Haven't had too much spare time recently between moving into a new apartment, starting a new job, and playing a bit more footie, but sometime things are just too hard not to share. I caught wind of this recent set of Hyperdub dubplates from Kode9 on Benji B's 1xtra show and went all dry mouth, punched in the stomach, floppy wet fish hands upon just upon seeing the tracklist. Extremely tasty forthcoming stuff from Ikonika, Darkstar, Kode9, and UK funky's alluring Cooly G, the recent stunna from 2000F & JKamata I've been humming to myself all last month, a few old favorites from Terror Danjah and Lemon D, and the proverbial icing on the cake... two new world premiere unfinished snippets of Burial tunes. Good news on these: present are melancholy future-garage vibes and ghostly pitch-shifted vocal snippets but absent are the what-I-find-to-be-sometimes-gimmicky ultra-swung and too-present-in-the-mix hi-hats. Kode talks with Benji B several times throughout the set about what he & Hyperdub are up to, divulging that they have six artists albums on the way this year and a forthcoming 5-year anniversary compilation (CD & 5X12"). To add to that, Kode9 (real name: Steve Goodman) has a book out this year entitled Sonic Warfare, about "using sound to make people feel uncomfortable" on MIT Press. But seriously, just listen to the tracks.... more evidence that my 2008 pick for label of the year will likely remain in that spot for '09.

Click through to download Kode9 on Benji B's 1extra show 2/20/09


(starts at 54:14 in)
Samiyam – Return [Hyperdub]
Samiyam - Trick Platform [Hyperdub]
Kode9 – Black Sun [Hyperdub]
Cooly G – Love Dub (Refix) [Hyperdub]
Ikonika – Sahara Micheal [Hyperdub]
2000F & JKamata – You Don’t Know What Love Is [Hyperdub]
Darkstar – Digital [Hyperdub]
Joker - Digidesign [Hyperdub]
Burial – Untitled (Lambeth) [Hyperdub]
LV – Take Away [Hyperdub]
Burial – Untitled [Hyperdub]
Kode9 – Too Far Gone [Hyperdub]
Terror Danjah – Sonar [FL]
Lemon D – Manhattan Melody [Conqueror]