Last Ever Mary Anne Hobbs Show w/ Kode9 & Burial

It’s was the last Mary Anne Hobbs show last night, she’s a legend and has introduced me to so much music over the years. Big up Mary!

Listen again here. It features a quality mix by these two…

Kode9 & Burial

01. Speedy J – Tesla
02. Zomby – Natalia’s Song
03. Brandy – Never Say Never (El-B version 1)
04. Brandy – Never Say Never (El-B version 2)
05. Brandy – Angel (X-Men vocal mix)
06. Laurie Spiegel – Voices Within – A Requiem
07. Alena – Turn It Around (Hard House Bantons Mandy Mix)
08. Cooly G – Him Da Biz
09. Theo Parrish – Soul Control feat. Alena Waters
10. KMFH aka Kyle Hall – Girl U So Strong (Wild Oats)
11. Terror Danjah – S.O.S.
12. Darkstar – 2 Chords
13. Prince – Condition of the Heart
14. Erykah Badu – Telephone
15. Foul Play – Being With U Rmx
16. A Guy called Gerald – Silent Cry

http://www.maryannehobbs.com/

Hyperdub – 5 Years of Hyperdub [Hyperdub]

Like a virus spread by bass and mutating into different strains all the time, Hyperdub is a force to be reckoned with and I don’t think there’s a cure. This 5 year celebration compilation is two discs of low end bass transmissions from Hyperdub’s past and as they always have at least one eye on the future one whole CD of fresh upfront material. Every side is explored and every artist on the label gets a look in along with some very special guests. From the doom and dread of the first releases that helped shape the sound of early dubstep, drenched in dub roots, garage gone insane and something all together more sinister, all the way to the ‘Wot Do U Call It?’ newer releases that’s really gone viral and spread into corners of hip-hop, funky, house, grime and beyond with twisted synths leading the way.

5 opens with the new up front material and King Midas Sound’s lovers dub ‘Meltdown’ which also happens to be a taster for his forthcoming album. It’s a spooky laid back, spaced out and loved up rootsy affair and shows that through all the twisted synth smears that Hyperdub still know how to keep things old school and fresh all at once. Kode9 & The Spaceape step up with a re-tooled version of ‘Time Patrol’ with added vocals from Cha Cha, this track kind of serves as a bridge between the new and old sides of Hyperdub, its got that dread dub feel but with twisted synth motifs. LV’s contributions fit into the digital dancehall roots end of things too.

I’d love to talk about all of the tracks but that would be far to epic, plus you can read about the fantastic ‘Aidy’s Girl is a Computer’ by Darkstar here…

The hip-hop contingent turn in some quality tracks, Samiyam’s ‘Roller Skates’ is so hypnotic and funky, while Flying Lotus makes one of the best tracks of the comp in ‘Disco Balls’ with a lilting buzzing 303-like bass line and swaggering groove. ‘Purple Smoke’ by Black Chow is a dubbed out J-Pop meets Tricky in Bristol sort of sound and also one of the many Kevin Martin aka The Bug/King Midas Sound productions here.

The labels breakout artist, Burial brings his first new solo material since Untrue in the form of ‘Fostercare’ and it’s pretty much what you’d expect from him. Dark and spaced out, a half step garage mutation with plenty of groove and atmosphere. It’s closer to something from his debut album than it is Untrue, or maybe somewhere inbetween with its darker sound but with ghostly R&B vocals. You can tell he’s been honing his skills, it’s a fantastic, subtle return.

Hyperdub’s constant mutating has already explored the fringes of dubstep and hip-hop and this doesn’t stop when things drop to a house pace with contributions from Cooly G, Zomby and Martyn all clocking in at around 130-ish. ‘Weekend Fly’ has a really skeletal dub feel to it but with a skipping funky groove, plus vocals from miss G its dark and mesmerising. The prolific Zomby drops ‘Tarantula’ a mad hybrid of Detroit-P-Funk infused house and his own brand of freakery, it’s some bumping twisted funk. Martyn ups the groove and lowers the bpm with a bleeped out, dark, driving house anthem.

Mala makes a rare appearance with the brilliant ‘Level Nine’ with his unique sound, a dark and soulful meditative soundsystem shaker. This is maybe the most space age track I’ve heard from Mala in some time, the synths give of a melancholic sci-fi like look at the not to distant future and maybe one of the top picks on the comp. LD’s ‘Shake It’ comes off like a mutant robotic techno beast made for huge soundsystems, full of percussive excursions and gnarly bleeps, its full on but has a deranged kind of funk.

To finish disc one the twisted synth come out in full force with Quarta330 who arguably had a big hand in the proliferation of this sound, ‘Bleeps From Outer Space’ is a bubbling 8-bit dancehall tune that Mario might be set to in a hidden level where he gets stoned with Sonic. Ikonika drops a taster for her forthcoming album early next year with ‘Sarah Michael’ and its so addictive, like a mixture of Terror Danjah style grime and her own blend of dubstep and energetic, twisted electronica, she makes me move. Joker & Ginz the Bristol wonder team drop ‘Stash’ with a swaggering G-Funk/Crunk number, at first I wasn’t sure it was up there with Re-Up and Purple City but its really grown on me, they work so well together.



The second disc is the older more familiar Hyperdub transmissions, its bookended by the two versions of ‘9 Samurai’ the original and Quarta330 Remix. This pretty much sums up the direction Hyperdub has gone in, when they first dropped on 12” one side took in the doom-fuelled dread and the other twisted it into an insane smeary, 8-bit synth tweak out and was described as Kode9 as circuitry crying. This opened the doors, along with the likes of FlyLo’s off-centre hip-hop experiments to a whole new sound that’s really taken off.

So here you get stone cold classics, rarities and un-released bits. Burial’s now pretty hard to get hold of ‘South London Boroughs’ from his first EP sounds as fresh and ghostly as ever. The Bug and LV’s dancehall excursions point to the roots in fine style. The two Kode9 & Spaceape tracks are both un-released gems from the archive, ‘Ghost Town’ yes that Ghost Town by The Specials gets shaped into a laid back dark as hell bass pulse ballad not unlike the first Hyperdub release ‘Sine of the Dub’ the beatless version of Prince. Then comes ‘Fukkaz’ which The Bug covered for his London Zoo album last year, an angry shout to all the fukkaz out there.

The rest are fairly recent releases including the amazing ‘Need You’ by Darkstar with its skipping vocoder garage soul and Ikonika’s twisted, bending ‘Please’, which I still can’t get enough of. Zomby drops a couple with Rusitie’s rendition of ‘Spliff Dub’ and his insane hypnotic wonked out arpeggio grooves of ‘Kaliko’. The soulful vocoder almost Dr. Dre-like pop of ‘You Don’t Know What Love Is’ and Joker’s Digidesign, which I still get in my head all the time bring things to a close with the aforementioned Quarta330 Remix.

As an overview of Hyperdub you can’t go wrong with 5 it showcases all their talent and just brings gem after gem to your ears. The new material is as fresh as hell and there is nothing tired about the rest. There really isn’t a track that I don’t love here I’d love to be able to slag them off a bit but it really is all killer, Hyperdub are one of the most consistent and interesting labels around, there transitions continue to push dance floors into new directions. I’d like to say the future is bright but with the sound of darkness and dread along with the twisted glowing nuclear mutations, we’re more likely to have a meltdown and be destroyed, which will be equal parts exhilarating as it will be terrifying but the good thing is Hyperdub will still be sound tracking it.

www.myspace.com/hyperdub

www.hyperdub.net

Missing in Action

I’m in deep with the bass scene I just can’t get enough of the stuff, I write upfront reviews for the Sonic Router and even put some words up here, yet a lot of stuff still slips through the net one way or another. So as a vinyl collecting bass head I thought I would do a mini round up (when I remember) in bite-sized chunks of things from my collection that should without a doubt be talked about, especially while I’m down to one deck and can’t make a mix.

Calibre – Dutty/Stolen Shadow [Deep Medi]
Deeply soulful 140bpm exploration from D’n’B head into acid tinged dubstep and garage with sublime results well worthy of the Deep Medi tag.

Slugabed – Gritsalt/Lets Go Swim [Ramp]
Off-kilter, Neon-Hip-Hop with 8-bit riddims that crunch & glow in all directions with a shit eating playful grin; like Wario on Rainbow Road.

Starkey – Miracles (Jamie Vex’d Remix)/Creature [Planet Mu]
J-Vex’d drop a euphoric sideways slanting high-pressure nuclear fallout version, as Starkey unleashes evil Creatures with a stampeding growl.

Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry vs. Kode 9 – Yellow Tongue [On U Sound]
Dubbed out variant on the Kode 9 funky sound, less smeary glow and a more spaced out hazy flow, devastating bass and skipping drums.

Untold – I Cant Stop This Feeling/Anaconda [Hessle Audio]
An energy rush of bleeped out minimalist future garage that you can’t stop! Backed with grime in clown shoes, eski played on toys and congas.

Kito – What If/Cold [Disfigured Dubz]
Deep & deadly dub styles with earth shattering bass and soulful vibes made for big rigs, strings and cut up vocals bring a melancholic edge.

I’ll try and keep these coming…

Hyperdub Up and Coming

Hyperdub is setting it’s self up well for the beginning of 2009 with some quality slabs of bass music. Stretching its already diverse catalogue into territories far and wide, well this time it’s going a bit funky at least. I will maybe do an article on funky soon enough but for now just check this out. It made my jaw drop.

HDB018 A. Joker - 'Digidesign' AA. 2000F & J Kamata - 'You Don't Know What Love Is'

Late February

These two tracks have been around for quite some time now but they still rock so hard. Digidesign has to be one of my favourite Joker tracks so far and the 2000F & J Kamata tune is some next level P-Funk vocoder business.

Joker

2000F

J Kamata

HDB019 LD A. Traumatic Times AA. Woodblock early 2009

I think LD played these in his Marry Ann Hobbs showcase but I’m not to sure about that. LD is blowing me away right now with his funky swinging and driving drum patterns he just has so much soul and a wicked dancy vibe. Check out an interview with LD by 3barfire’s Markle here.

LD

HDB020 Cooly G A. Narst AA. Love Dub / Love Dub refix Out in March

Cooly G is almost an unknown to me, I say almost as I found her just yesterday and thought to myself, now this is some good shit. Then I went for a peek on dubstepforum like you do and found out that Kode 9 had picked up some of her tracks for release! She makes a deep funky kind of house, you know funky as in funky. It sounds pretty different to your average funky too so may well push the sound into yet more diverse territories. She also has a self-released CD out soon that you can cop from her.

Cooly G

HYP009 A. Kode9 - Black Sun B. Kode9 - 2 Far Gone March release

I will let the video of Black Sun speak for it’s self here:





This is one fucked up funky paced wonky bleep fest from what I can gather, I’ve only really seen it on the video so we will have to wait and see what the rest is like. Big things!

Kode 9

Then:

‘don't worry . . .it all goes to shit after this one
got a double ep from this guy from bavaria playin the spoons wooden spoons, mind you, not some formulaic metal spoon sheet’
Hyperdub (2008)

Hyperdub

This is just getting silly now Hyperdub...

In the last month or so Hyperdub have been on a roll announcing some amazing 12"s of pure next level music, check this list out:

HDB014

12" vinyl & Digital

A. King Midas Sound - 'Cool Out'

B1. King Midas Sound - 'One Ting' (Dabrye Remix)

B2. King Midas Sound - 'Lost' (Flying Lotus Remix)

for the delay folks. . .new release date is October 27th

HDB015

12" vinyl & digital

Ikonika

A. Millie

B. Direct

Sorry for the delay folks. . .new release date is October 27th

HDB016

2 x 12" vinyl & digital

A1 Zomby - 'Spaceman'

B1 Zomby - 'Kaliko'

B2 Zomby - 'Test Me For a Reason'

C1.Zomby - 'Aquafresh'

C2.Zomby - 'Gloop'

D1 Zomby - '1 Up'

D2 Zomby - 'Diamonds & Pearls'

November Release

HDB017 - Quarta 330

12' vinyl & digital

A. Quarta 330 - 'Sabacco'

B. Cardopusher - 'Homeless' (Quarta330 rmx)

Soon come

HYP008 Kode9 vs. LD - BAD E.P.

A. Kode9 vs. LD - 'Bad'

B. Kode9 vs. LD - '2 Bad'

November Release

More news and full audio soon at www.myspace.com/hyperdub

You see what I mean hey?!?

It's probibly not the end of it either Darkstar's new track ‘Aidy’s Girl is a Computer’ has been played by Oneman on Generation Bass the other month and the tracklist say's it's a Hyperdub. Then when Burial unmasked himself he mentioned that an EP would be coming soon, he has since said on that very same blog that he is making the tracks at the moment and I for one can't wait for that. Plus he can take as long as he wants its Burial for goodness sake.

Hyperdub wow!

The Bug – London Zoo

London Zoo is the sound of the dirty under belly of the big smoke, with roots in dancehall, dubstep grime and techno The Bug brings a menacing modern soundscape to the table. This album is relentless and in your face, uncompromising and heavy as hell. Pretty much all the tunes bar one have some collaborative force involved with them the list is pretty impressive: Tippa Irie, Ricky Ranking, Killa P, Flow Dan, Aya, Warrior Queen, Spaceape and Roger Robinson. They bring some raga dancehall vocals to the proceedings. London Zoo is the hot, muggy, sinister atmosphere of our capital city.

Ninja Tunes have dropped a big one with London Zoo, The Bug mixes all the sounds and influences into a brilliant cohesive record. It comes off as some kind of new style dancehall with the deep dubbed out grime attitude of some dubstep. The musical backdrops to the very vocal heavy tracks suit the lyrical content very well indeed. Deep, heavy, claustrophobic and paranoid sounds are laid under tales of city struggles. London is described as a Zoo in the title and The Bug has a beastly primal energy to his music, and reflects the chaotic and unpredictable nature of the modern underbelly of the city. I can easily imagine this being pumped out of pirate radio stations all over London, the tower blocks shaking with the bass and clatter. This is the heavy, ‘I will take no shit’ cousin of Burial’s laid-back UK crackle drenched 2-step vision of the city.

The apocalypse sounds like it’s on the way, and we are in the middle of the war a hot dirty war in the jungle, of the twisted urban landscape, not to mention a dose of paranoia and terrorism. The lyrics deal with this subject on a few occasions. The opening track I’m not to sure about I have heard someone compare it to the Macarena and I know what they mean, it’s a hard ass version for sure but still has that cheesy edge. Skeng with Killa P and Flow Dan is a wicked tune with deep and dirty dancehall dub vibes and a nice 808 bell for good measure. Too Much Pain is a spooky little number with soulful dancehall vocals, an irresistible and dark track. Jah War is another beauty with that ace dancehall zoom zoom sample I love about that kind of music. Fuckaz with Spaceape is some deep dub poetry with a growling bassline. Freak Freak is the only instrumental on London Zoo and it’s a beauty with massive bass and even a little bit of Burial crackle (tm) thrown in for good measure. Warning is a beast with Flow Dan on the mic and huge clattering drums. Poison Dart is one of the best tunes here Warrior Queen brings it to the table in style, the Skream remix can be found bellow too. The final tune brings a little smidgen of light relief, sort of, with a slowed down soulful dancehall dub number. The Bug has made a brilliant album.

The Bug Space

Kode 9 album preview mini mix

The Bug Feat. Warrior Queen – Poison Dart (Skream Remix)

The Bug Feat. Ricky Ranking - Flying

Generation Bass Vs. Dubstep Warz

The original Dubstep Warz was way back in 2006 on Radio 1 by Marry Anne Hobbs and it went down as a bit of a legendary shindig apparently. I never heard it at the time but in this day and age you can find it easy enough. So for Generation Bass Marry Anne has got the original members of Dubstep Warz together to curate and choose some artists of their own to represent the scene. It goes a little something like this:

Mala’s choice: Silkie and Quest

Skream’s choice: Kulture

Kode 9’s choice: Joker

Vex’d’s choice: Starkey

Hatcha’s choice: Chef

Loefah’s choice: Oneman

Distance’s choice: Cyrus

“I have been given the opportunity to do a very special one-off show at the BBC's Maida Vale studios, which we'll broadcast on Radio 1, Tuesday night/Wednesday morning on August 19th/20th. We will also be filming the whole thing for YouTube.” Marry Anne Hobbs

I’m most excited about Silkie, Kulture & Joker who just zinged me on dubstepforum about my needles, cheeky: and Starkey sounds wicked too. All of it is going to be awesome to be honest, you can be sure to hear a showcase of the dubstep sound. I was hopping to have Appleblim, Martyn, 2562 or Peverlist in there somewhere but I guess it just isn’t happening. Catch up on the Dubstep Warz from way back bellow:

Dubstep Warz Download

Tracklist:

D1 - Untitled (white)Mala (Digital Mystikz)

Digital Mystikz - ‘10 Dread Commandments VIP’ (white)
Digital Mystikz - ‘Haunted’ (white)
Digital Mystikz - ‘Left Leg Out’ (white)
Skream - ‘Request Line’ Mala remix (white)
Digital Mystikz - ‘All Of A Sudden’ (white)
Digital Mystikz - ‘Anti-War Dub’ (white)

Skream
Skream - ‘Midnight Request Line’ (Tempa)
Skream - ‘Tapped’ (Tempa)
Sunship and Warrior Queen - ‘Almighty Father’ Skream remix (white)
Skream - ‘Glamma’ (Tempa)
Skream - ‘Deep Concentration’ (Tempa)
Skream - ‘Rottan’ (Tempa)
Digital Mystikz - ‘Ancient Memories’ Skream remix (white)
Horsepower - ‘Egypt’ (Skream remix) (white)
Skream - ‘Music 2 Make Us Stagga’ (white)

Kode 9 and Space Ape
Benny Ill, Kode9 & the Culprit - ‘Fat Larry Skank’ Kode 9 remix (white)
Kode 9 and Space Ape - ‘9 Samurai’ (Hyperdub)
Kode 9 and Space Ape - ‘Backward’ (Hyperdub)
Kode 9 and Space Ape - ‘Kingston Dub’ (Hyperdub)
Burial and Space Ape - ‘Space Ape’ (White)

Vex’d
Vex’d - ‘Saturn’ (white)
Vex’d - ‘3rd Choice’ (white)
Vex’d - ‘Wavescape Remix’ (white)
Vex’d - ‘Killing Floor’ (white)

Hatcha and Crazy D
Benga - Untitled (white)
Benga - Untitled (white)
Coki - Untitled (white)
Coki - Untitled (white)

Coki - Untitled (white)
Skream - ‘Request Line’ Remix (white)
Benga - Untitled (white)
Benga - Untitled (white)
Benga - Untitled (white)
Digital Mystikz - ‘Ancient Memories’ Skream remix (white)

Loefah and Sgt. Pokes
Loefah - ‘Mud’ (white)
Loefah - ‘Ruffage’ (white)
Loefah - ‘Sukkah’ (white)
Loefah - ‘System’ (white)
Loefah - ‘Root’ (DMZ)

Distance
Distance - ‘My Demons’ (white)
Distance - ‘Fallen’ (white)
Distance - ‘Tuning’ (white)
Distance - ‘Cella’ (white)
Distance - ‘Cyclops’ (white)
Distance - ‘Night Vision’ (white)
Distance - ‘Traffic’ (white)

DJ Pinch - ‘Qawwali’ (white)

Get Your Wonk On

Wonky? Wonk-Step? Dub-Wonk? Aquacrunk? That’s far to many ridicules questions to answer, what the hell am I on about. Well Wonky or what ever you fancy calling it is a variation on dubstep that’s getting some plays right now. I’m by no means a grime/dubstep expert but this new sound has grabbed my attention.

The main players seem to be the excellent Flying Lotus, who I have been aware of for quite some time with his remix of Mr Oizo and an album dropping soon on Warp. He makes some seriously funky off tempo high tech space funk electro dubstep A.K.A Wonky. He joined Kode 9 of Hyperdub fame in the Rinse FM studio for a back-to-back session that is blowing my mind right now. It’s out there and so wonderfully danceable and strange. Unfortunately I can’t find a track list anywhere to share with you.

Another Wonky main stay is Glasgow’s Rustie, of Wireblock records. He has just completed a mix that aired on Marry Anne Hobbes radio show the other week. The only things I recognise on the track list are the aforementioned Flying Lotus, the record labels Planet Mu, DMZ and Warp, grime/dubstep main stay Benga, another Warp new signing Pivot and a hell of a lot of Rustie.

Pitchfork describe the new style as follows:

‘As summer 2008 approaches, a theme-- not a genre-- has emerged across many existing styles of music: the mid-range is being hijacked by off-kilter, unstable synths. Crossing hip-hop, hyphy, grime, chip tunes, dubstep, crunk, and electro, one flavor unites a network of exciting sounds. What do you call it? Wonky.’

Enjoy, get your wonk on.

Kode 9 Vs. Flying Lotus Rinse FM session (Re-Up)

Rustie on Radio One Marry Anne Hobbes Show