Breakbeat mix CDs released on major labels are always a bit of a gamble these days, you never know if you’re going to get an inspired piece of self expression from the greatest minds in music today or just another ‘me too’ compilation of the latest crossover pop-dance hits thrown together by the world’s hottest DJ of the month in a couple of hours in ProTools. But when a class act like Hyper throws his weight behind the CD, you can be fairly sure you’re in for something special.

Most people would have first heard Hyper’s work in the form of his excellent contribution to the Y3K series in 2000, establishing his dark, progressive breaks sound with mixes that still stand as some of the best of the genre. Since then he’s gone from strength to strength, touring Australia several times to rave reviews and more recently supporting the Crystal Method on their US tour. In just 4 short years, this twentysomething has repeatedly proven himself as a major talent in the world of breakbeat and Wired, his latest Mix CD is testament to both his DJing and production skills.

Only two tracks into the first CD, Hyper shows off one of the more exciting examples of his recent work with the dark, brooding Shock proof and it’s synthed-up electric guitar and ping-ponging beats jumping from speaker to speaker. Hot on its heels is Hyper’s mix of Moguai’s Get On, and how could anyone go wrong remixing an epic like this? Get On was an instant classic floor-filler breaks track the second it was released. With the chunky guitar intro, haunting vocals, deliciously rocky drums, it’s hard to imagine anyone who could stop themselves from losing it when this one drops. While Hyper’s remix isn’t exactly a radical reworking of the original, it does add Hyper’s trademark techy slant to the mix, which is always welcome.

It doesn’t stop there, with plenty more quality tracks on the first CD: PMT’s Necromancer, the Lee Coombs mix of Plump DJ’s Pray for you, Moguai’s mix of Planet Funk’s Who Said, but what really makes it for me is the inclusion of the JXL mix of Infusion’s Legacy. Although it’s been out for a while now, it’s still not one you hear an awful lot of and the way the delicious guitar licks tease their way over a breaks fuelled bassline into the androgenous vocals … it’s bliss.

In similar style, CD #2 is peppered with Hyper’s production work – first on his own in the very quirky Body Rok and then in collaboration with Uberzone on Wubbie. Hyper obviously has quite a body of quality work around at the moment (I count 6 tracks over these two CDs), which begs the question: will we see an album from this man soon? All rumours point to the fact that there is an album in the works, but from what I could tell, there’s no solid release dates as yet, we can only hope it will be soon.

In one of the cheekier moments on the CD, Hyper features his mix of the Sugababes’ In the Middle in the second half of CD 2 and I have to admit that I’m the first to run to the stereo to turn it up when this one comes on. Hyper samples just the exact right snippets of the track to keep the cheese level down while still giving the track the vocal hooks it needs to be instantly recognisable, the Sugababes must wish they sounded this good all the time.

From start to finish there wasn’t a moment between the two CDs where I lost interest or felt like skipping forward a track, which is quite rare for a mix clocking in at over 2 hours. Hyper’s expert track selection and mixing abilities keep the mix fresh and entertaining with quite a few surprises along the way. If you can’t wait for his Australian tour kicking off in May or his album due in the not too distant future, then definitely give Wired a look, it won’t disappoint.