deejay sets. A keyboard based riff enters, which is catchy and makes this song, so enjoyable. The song then breaksdown to almost dead silence and you just hear the sound effects then a few drum beats come in but then enters the best part of the track, an amazing robotic influenced keyboard riff and the guitar notes come back in. The bass gets heavier about twenty seconds later and the song just keeps building till it hits the peak and shortly after, the song is being mixed out because the bassline completely changes.

3.Hyper vs. General Midi – We’ve Been Waiting

It becomes apparent when song 3 enters that Hyper’s own productions are building songs, which make use of heavy bass and driving instrumentation. We start with a heavy riff that sounds like it was a few guitar notes that were altered severely in some way. An angelic sounding female voice comes in and says “We’ve been waiting for you”. This song is driving breakbeat and the bassline here is quick drumbeats. The song then breaksdown with a keyboard based riff and the song slows down for a moment, then it picks back up to the pace where it started from and goes back to the driving breakbeat with the sound effects coming in and out, they are almost science fiction movie type sounds that have been altered as well. The vocal comes in and out at times with the “We’ve been waiting for you”. The bassline changes and you get ready for song number four

4.Moguai – Get On (Hyper Mix)

Get on follows the Hyper formula, a grinding breakbeat with a guitar driving it. We have drums that are hit one two to make up the bassline here. A heavy guitar riff is added, with some extra heaviness. A female vocal sings “Get It On” but it is lengthened and the vocal is near the middle here. Slowly while the bassline and guitar are going on, the vocal starts to come forward and move more towards the front. The guitar riff drives this song easily, I suspect that Hyper loves to incorporate heavy guitars in his work. The vocal is used but it goes “Onnnnnnnnnnnn, let’s get it on”. A guitar solo appears near the end of the song and the guitar then leaves and song five comes in

5.PMT – Necromancer

This is the followup to Gyromancer, which was played by many deejays in 2000 and it was a big hit. This song incorporates some strong drum hits here and then the song gets darker as most of PMT’s work does. A dark, scary sounding riff is near the background and the drums are at the front of this. The riff slowly moves to the front but it takes a good thirty seconds to do that. Another riff is introduced as well, it comes in from the back as well and moves to the front and it is a grinding beat but it slows the song down, to where the first riff goes away for a while and the bassline disappears as well. The second riff is just the single focus till some solid drum smashes enter and then hi-hats are used near the back. Some scratchy sound effects enter, they come in and out, every so often. The song is epic and dark like gyromancer was and it is building Hyper’s first CD. He said it was just like his deejay sets, so he is clearly building the tempo here. The bassline near the very end becomes more simple and interspaced and you hear a familiar bassline.

6. Plump DJ’s – Pray For You (Lee Coombs Vocal Mix)

Some will argue with me here but this is clearly the highlight of the CD 1, but I may be biased because I reviewed this exact release and chose it as my favorite tune of 2003. You probably have heard this bassline in enough sets and enough people playing it out, so it should not be a mystery to most of you. Hyper goes from the dark PMT song to a lighter more jump up style breakbeat tune and this is more energetic. So a few notes come in and the hypnotic bassline comes in and then the handclaps come in as well. At this point, the bassline just drops out and the claps are the only thing that you can hear clearly with the sound effects in the back. The drum driven bassline comes back in with the catchy riff from hell. At this point, you remember why you loved this song, so much. I imagine that by now, you realize that this CD contains driving breakbeat songs and catchy songs. The hi-hats are thrown in and then the vocal is about to come in. Gary Numan’s vocal enters with “I’m Not Praying for a miracle, I’m not praying for you, I’m not expecting you to forgive, things I do, I’m not praying for a God to come to save my soul, I’m not crawling to the end”. This song is so addictive that the CD should have come with a warning label on it “Careful you might lose your mind to this”. Gary Numan then continues with verses 2 and 3 in quick succession. The song breaksdown and then the claps come back in and then the first vocal part is repeated but it ends in I do and that is repeated several times. This is a truly addictive song and is a great choice for a breakbeat CD. We have the pray for you bassline and the vocal for song seven come in, you can tell that Hyper is mixing songs here.

7.Planet Funk – Who Said (Moguai Mix)

Now the pray for you bassline is dropped about forty seconds into track seven. A guitar is placed along side the bassline here and we get the song. We go into an 1980’s type feel here. A male vocal here enters and you hear “UK, USA” which is vocodered and then “Ima Ima Slave”, which is also vocodered. We hear a backing vocal of a few guys who say “Who Said”, then the chorus kicks in “I’ve never been to the USA, I’m a slave to minimum wage, Detroit, New York and L.A but I’m stuck in the UK”. The UK part is dragged on at the end with some altered effect here. We go back to “Who Said” then the best part of the song comes in about twelve seconds later with “I must not give in”. This is a true journey and Hyper is leading you on it. The song breaksdown about four minutes in, where the drums just go away and the chorus comes back and after it finishes, the guitar riff comes back in and they keep repeating the chorus and the song again starts to take off and it goes in this mold till the end.

8.Hyper – Outsider

You hear a male vocal saying “Inside-Outside” and this driving electro riff, which sounds like an instrument that has been altered and tweaked in some way. A driving bassline that uses an amazing hook comes in from the back and slowly moves in, till it catches your attention. The drums then enter and we have the song start to take off. The song is unlike Hyper because it does not rely on guitars but who said everything had to be similar. The song just picks up from there and moves and carries you with it because you get connected to the amazing riffs. This is epic breakbeat at its finest here and DJ Hyper is in the driver seat and you are a passenger just enjoying the ride. It keeps going till the end and even then, you don’t want it to stop but here comes another bassline that sounds very familiar, with a simple drum beat and the familiar lead riff that screams Junkie XL.

9.Infusion – Legacy (Junkie XL Remix)

Most of you know about this song already because you first heard it on Sander Kleinenberg’s Essential Mix in December of 2002 at Colours. The bass builds and builds as the typical Junkie XL remix does and you just wait till the song takes off. The bass becomes heavier about two minutes in here and we are nearly about to take off, you can sense the build in the song and the CD in general. The male vocal with an echo comes in and sings the first verse. The song goes instrumental and builds and builds again till the male vocal comes back in for chorus two. It ends with “Throw the radio”, which is repeated but it is near the back and the beats move along with it till the vocal nears the front. This is another excellent song to add to a CD compilation, some will argue that it is old but if it works, then who cares? It continues till the end and then you feel the bassline change and the some effects enter

10.General Midi – Entertainer

Song ten starts with some funky effects and the rap of MC Jakes, which he starts to rap over a 80’s style drum lead bassline. You cannot understand most of what he raps because it is simply too fast. The chorus comes in with “Entertainer” but he says it as “EntertainAH”. He continues on to verse 2, which follows the Entertainer chorus and the funky sound effects enter in, it sounds like a star wars type noise. MC Jakes goes into verse 3, you hear a heavier bass here. The chorus is repeated a few times here and the song then goes into semi-breakdown mode with some sound effects. MC Jakes is still rapping but you still cannot understand him. The bassline is heavier now and he is still repeating the same chorus. He likes to remind you and that it is General Midi and MC Jakes at the end. The song starts to fade out and you hear another driving breakbeat song.

11.Soul of Man – Dirty Walker (Santos Another Planet Reprise)

This song is not as driving as the earlier songs but a nice song to end it on. If the song sounds familiar to you, it is because James Lavelle had it on his GU Barcelona Compilation. This is slightly different because it throws in, more effects here. The song is gritty and dirty and is led by a vocal that is hard to understand but it is a nice way to end the first CD. What a journey this CD turned out to be and had some nice surprises along the way.

CD 2 Tracklist

1.DJ Fly Wheel – Weatherman
2.Dan F – Line of Sight (Original)
3.Marscruiser vs Andy Page Feat. George Clinton – Elementalelectrofunk
4.Hyper – Body Rok
5.Chable and Bonnici – Ride (Have A Break Mix)
6.Hyper vs. Uberzone – Wubbie (Prototype Mix)
7.Sugababes – In The Middle (Hyper Mix)
8.Stir Fry – ‘lectro Chunk
9.Attack Force – Gourilla
10.Santos – Sabot (Santos VIP Remix)

CD 2

1.DJ Fly Wheel – Weatherman

This CD starts with a faint riff and this riff comes in and out for the rest of the song. The song starts to build. An unclear female vocal comes in, you don’t seem to understand clearly what she is saying. Some drums come in and this makes up the bassline for this song. Some sound effects come in and they sound like the sound of something falling. The song is a great one to start with, a slow builder to begin a set with or in this case, the second CD.

2.Dan F – Line of Sight (Original)

We start with keyboard riffs here and shortly after a female vocal appears saying “Why” but it repeats itself, at least ten times. Some drums come in and that makes up the bassline here. Some keyboard riff comes in and out, every so often and you have some spacey sound effects coming in and out. The vocal is unclear here because it has been altered and it is not near the front but more to the middle. The song goes on for a little while then the vocal drops out then comes back and you do hear a clear vocal here with the word “Yes”, which is repeated. A guitar playing a bunch of chords comes in and the chords are repeated here. Everything else seems to drop around it and the guitar is the focus of your attention. This song is playing tricks with you and it is an excellent builder of a tune. The guitar finishes and the rest of the song comes back and the vocal comes back but this time, it just says “Why” and it repeats itself. A heavier bass enters, with hi-hats around it and at this point, the beats almost double. The song continues in this mode for a while longer till you hear heavy bass riffs near the back of the song and you can tell that another song is coming in.

3.Marscruiser vs Andy Page Feat. George Clinton – Elementalelectrofunk

A heavy bass riff drives this song and here they use George Clinton aka Funkmaster himself for the vocal. The vocal comes in here saying “Elementalelectrofunk” and the instrumentation comes in with it. He goes on with “Elementalfunk” then a bit later, he says “I got the funk” then pauses and repeats “Elementalfunk”. Some heavier bass riffs come in and some keyboards join in. Another voice sings “Are you ready for today, cuz today is all you got” then “Elementalfunk” comes in from Clinton then verse two begins with “Are you ready for today, ready for tonight, everything is out of sight”. George Clinton returns singing “Elementalfunk” and repeats it. The song then breaksdown and the lead changes here and the bass is not as heavy. The second voice that sung the vocal comes back and he repeats the same words. Suddenly the melody changes and you sense that you are on to another track.

4.Hyper – Body Rok

Body Rok starts with a spaced out melody and some electronic riffs enter the song. We have some sound effects that sound as equally spaced out come in and out. This driving lush melody then enters and some drums come in. This is more epic breakbeat here and DJ Hyper is still building here. We have a vocal that appears but you cannot quite understand it except at the end, where you clearly hear ROK. The song takes off from there, just being driven by the lush melody and delicious breaks. More special sound effects enter but they are more frequent, about every second. The bass leaves a little while later and you hear the familiar sound of Bonicci and Chable’s Ride.

5.Chable and Bonnici – Ride (Have A Break Mix)

Most of you should know this song quite well by now, the original was massive with most big deejays. Well this is the breaks mix here. It has the same build and same brilliant melody that everyone has heard. This is a massive tune live, when the melody creeps in with the breaks and then it just explodes. A truly massive tune and a great choice for this compilation.

6. Hyper vs. Uberzone – Wubbie (Prototype Mix)

This song has a robotic voice that says something that is muffled. We have a gritty electro bassline and then the song starts to build around it. It takes a while to get going but that heavy bassline is catchy and the robot sounds are a nice change.

7.Sugababes – In The Middle (Hyper Mix)

Hyper steps it up again with his remix of the pop trio Sugababes. Most people have not heard this remix, so it will be a treat for all of you. The song starts with drums that make up the bassline here. A guitar comes in and it wails for a few seconds and a little later, the vocal comes in “Jump up in the middle, jump into the middle”. A low bass then comes in and it adds fuel to the fire because this song has already taken off. The chorus comes in again and you actually don’t mind that it is a pop group because the remix is so good. Some sound effects that sound guitaresque come in and the song starts to build and the chorus is repeated. The breakdown then happens and you just hear instruments for a short while then the song goes back to the original mode and the chorus is repeated yet again. We have a guitar almost chugging and the bassline jumps back and we have “Jump Up” repeated. The song slowly fades and song eight is brought in.

8.Stir Fry – ‘lectro Chunk

“ ‘lectro Chunk” starts with a mean electro line and then the drums enter. A guitar that is altered in some way joins in. Some old skool bassline then comes in and you feel it is from the mid 1980’s. Some sound effects that sound like Star Wars phazers then come in. The song is nothing special here, but Hyper is still building. It repeats this for a while and then we move into the second last song.

9.Attack Force – Gourilla

We move into aggressive breakbeat here. Some taps, hi-hats and snares start it and the bassline comes in and that is made up of drum hits. We have some weird effects roll in but this song is driving as well, like most of the compilation’s choices. The song relies more on the bassline and the weird sound effects. We do have a vocal that enters near the halfway point but it is not clear. The song keeps going in this mode till the very end.

10.Santos – Sabot (Santos VIP Remix)

This is the last song of the compilation. It starts with some spacey sound effects and a bassline that is drum driven and very fast. It contains a bass heavy riff and the song is a fitting song to end on. The song uses different types of drums at points, some sound like bongos. This is driving breakbeat as well and a great song to end on

Conclusion:
Hyper shows with this compilation that he has indeed arrived into the big names of breakbeat deejays and he is worthy of being tossed in there with them. CD one is an excellent mix of Hyper’s own tracks and some big tunes like “Pray for you”, “Who said” and “Legacy”. It shows that Hyper knows what he is doing and I think the first CD is better than the 2nd. In the second CD, Hyper takes longer to build the set but with tunes like “Ride” and “In the Middle”, you cannot go wrong. Only problem with the compilation is the 2nd CD comes in at only 54 minutes but a solid mix compilation and a must for breakbeat fans