Jay Haze

Bearly Legal EP Jay Haze

Jay Haze is not only a DJ/producer, but also the boss behind labels TuningSpork and Contexterrior, and it was through these ventures that he teamed up with Alessio Mereu, who released material on both labels in 2009. Now that Mr. Mereu has started his own label Amam, some reciprocity felt like a natural next step. Jay Haze did a remix for Amam's first release earlier this year and now returns for an EP of original material, entitled Bearly Legal. "Take your Hat Off" marks a new direction for Haze, perhaps inspired by his new surroundings in Peru after leaving his longtime home base of Berlin. Much more loop-based and stripped down than much of his earlier material, and light-years away from his material as Fuckpony for BPitch, "Hats" sounds like dusty, bit-crushed Daft Punk, but listening deeply, you'll still hear Jay's typical Chicago and dub influences. As if titled in defiance to the first track, "No Need for Loops" offers a more hand-crafted approach, with bongos and congas and some kind of digitally manipulated tribal plucking sounds, primitive yet futuristic.