endless.summer81  Add Friend
Member Since: Dec 06, 2008
Rank: 1
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A thoroughly comprehensive selection from Hyperdub's first five years. 32 tracks that catalogue the label from it's ambitious initial steps into the world of dubstep, right up to their equally enjoyable current activity.

Fans of the labels earliest output will be pleased to see that Kode9, The Spaceape and Burial represent on nine of the tracks. Even more pleasing is how tracks like 'Fukkaz' and 'South London Boroughs' still sound so fresh and raw after all this time.

However fans looking for newer material will be equally delighted with what is on offer here.

Samiyam, Joker, Ikonika, Zomby, LV, Darkstar and Quarta 330 all chip in with two tunes each. It’s impossible to compare such artists, but rest assured, they contribute their very best to this album.

Industry heavyweights such as Cooly G, Flying Lotus, Mala, Martyn (who is doing Fabric 50 – you heard it here first), King Midas Sound (Kode9’s new project) and The Bug also put tunes forward toward this album.

My personal highlight is ‘You Don’t Know What Love Is’ by 2000F & J Kamata. It’s almost impossible to compare with anything else I’ve ever heard. Dubstep mixed with vocoders and over-charged eighties synth sounds. There’s no other way to describe it – it sounds like a terrible mix but I’m not the first person to say that it’s the most glorious tune you’ll hear all year.

Essentially, if you haven’t heard of Hyperdub before, now is your chance to experience what you’ve been missing. If you have, then this album still has a lot to offer you.

This is a stunning album, and should be looked at by fans of Flying Lotus, Ras G, J Dilla or any other forward looking hip hop. It's rare to find such originality in this genre, yet Samiyam has it in spades.

8 Bit NES samples abound, backed with some of the most dense and off - kilter beats I've ever heard. That's not to say that there isn't an essential musicality behind a lot of these little gems. Samiyam also knows how to lay down a seriously heavy bassline. The fact that none of the tunes makes it over two minutes means each one is all the more delicious and tantalizing.
Fennesz - Black Sea Dec 06, 2008
The new album from Fennesz is an absolute masterpiece.

Perhaps even better than 'Endless Summer' and definitely much better than 'Venice'.

Acoustic guitar and glitchy electronics are mixed in seemingless contrast to produce a delicious audio treat.

'Grey Scale' in particular will appeal to those who have been waiting for so long to hear something that compares to 'Endless Summer'.

Fans of Fennesz's earlier works should digest this as soon as possible because it is his most comprehensive work to date.