Artist: Derek Howell
Title: EP (Part One)
Label: Bedrock Records
By: Simon Jones | 30 November 2004
Tracklist:

• A: You Wanna Do What
• B: In One Hand

Derek Howell "EP (Part One)"

Having recently wowed yours truly with his superb 'Funk It' single on Fade Records, Derek Howell is back once again, and this time it's with the EP that everyone has been talking about ever since it was announced that he was putting it together for John Digweed's Bedrock label. To say that Derek's career has skyrocketed this year has been an understatement, and what better way to bring the year to an end than with this stupendously good two part EP, of which these two tracks are the first part.

As the lead track of the EP, 'What You Wanna Do' wastes no time in making it's presence felt as it's pulsing bassline and heavy beats create a dark and eerie soundscape that serves as the perfect backdrop for what is to come. Strings and melodies rise through from the depths of the groove as one layer of enormous sound fuses with another, and it all falls together when a massive electric guitar lead drops into and really shakes things up, with the track exploding as it's newly found rock influences turn it into one of the most devastatingly breathtaking peak time tracks you will have heard in a long, long time.

'In One Hand' is more subdued than it's counterpart, but is more than capable of holding it's own. With it's gorgeous melodies and synth arrangements bedazzling you, Derek incorporates elements of tech house and breaks and puts them together in one cohesive and melancholic late night track that will astound you with it's beauty, but still packing enough punch and dancefloor sensibility to make sure you come back for more time and time again, and if there's one track that would typify the classic Bedrock 'style' on this EP, it would definitely be this one.

There's not much more I could say that I haven't already. I could wax lyrical over how jaw dropping these tracks are, or I could state the obvious and say that Derek Howell is an absolutely superb producer. The fact of the matter is that you know that already, so I'll state the fact that you need this 12" like your life depends on it, as it without a doubt forms part of one of the finest releases to come on the Bedrock label in a very long time.