There’s two sides to every story (and if these walls could talk, they’d probably still ignore me). While I bitch about people bitching about Dubstep, Kode 9’s Hyperdub label shrugs and keeps it moving, packing it’s 2009 release schedule with UKfunky, Grime and Detroit House. At least, that’s what the releases claim to be on paper. DVA’s Natty may well be the world’s least funky attempt at Funky, going for hypnotic hyper-syncopation and minimalism rather than bruck-out tropical percussion and wild partying. Meanwhile, Terror Danjah’s Acid is technically a grime instrumental with room for emceeing but the wonky synth-pattern and rave-ready build up works fine on its own, resulting in a condensed 8 bar version of the melodic underground music the label’s been moving towards for the past couple of years. Finally, Kyle Hall isn’t even British or remotely affiliated with UK Bass culture: he’s an 18 year old House producer out of Detroit whose Kaychunk evolves from a percussive slice of minimalism into a breezy piece that re-imagines ambient as G-funk. It’s all daring stuff and none of it feels like diversity for diversity’s sake, instead it’s yet more proof that Hyperdub is thinking 5 moves ahead of their competition and that this post subgenre hype that people are whispering about might just be for real.
