Hyperdub - Hyperdub 10.1

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  • Hyperdub isn't like many other labels. It's stayed at the forefront of UK electronic music for its entire lifetime, tracing an erratic but intuitive thread through dubstep, UK funky, footwork and grime, always staying one step ahead of everyone else. Reflecting how wide its purview has become, Hyperdub's tenth anniversary release is mammoth but compartmentalized: four separate compilations, each highlighting a dimension of the label. With one disc of new tracks and another of old favourites, 10.1 showcases its clubbier side. If it was hard to classify Hyperdub on their fifth anniversary back in 2009, by now it's basically impossible. The new tracks have some things in common: Kyle Hall and Quarta 330 share trilling chiptune sounds, while Kuedo's "Mtzpn" and Flowdan's "Ambush" show off the vaporous textures Hyperdub's been fond of lately. This is cold computer music, which makes the footwork tracks that come later all the more alluring. The Teklife crew's stuttering rhythms fit the label's style, but the warmer textures of DJ Earl, Taso, Heavee and Spinn feel like the analogue soul inside Hyperdub's digital body. Inevitably, the shadow of the late DJ Rashad hangs over these tracks, especially the two new bits with him: the frenetic "Acid Life" and the topsy-turvy "Bombaklot." As with Kode 9's Rinse CD, the first disc shows how footwork has come to dominate Hyperdub's club impulses. The older material, meanwhile, unpacks all the other influences that went into the label's sound. The immense dread of Burial's "Spaceape" still hits like a woodblock to the face, just as the wonky, lopsided bleep of Ikonika's "Idiot" still perks up the ears when its unforgettable refrain hits. The sheer variety is impressive in itself. The second half, which runs through Mark Pritchard's lopsided boogie "Wind It Up," Terror Danjah and DOK's grime workouts and ends up at LV's kwaito masterpiece "Sebenza," would make your head spin if it all weren't so funky and fun. That's another thing about Hyperdub. No matter how dark, tense or conceptual its releases become, it's a dance label at heart. Much of the music on the first disc could be considered experimental, but it's never stuffy. Take Helix's remix of Kode 9's already psychedelic footwork tune "Xingfu Lu." This one brings the original to a new level of rhythmic incomprehension, but it's still thrilling. Japanese producer Quarta330 gets even weirder with "Hanabi," laying down a blizzard of 8-bit synths over cascading rhythms that touch on both drum & bass and footwork. Taking touchstones from familiar genres and refiguring them into something completely new, it's like a microcosm of the label as a whole.
  • Tracklist
      CD1 01. DVA - Mad Hatter 02. Kyle Hall - Girl You So Strong 03. Mala - Expected 04. Kuedo - Mtzpn 05. Kode9 - Xingfu Lu (Helix Rmx) 06. Morgan Zarate - Kaytsu 07. Flowdan - Ambush (Produced by Footsie) 08. Taso & Djunya - Only The Strong Survive 09. DJ Spinn - All My Teklife 10. DJ Taye - Get Em Up 11. DJ Earl - I'm Gonna Get You 12. Heavee - Icemaster 13. DJ Rashad & Gant Man - Acid Life 14. DJ Earl - Bombaklot feat. DJ Rashad & DJ Taye 15. Kode9 & The Spaceape - Chasing The Beast 16. Quarta 330 - Hanabi CD2 01. Burial - Spaceace feat. The Spaceape 02. Cooly G - It's Serious feat. Karizma 03. Champion - Bowsers Castle 04. DVA - Natty 05. Funkystepz - Hurricane Riddim 06. Ill Blu - Clapper 07. Walton - Aggy 08. Ikonika - Idiot 09. Kode9 & The Spaceape - Am I 10. Morgan Zarate - Hookid 11. Mark Pritchard - Wind It Up feat. Om'mas Keith 12. Terror Danjah - Dark Crawler feat. Riko Dan 13. DOK - East Coast 14. Terror Danjah - Bruzin VIP 15. LV - Sebenza feat. Okmalumkoolkat 16. Kode9 - Xingfu Lu 17. DJ Rashad - Let It Go
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