Son Raw is running for president of Peru in 2020
Kode9 – “Respirator”
After 2014’s tragedies, Hyperdub is on the up and up. Kode9’s forthcoming N0thing is a brilliant mindfuck of an album, more cerebral than his work with Spaceape but no less singular in its execution. By now, most people are expecting footwork but that would have been too easy. Instead, the record dances around that genre, drawing from it without ever sounding like an imitation. Instead, we’re treated to flashes of sinogrime, j-pop and bizarre chords and textures that undermine the breezy forward momentum you expect from juke music. If anything, I’m reminded of a uniquely 90s vision of futurism brought to life–this is a record that realizes we’re living in the post-apocalyptic sci fi decade our anime and PS1 games warned us about in 97. I tweeted it last month but it bears repeating for exposure: Adult Swim needs to fund a Kode9 vs. Future studio session to tie up my sound of 2015 in a nice tidy package.
DJ Spinn – “The Future Is Now”
DJ Spinn’s “The Future is Now” only makes that concept of future shock more explicit. If Kode drew for the 90s, this is 80s acid house and 8 bit gaming reimagined through the lens of accelerated house. It’s utterly of the moment, yet not a million miles from the Quarta 330 material that Hyperdub put out 5 years ago, blurring classic ideas to new formats. While we’ll apparently have to wait a bit longer for that Spinn album on account of an unfortunate act of laptop theft, our confidence in the man is at an all time high.
DJ Taye – “XTCC”
Finally, Teklife newcomer DJ Taye’s Hyperdub debut rushes in with all the swagger inherent in being 21 years old with something to prove, but purposely or not, it also references a deep tradition in rave. The clipped vocal sample (there’s a void where there should be ecstasy) simultaneously acts as a footwork battle track and a nod to darkside rave, the moment where hardcore morphed into aggy, paranoid proto jungle. The interplay between the track’s disjointed choppiness (the kind that makes parents yell “turn that shit off!”) and soul (the kind that makes parents yell “turn that shit up!”) drives the track in a dizzying spiral. There may be a void, but it’ll probably sound great on ecstasy.
