Hybrid Presents Y4K

When it comes to DJing, Hybrid can blow hot and cold. Last year I caught them live twice - once at SW4 where they played a set that perfectly matched the blissed out mood of the sun soaked revelers, and then again at Fabric, where they were pants. Fortunately their Y4K mix falls into the very, VERY impressive category.

Listeners familiar with Hybrid's groundbreaking first album Wide Angle will know all about their mixing capabilities through its excellent bonus disc Wider Angle. While the Y4K offering is more about other artist's tracks, they manage to lace it with a sound that is unmistakably theirs - lots of big beats, beautiful strings and great melodies. The result is fantastic. If you only buy this album for the Stereo 8 mix of Orbital's 'One Perfect Sunrise' then it will be money well spent.

An avid fan of breaks and beats, when I heard that Hybrid were doing a mix CD I was first on the list. I've had the album since it's release, and the fact that this is the first review I've ever submitted (albeit a little late) it should be an indication to how much I love this album.
Listening to it as I write, I can give an honest review of the album in it's entirety - I haven't just listened to it and bunged some words down - I've been listening to this album for months.
Hybrid are, in it's purest form, Mike Truman and Chris Healings. Sure, along the way they've teamed with numerous stars of the scene including Kirsty Hawkshaw - surely one of the best session singers in the genre (and who rightfully has her own album under her belt) - but in the thick of it all is Mr Truman and Mr Healings.
Before this Y4K release thay'd completed three albums. Their debut was critically acclaimed (by the Times no less - Wide Angle - though if you haven't bought it yet get Live Angle with a bonus CD... yep, you guessed it, a live set), their second was their take on many a popular dance anthems (Remix and Additional Production By...).
Morning Sci-fi saw a collaboration with a rock band singer and produced the goods.
But if you're after a lot of bass, a lot of breaks and seamless mixing, this is the CD for you.
Assaulting the senses straight away, it's a journey through some thumping melodies before waging all out war with your speakers. Half way through the album, they remind you of what they do best, mixing strings with beats. From FSOL's 'My Kingdom' (taken from the Dead Cities album if anyone's wondering), Hybrid bring on the orchestra with 'In Good We Trust', a two minute piece which builds and builds and, in my opinion, is one of the highlights of the album. It cascades into GusGus with a beat unrivalled in electronic demolition. Honestly, you just want to get up and punch the ceiling in unison - and even of you're only three feet tall you'll have no problem getting there, helped by the energy this part of the album gives you.
From there, the album is on overdrive with a never-before-heard mix of a famous Chemical Brothers track (the cover states it's not a remix, but by god it is - and it's the best).
A few of my mates have actually bought this album on the strength of the Chemical Brothers remix.
From there it's a gentle come down with Orbital's One Perfect Sunrise taken from their latest and last album. But just when you think it's safe, they remix their own material, bringing Blackout (the downbeat finale to Morning Sci-fi) into a new realm of hardcore beats and bass to leave you simply wanting more.
Go see'em live. I've always wanted to, but now I'm thinking of booking the DJ set as opposed to their tour.
If you own any of the other Y4K's but not this one - what's wrong with you?

I bought Hybrid's first album 'Wideangle' when it came out a few years back and productionwise and technically it was great apart from their (or their record label's) insistence in having a female vocalist on most of the tracks, making them look and sound like a band perhaps? Kosheen vibe...Anyway, as far as I know they haven't won any Mercury Music Prize awards since then, and unlike their debut album they don't have wide-angle photo-spreads of the bandmembers on this album so I guess someone in the pub had a word in their ears, and they must have listened....a bit anyway. This album is their 'throw of the breaks dice' mix album (think DJ kicks for breaks fiends)- incorporating current breaks releases/influences alongside one or two of their own tracks. It's good, but it takes a while to grow, so be patient. (A lot better than Meat Katie's Bedrock Breaks by the way...)Highlights in my opinion are track 9 'Nectarios' and Hybrid themselves on the final track (13) which displays their awesome musicality and perfection in soundscaping. If you want to explore breaks albums with a bit more bite and originality I would suggest 'ILS' an English breaks producer who has an excellent album out called 'Soul Trader' on the Marine Parade label. Enjoy, if you get a chance.
Pete.