After a successful release with Church Recordings at the start of the year Ben Hauke returns to his label WOOP Records for a five track EP , First Takes. First Takes EP combines the sounds of broken beat and house music with a strong nod to 90s Hip Hop throughout. Ben is cementing his own sound and approach to music through his eclectic sampling of jazz records detailed drum sequencing and no nonsense attitude
Setting the tone for the record, Ben starts with a raw 2-step swinging jazz rhythm ‘One forGoldtooth’. This short and snappy banger highlights Ben’s standalone sound - not quite Broken Beat - not quite Hip Hop - but somewhere in between. We follow with ‘Sideman’, a floor filler with a serious London attitude and a soulful vocal to accompany it. Next track ‘I Don’t Believe’ feels like a broken beat remix of your favourite hip hop instrumental, with high energy drums pushing the song forward throughout. This track will be on repeat for a while! The B sides of this release are straight house bangers starting with ‘Yeh Yeh’ featuring 2016’s much hyped saxophonist Nubya Garcia. ‘Yeh Yeh’ is a down-tempo jazz house roller which is sure to be a DJ favourite. We end the EP with a hard hitting Mr. G inspired track ‘film yourself, you’ll feel better’. The addictive vocal loops and serious bass part in this track makes it a perfect midsetfiller with lots of room to play with.