Hyperdub At Juno Download

Review: The mighty and ever-talented Terror Danjah steps up with a two-track release on Kode 9's revered Hyperdub imprint. Bringing in the syrupy sweet vocal prowess of Meleka in "You Make Me Feel", vocals caress beats in a sumptuous swathe of sound in the title track. Strong R&B influences are paired with twinkling sweeps, crisp beats, clapping atmospherics and distinctly UK bass orientated soundscape. "Morph2" (feat. DOK) starts with a flurry of dramatic strings and incessant, pattering beats and develops into a low-slung booty rinse out reminiscent of Redlight with chopped up vocal element, pounding bass and squelchy SFX. Highly recommended.

Review: Ever the wild card, Scratcha DVA flips the script once again as he returns to Hyperdub with soulful crooner Vikter Duplaix in tow. "Madness" bursts into action on a bright and goofy, rising and falling arpeggio, while the beat splutters in a syncopated manner. It makes for an odd foil to the smooth tones of Duplaix, but the end result is something of a wonderfully futuristic pop track. "Polyphonic Dreams" is just about more straight up, riding a funky beat and a more direct synth line, but still Scratcha manages to twist things up with some maverick sampling.

Review: The promise of Cooly G's releases for Hyperdub et al turns into maddening anticipation as the first taste of her forthcoming album sneaks out months ahead of the game! First up it's "Landscapes", co-produced with Simbad, and utterly devastating in its use of simple elements for maximum effect. A broken beat ticks steadily away under glossy, undulating streams of pads while Cooly herself enchants with her Neneh Cherry style vocal delivery. "It's Serious" sees Cooly linking up with Karizma for a more chunky, beat-driven offering that will slay floors in the same way that Altered Natives' "Rass Out" did some years back.

Review: After the woozy dread of Waiting For You, a sterling cast refigures the uneasy tones of King Midas Sound. Flying Lotus dismembers "Lost" into a three-minute cauldron of avant-garde hip-hop swagger, and Gang Gang Dance conjure up a bonkers romp with "Earth A Kill Ya". Cooly G tackles "Spin Me Around" with her own honey-coated delivery, while dBridge's taut synths and heart-broken croon threatens to drop at any moment on "Without You". The album feels like a celebration of the original rather than of the assembled artists, and it's testament to the curation of both projects that disparate elements can sit so well together.

Review: After their massive single on Hyperdub earlier this year, Funkystepz return to the label for the Trouble EP. If you're familiar with their razor sharp UKF formula, then there won't be any surprises, but with production this tight there's no need for any kind of deviation from the norm. "Trouble" is the most stripped back, utilising tight drum rolls and rave whistles in combination with deep subs, while "Dirty Dutch" takes a less rhythm based approach, and fills its space with bleeps and squelching bass, with heady melodies brought into check with its inbuilt rewinds. Finally, "John Wayne" offers the most atmospheric track on the EP, taking a deeper techno bassline and melding it with a synth stab, elastic melody and emotive strings, whilst still retaining their insistent rhythmic power.

Review: With his own album twitching at the gates, Kuedo brings his synth-laden delirium to King Midas Sound's "Goodbye Girl". He starts proceedings on a tart melodic line underpinned by some monolithic bass tones. The mournful quality of the original wafts through, acting as just the right counterbalance to Kuedo's day-glo styles. Mala opts for a bleak, dread fuelled take on "Earth A Kill Ya". A menacing, drawn out intro peppered with ghostly tones kicks into gear with a minimum of fuss over a persistent sub stab. If you appreciate music written to conjure up demons then this track has everything you need.

Review: The news that arch mystic sonic brewers Hype Williams had been signed up for single duties on Hyperdub might have seemed odd at first, but listening to the four tracks here proves that it was a sound move. There's a bewitching sensation that creeps over the hazed, lo-fi beatdown jams that ensures you keep flipping the vinyl over repeatedly to seek out the subtle sonics beneath. At times it sounds like Dean and Inga have been watching Akira on the reg, with the chimed melodies present on "Rise Up" and "Badmind" certainly reminiscent of the iconic anime's soundtrack. As with previous output from the group, Kelly Price W8 Gain Vol II is likely to split opinion but for those ardent fans this is an essential purchase.

Review: Sporting the quintessential neon-lit flair that typifies much of Hyperdub's output, D.O.K bowls onto the radar after something of a potted discography to date. As the EP title might suggest, there's plenty of G-funk styling at work on the synths, daubed across the top of some rigid drum machine breaks. The VIP of "West Coast" wins out over the original's half-step lurch, with a manic approach to the rhythmic content. That said, "East Coast" will do more favours on the dancefloor with its rugged drum machine backbone capturing the ghetto-tech resurgence in fine style, albeit maintaining the lurid melodic content.

Review: Prodigious UK house producer Ossie follows up his excellent debut for Lightworks with a three track EP for Hyperdub. While the title track from the Lightworks release - "Tarantula" - had a gorgeous ravey sheen, "Set The Tone" pairs vocodered vocals and insouciant child-like cries of "ahhhh" - both of which float above a tough, percussive arrangement. Up next, "Power Of Love" takes on a more garage-esque hue, while the excellent "Moves" rounds off the release with a heady combination of neon-tinged HudMo style synths and panpot percussion. Big release from a big talent.

Review: Burial is back. Yes, after four years away, he's not only ambushed us with THAT collab with Four Tet and Thom Yorke, but now he springs a three track EP on Kode9's Hyperdub imprint upon us too! The eponymous "Street Halo" is a delectable, crackling 4/4 roller with buckets of emotion and texture. In other words, it's the Burial of "Archangel" fame, which we all know and love. "NYC" is the urban retort, bristling with echoes of thunder, murmurs of traffic in the distance, jingling keys, it symbolizes the minutiae of everyday existence and is underpinned by slouching beats with a small, eerie and discernibly mournful voice wailing on top. Final track, "Stolen Dog" pairs smudgy piano keys with terse, ticking beats, all shrouded in an ethereal shimmer, much like Burial himself.

Review: The Hyperdub head honcho hooks up with The Spaceape, five years after their debut album Memories Of The Future, for another eloquently crafted and superbly narrated journey through bass music's ever-shifting landscape. With its milestones of dub, techno, house, dubstep and 2-step, the pair's sound has unsurprisingly evolved into something fresh and new. From the dread riddim "Black Smoke" which starts the LP, through the pacing, King Cannibal-esque "Am I" to the hissing, mellifluous sounds of "Black Sun (Partial Eclipse)" and the more maudlin, synth-drenched "Green Sun", it's very much an album of now and makes for essential listening.

Review: Much lauded Hyperdub label boss and author of esoteric electronic music literature Kode9 teams up with long term collaborator Spaceape in "Otherman", which as the title indicates, is as much an exploration into the notion of "otherness" as it is a somnambulant journey into a jungle-tinged dubbed out sonic landscape. It is one characterised by crackling atmospherics, muttered lyrics reminiscent of a tribal MC Kemo and a delicious synth haze that washes over all. "Love Is The Drug" (feat. Chinese singer Cha Cha) pairs chopped up vocals with a driving beat and pervasive sense of melancholia. It's a fantastic snapshot of what we can expect from Kode9's forthcoming album Black Sun, out later this month!

Review: Four-headed UKF groove-merchants Funkystepz return with two new tunes on Hyperdub, both excellent and both giving off wildly different vibes. Title-tune "Fuller" is the colder of the two, with a minimal soca-step beat with echoed claps supporting a gnarly lead. "Hurricane Rhythm" on the other hand is overflowing with warm strings and pianos, with a huge arrangement that keeps the tune naturally bubbly and funky. Two different sides of UKF, but one great release none the less - Funkystepz keep their unblemished rep strong on this Hyperdub essential.

Review: Another slick, on point release from Hyperdub which gets 2011 off to a very strong start for Kode 9's zeitgeisty imprint. Morgan Zarate (who you may recognise as a member of electronica band Spacek) blends a synth-laden, sugar coated, psychadelia a la Rustie with a squelchy bass heavy element in first track "Hookid". He delves deeper into a Dilla influenced "dubstep" sensibility in next cut, "Buy Bye", which is all forward thinking, fidgety edits and glitchy hiccups. "SP", the final track on the EP, pairs clicking beats with sweeping atmospherics, horn tremors and an abundant sense of understated euphoria. Sublime.

Review: One of Hyperdub's many forward-thinking talents, Ikonika follows on from the exceptional Contact, Want, Love, Have album with four dancefloor-orientated versions of the album's highlights. Rejigged with DJs in mind, songs like "Look (Final Boss Stage)" are given longer intros for greater mixing potential, and they'll certainly create heavy dancefloor moments. Listen to the rollicking kwaito funk of "Psoriasis" if you don't believe us - that walking synthline has to be one of the highlights of the year!

Review: Hyperdub brings together two of their label locals for two collaborative tracks on what is the thirty fourth release on Kode9's famed imprint. here we see LV & Quarta 330 combine for the original production of "Hylo" and a remix of Dong?s "Suzuran". Legend has it that this collaboration was forged the day after the label's 5th anniversary party last November. The alliance works a balanced level between the two producers by merging their different sounds, with Quarta 330's 8-bit abstraction and melodic tendencies contrasting perfectly with the lush figures and shuffling rhythms of LV.

"Hylo" sees 8-bit melodies made from rebuilt gameboys and sonic bleeps weaved into the crunchy snap of a reverse drum beat and warm chords. The harmonic and beautiful breakdown takes us into peaceful territory courtesy of a simple motif before the pace picks back up and we continue on our stepping journey with more splattered drums. It is an energetic mix of brittle and lush sounds which seems to sum up how the pair complement each other so well.

Next up, they work together on a remix of Quarta's own remix of Japanese producer, Dong's "Suzuran". LV reconstructs the slurring space pop of the Japanese vocoder vocal melody into a remix that is constructed from syncopated drums and off key patterns of beep and bleeps. It creates a catchy but obscure sound as sweet melodies clash with shuffling beats.

This unlikely but attractive pairing has provided each other with a platform to successfully exchange relatively alien ideas and sounds. The unrestrained rawness of their work together both complements each others' talent and provides yet another go-to release from Hyperdub.

Review: Detroit meet dubstep: dubstep, meet Detroit. Kyle Hall knocks down barriers on this release, bringing his free-flowing, insouciant production style to the UK bass music scene. After dropping a remix of Darkstar's "Aidy's Girl Is A Computer" in 2009, Hyperdub boss Kode9 called on Hall's precocious talents for a solo release on the imprint.

His brief production career has so far encompassed house, techno, jazz and now dubstep, although such parameters are fairly meaningless to a young producer for whom the internet, analogue equipment, high tech kit and software programming are all part of one wonderful, disjointed bundle for making and consuming music.

"Kaychunk" features soft melodic synths floating over the top of a schizophrenic drum pattern, while vocal snippets help give the track some structure. B-side "You Know What I Feel" is very much in the Floating Points school of dubstep, meandering gently along with no obvious destination - but of course the destination hardly matters, because the ride itself is so damn fun.

Make no mistake, Hall is a prodigious talent and with releases slated for labels as diverse and forward-thinking as Carl Craig's Planet E, Sheffield's iconic Warp and Instra:mental?s Non Plus, it's already obvious that the serious players are taking notice.

Review: Scratcha DVA delivers his debut 12" for Hyperdub with "Natty," taking dub step's funky phenomenon even further with two funky, yet tribal tunes.

This is a highly anticipated Hyperdub release. Having received plays from Kode 9 affiliates, Cooly G and Ikonika in addition to players like Oneman to Marcus Nasty and Jackmaster - expectations were high. The iconic label, perhaps sensing this, have even issued the record in a resplendent spot-gloss sleeve.

Known originally for his grime beats, DVA has been bubbling away just under the surface for a while now. It is his unique take on the funkier side of dub step that is getting him all the recognition now. Serving as an answer to all those who believe this new movement is a step in the wrong direction for the genre, this release showcases DVA adapting to the dynamic production levels of European house and techno and twisting them for a ruder, contemporary London-centric audience.

"Natty" is based around a heavily staggered snare-driven rhythm that gives the track its infectious off-centre, skippy nature. It is a slow, percussive trip that swaggers and staggers with tribal influences. It is a truly unique track, almost free from any other labelling whatsoever. "Ganja" however, is much simpler. It follows a 4/4 pulse but feels loose and rolls along to some jackin' polyrhthms and loopy lead synth. Perhaps the better track for the dancefloor, "Ganja's" catchy bassline merges perfectly DVA's more minimal approach to funky dub step.

Hyperdub are always pushing dub step, helping forge new sounds and different techniques. Even within the funky sound, the label's output shows varying approaches. Through DVA, it shows a darker, more minimal take on the sound through splicing elements of house and techno into the genre.