It’s taken Kode9 (Steve Goodman) five years to hoist his Hyperdub imprint from the dank gutters of south east London to the roof of the bass culture high-rise. His coterie of bombastic brethren are some of the most talked about artists to rest their tools under the dubstep umbrella.
Arriving steaming on a double pack comp, these two plates are stacked with lumps of low frequency delight. The first disc pushes an array of dubs from the scene’s most wanted, with unreleased exclusives from the likes of Flying Lotus, The Bug, Martyn, Zomby and Cooly G, as well as Burial’s first solo material since the release of his critically acclaimed album Untrue.
The second course serves up a nostalgic step back to the skunk stench days of SW9. Kode9’s seminal 9 Samurai is still as gritty as a roadside hot wing, while more recent nuggets materialise in the form of Bristol’s Joker, whose snare-spitting Digidesign takes its place alongside a tough Rustie remix of Spliff Dub, courtesy of man-of-the- moment Zomby. Goodman’s birthday celebration is a cleverly curated, sonically diverse record that perfectly encapsulates Hyperdub’s breadth of ambition. Take your hat off to the lad and look forward to the next five.
