"IF YOU WANT A VISION OF THE FUTURE, IMAGINE CRAP 808 SAMPLES STAMPING ON A HUMAN FACE- FOREVER"
Hyperdub
Will Hyperdub ever let up? Even with my most cherished of labels I like to give a new 12 a spin or two to see if I should add another £6 to my exponentially increasing weekly haul. Hyperdub’s quite different though: I can confidently say I’d buy any new Hyperdub completely blind. Of course their ubiquitity in mixes and radio shows months and months before releases are even announced essentially rules out the scenario, but the sentiment remains: Hyperdub - peerless.
Coming in strong for Hyperdub 30 is grime-gone-funky badman Scratcha DVA with a fierce double header. At this point it seems almost unfair to place the likes of DVA, Cooly G, Roska et al in the same bracket as “UK Funky”, carrying its own skank-stigma as it does. Sure, its characteristically house-y, syncopated, and tropical, but there’s something going on that is so much more than the sum of those parts. New developments demonstrate rhythmic exploration that implies infinite permutations of danceable 4/4 drum patterns yet to be discovered. Previous Hyperdub release Weekend Fly is a prime example. Whilst Cooly G’s icy vocals keep things grounded within a recognisable, sexy and feminine archetype, the beat patterns are bizarrely dislocated, with downbeats asymetrically chopped out at unpredicatable moments, inverting the funky template. All these unusual rhythmic shifts make for some dynamite dancefloor sets.
Case in point with the brilliant riddim on Natty. In an interview with The Wire, Kode 9 talked about one of his favourite aspects of bass music culture, when a rhythm cuts in which is completely fucked and pushes the limits- and people on the dancefloor work out how to move to them, and move in ways they previously didn’t. Natty’s beat is one such switch up, a completely lop sided scattering of disjoint, subloaded soca patterns, polyrhythmically layered and deceptively minimal.
Besides the obvious benefits of widening the palette of grime/dubstep/garage producers and turning the UK bass cross pollination global, it works the other way around too: doing things for house and techno previously unexplored. Ganja on the flip is pure fire, refitting jackin’ Chicago house with a ridiculously sexy Timbaland synth hook and some crossrhythm madness. Big tings afoot this year for Hyperdub and DVA.
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