- Deadly breakbeat that doesn't take itself too seriously.
- "This is a very silly song and I also require the ID," said one SoundCloud commenter on the recording of Ben UFO and Joy O's set at XOYO last August, where most people heard Hooverian Blur's "Old Gold" for the first time. That's an understandable reaction. What sounds like it could be the next "Hackney Parrot" emerges as something much sillier, and maybe gutsier: a breakbeat anthem built on the same synth sample as Origin Unknown's legendary "Valley Of The Shadows."
Hooverian Blur is Jason Alexander, and his career goes back to the mid-'90s, when he made breakbeat as Warlock and ran a label called Rag & Bone. "Old Gold" is a savvy comeback, a nostalgic trip so audacious that most new producers probably couldn't pull it off. Part of the reason it works is because it doesn't take itself too seriously. (I mean, the project is called Hooverian Blur.) The EP's other two tracks, "Eyes Closed" and "Laluvia," aren't any less fun, both with equally vintage flavours. But it's clear the winner here is "Old Gold," which is worth more than the price of admission.
TracklistA1 Old Gold
B1 Eyes Closed
B2 Laluvia