Bed EP (w/ Dan Berkson remix)
Hype010 / 2008 / 12” & DigitalUK based Hypercolour enter double figures with label co-owner and electronic beat-meister Alex Jones and his superb ‘Bed EP’. Holding down a residency at London’s The End, releasing on Turbo, Viva and Glimpse Recordings as well as previous involvement in the seminal Big Beat Boutique and Electric Stew Nights, Alex Jones already has a cast iron reputation, but his ‘Bed EP’ looks set to push things even further.
Opening with the aptly titled ‘Humid’, a warm drummy tech-house roller crammed with production tweaks, ‘Bed EP’ sounds like a winner fresh out of the blocks and that doesn’t change with the title track ‘Bed’. An organic, percussive slant on the minimal template, ‘Bed’ bangs but retains the depth and roundedness that Jones is swiftly becoming known for.
Poker Flat man and general production safe-hands Dan Berkson remixes ‘Bed’ into a Detroit-tinged, chord laden house track which just reeks of class and soul. Hitting the nail on the head, Berkson titled his mix ‘Effortless’ – a truism if ever there was one.
Rounding things off as a digital release only is the low-slung funk of a track which samples Claude Von Stroke’s ‘Who’s Afraid of Detroit?’ so respectfully it’s received full backing from the SF resident himself. This is no lazy cover, this is an outstanding piece of steadily developing, innovative house music.
At a mere 10 releases old, UK based Hypercolour is regarded as one of the finest purveyors of house and techno around and Jones has been instrumental in this. He’s a talent to be kept a constant eye on.
About Alex Jones
The co-creator of the influential Hypercolour/Glass Table/Losing Suki labels, Alex Jones is a name that is rightly associated with unerring quality regardless of genre boundaries. A sharp wit and refusal to take life too seriously is contrasted by a cast iron reputation within electronic music that has seen the East-Londoner play the world over and release on some of the most lauded labels around.