Back catalogue: All genres

Review: RECCOMENDED
Nothing says "Britain is shit but we do make great music" quite like those rare instances when you get a new Burial release to ponder over. The man, the myth, the mystery, the zeitgeist, anyone who thought the ghosts of garage had been left behind in late-noughties and early-teens best get ready to recognise that, while, Antidawn is very much anything other than that lazy genre term, it still packs the spectre of that atmosphere.

A fact that has to make you start questioning labels in general. There's always been something grittily realist about Burial's work, while at the same time it exists in fantasy worlds parallel to our own. Like wandering through the city at twilight and realising a whole other plane exists, you just never looked for it before, this latest addition to the oeuvre takes all those notions and ups the ambient, resulting in a journey that's textured and direct without ever breaking from a strange, alien serenity that still feels weirdly human.

Review: It has been almost two years since the Fatima Al Qadiri's debut LP dropped on Hyperdub, and we're as excited now for her follow-up as when we'd heard the first one. This is because Qadiri provides us with everything to satisfy our need states; through an awry and granular sound, the artist is able to transmit a whole spectrum of moods and feelings. This makes Brute an album for anyone, and it can be enjoyed both by the party-goers and the moody corner-dwellers. The intro is a detached sort of skit that distances itself form any sort of shape, but so we're dropped in a post-futuristic world of pseudo grime, broken, detuned techno and tropical electronica. To be honest, there would be no other place for it than the mighty Hyperdub. Big release.

Review: Multidisciplinary artist Fatima Al Qadiri aligns with Hyperdub to release Asiatisch, a keenly anticipated debut album that's described as a "simulated road trip through an imagined China". First coming to prominence on the UNO label in 2011, Al Qadiri has subsequently provoked critical acclaim for the 2012 Desert Strike EP for Fade To Mind that played on her time spent living in Kuwait as a child, while her work under the Ayshay moniker for Tri Angle explored vocals in a unique manner. Asiatisch expands on the political themes of Desert Strike in a new and unexpected way, and acts as a homage to the style of grime known as "sinogrime". Asian motifs and melodies are prominent throughout whilst conceptually Al Qadiri runs through "the fantasies of east Asia as refracted through pulpy Western pop culture". If that wasn't enough to sell you on the concept, opening track "Shanzhai" is a "nonsensical Mandarin" language cover of Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U".

Review: Previously known for their pioneering and, at times, outstanding work as Hype Williams, Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland have decided to change tack with a suitably eclectic and unusual full-length for Hyperdub. Black Is Beautiful is an odd but endearing collection that leaps between sounds, styles and genres almost at will. Opening with a blast of fuzzy jazz-rock, its 15 tracks variously touches on skewed dream-pop, E'd-up downtempo curiosities, wrongspeed electronica, calming ambience, woozy demo-pop, skittering, smacked-out rave rhythyms, droning madness and impossible-to-define strangeness. It could just be the album of the year.

Review: The Bug aka Kevin Richard Martin here links with Berlin based but American born producer and vocalist Dis Fig aka Felicia Chen for an album which they describe as 'tunnel sound'. In Blue is just that, in fact, with moody and glitchy beats, haunting atmospheres and linear grooves all drawing you deep into their own unique sound world. It's the result of two years of work in the studio and online exchanges and steeped in The Bug's take on lover's rock and the modern bass sound of Hyperdub. It's an early shout for album of the year having been released so late in 2020 that it will have mostly been missed in year end lists.

Review: Of all the artists past and present who claim to let their music do their talking for them, Burial is one of the elite band of whom this truly is the case. In fact, so reluctant is he to engage with the cult-of-personality hoopla that surrounds almost every modern producer and musician of merit, that he remains a genuine recluse; he has never appeared live, only one obliquely-angled publicity photograph is known to exist, and the number of interviews he has given can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Yet despite this, his music speaks loud and wide, and the world has been listening ever since his 'South London Boroughs' EP debut on Hyperdub in March 2005. His eponymous album, which began life as a low-key release in May 2006, is now widely regarded as the benchmark release of the ever-widening dubstep genre, picking up unanimous critical acclaim along the way, and ending the year heavily featured in many 'best of' polls. Now Burial returns with 'Untrue', a new record of weird soul music, which lovingly processes spectral female voices into vaporised R&B and smudged 2step garage. Vocal lines are blurred, smeared, pitched up pitched down and pitch bent until their content is cast adrift from their original context and they whisper their saccharin sweet nothings into the void. The album continues with the debut's crackle-drenched yearning and bustling syncopations, haunted by the ghosts of rave, but also reveals some new Burial treats with a more glowing, upbeat energy. Kicking off with the skittering 2step syncopations and vocal science of 'Archangel', 'Near Dark' and 'Ghost Hardware', before long it descends into a space of radiant divas and ambience. Where 'Burial' first was humid, suffocating and unrelentingly sad, 'Untrue' is less sunless. Many of the tracks are so sweet, they become toxic, underscored by the almost geological rumbles of growling basslines. Unlike the overpoweringly melancholic prevailing mood of before, Burial's sound is now better defined as a downcast euphoria typified by the epic, muted optimism of the album's last track 'Raver'. Forget central heating the radioactivity of this album is all that you'll need to keep you warm this winter. 'Untrue' is available as full 13 track digipack CD, including recent underground hit 'Ghost Hardware', and 9 track DJ friendly double vinyl set, from which some of the beatless pieces have been edited.

Review: William Bevan has now been operating long enough under the Burial alias to be awarded a celebratory "best of" compilation by Hyperdub, the imprint he's been releasing on since 2005. This is no ordinary retrospective, though. It deliberately ignores the celebrated early portion of his career, with the artist choosing to focus not only on tracks made and released in the last eight years, but also those tucked away on B-sides and the darker corners of his EPs. It offers a fine snapshot of the subtle evolution of his sound, quietly creeping between the hushed field recordings and glacial synthesizer lines of "Nightmarket", the intensely up-beat breakbeat madness of "Rival Dealer", the haunting, near 14-minute melancholy of "Rough Sleeper" and the future garage rush of recent single "Claustro".

Review: This first album on Kode9's deeply-respected Hyperdub label comes from the mysterious Burial, who carves out a sound which sends the dormant slinky syncopations of UK garage, via radio interference, into a padded cell of cushioned, muffled bass, passing through clouds of Pole's dense crackle dub en route. 'Burial' - the album - explores a tangential, parallel dimension of the growing dubstep ouevre, using sounds set in a near-future South London submerged underwater. You can never tell if the crackle is the burning static off pirate radio transmissions, or the tropical downpour of the city outside, taking its loud-quiet aesthetic neither from the latest digital glitch software nor a mere nostalgia for vinyl's intrinsic physicality. In their sometimes suffocating melancholy, most of these tracks seem to yearn for drowned lovers, as haunted echoed voices breeze in and out, on roads to and from other times. The smouldering desire of 'Distant Lights' is cooled only by the percussive ice-sharp slicing of blades and jets of hot air blowing from the bass. Listen also for a fleeting appearance from Hyperdub's resident vocalist, the Spaceape, unravelling his cryptobiography. 'Burial' is a renegade signal from other frequencies, a tidal wave of seductive low-impact noise submerging all but the crispest syncopations, and is well on course to be universally welcomed as the standard-bearer for creative vision built upon the grime and dubstep blueprint.

Review: Cooly G seems to be maturing with age. Or, at least, that's the impression given by sophomore set Wait 'Til Night, which eschews the alluring heaviness of her club-friendly singles in favour of a seductive, atmospheric, late night brew variously influenced by R&B, lo-fi electronica, space pop, hip-hop, dubstep and simmering synth-scapes. While some of the songs are charged with intense sexual desire - Hyperdub's PR outfit has aptly described it as "lo-fi bedroom music" - it's not all come-to-bed-eyes and seductive moves. In fact, many of the album's more potent moments deal with destructive relationships, the loss of love and the complex interplay between the sexes. As a result, Wait 'Til Night is as poignant as it is flirtatious.

Review: Hyperdub's year of excellence continues apace with the release of Playing Me, the long awaited debut album from Cooly G. Emerging as a key figure in the UK funky scene some four years ago via some highly prized Dub Organiser CDrs, Cooly's musical progression has been charted via a series of EPs for DVA Music and Hyperdub. On this thirteen track album what is most apparent is the confidence this South London producer has in her own singing, a voice that sounds dipped in pain and anguish at times. At others Cooly utilises her vocal delivery as an integral part of the music, which draws from all manner of UK music history of recent times whilst very much sounding part of her modern house template. Oh and there's a Coldplay cover to end the LP too...

Review: There was much talk ahead of the release of Darkstar's debut album as to whether the London based outfit could live up to the promise of their stunning breakthrough single "Aidy's Girl Is A Computer" on Hyperdub in 2009. The answer, in short, is yes. In the course of the past 12 months Aiden Whalley and James Young have morphed from a production team into a band, adding vocalist James Buttery along the way, and North, the fruits of their labour, is a fragile, delicate and beautiful record. Tracks like "Gold" and ""Dear Heartbeat"" showcase an 80s synth pop sensibility, forming the backbone of an album that is steeped in worry and melancholia. Buttery's vocal talents add an extra layer of depth to the music, particularly on the poignant, piano driven opening and closing track "In The Wings" and "When It's Gone". There is much to explore on North, which will go down as one of 2010's most affecting electronic albums.

Review: There's always been something rather special about King Britt's ability to effortlessly switch musical focus between projects and aliases. Contrast, for example, the retro-soul giddiness of Sylk 130, the electronic polyrhythms and heavy bruk of Oba Funke, and the trippy electronic darkness of his work under the baffling Fhloston Paradigm pseudonym. This debut album under that alias - on the back of a handful of singles a few years back - is predictably magical, mixing spaced-out textures and stargazing synths with off-kilter rhythms, loose jazz beats and Detroit-inspired grooves. Dark and atmospheric, with a touch of the Jeff Mills about it (certainly conceptually, if not aesthetically), The Phoenix makes for mesmerizing listening from start to finish.

Review: After three years away from the limelight, Lee Gamble has resurfaced not on original home PAN - where his skewed, intense, texture-laden club tracks and experimental soundscapes made him a darling of the left-of-centre techno set - but on Hyperdub. The move is reflective of the producer's shift in emphasis. You see, Mnestic Pressure is a notably different beast to its' predecessors. For starters, Gamble has chosen to focus more on non-linear rhythms, impressively breaking up the beats whilst retaining his trademark aural textures, crackling effects and densely layered signal noise. At the same time, his alternately restless and becalmed experiments come accompanied by more melodic flourishes, making the album an unusual but hugely enjoyable listening experience.

Review: Lee Gamble has always operated at the fringes of expectation and experimentation. This new album Models continues that trend as he "liberates sonic spectres to inform a suite of illusory anthems, subliming vulnerable, half-remembered fragments of dream pop, Soundcloud rap and trance in the process." The voices on this album are cybernetics that sound almost worlds as they add future nostalgia to the inverted pop sounds. Elizabeth Frazer's surreal poetry is smudged into the record as Gamble takes the idea of pop produciton to its very end. A beguiling listen it is too.

Review: To say that Lauren Halo's peculiar brand of organic-electronic fusion is "acclaimed" would be an understatement. Her 2012 sophomore set, Quarantine, as named as The Wire's album of the year. Here, the Ann Arbor raised producer continues to dazzle with another off-kilter selection of curious compositions. Veering from tipsy, near ambient soundscapes (see the unruly "Serendip" and psychedelic "Melt") to clattering percussion jams ("Oneiroi"), via deep techno ("Chance of Rain") and blissful musical simplicity (the piano lament of "Out" and beatless tropical jazz of "Dr Echt"), Chance of Rain is every bit as enthralling, unusual and inspiring as its' predececcor. That's high praise indeed.

Review: Given her stratospheric rise in recent years, it's something of a surprise to find Dust is Laurel Halo's first album since 2013. It's the Michigan native's third full-length excursion and was apparently recorded over a two-year period at the EMPAC performing arts centre in upstate New York. Interestingly, it's even more difficult to pigeonhole than her previous sets, with Halo and collaborators - including Lafawandah, Michael Salu, Maxmillion Dunbar and experimental percussionist Eli Keszler - gleefully fusing elements of wonky electronica, skewed R&B, drowsy synth-pop, neo-classical, humid Balearica, creepy jazz and off-kilter ambience. In other words, it's a hugely vibrant and entertaining set that's more than worthy of your hard-earned cash.

Review: It's been a while since Ikonika dropped a full-length excursion. In fact, Distractions is her first album since 2013. It largely sticks to the bass-heavy fusion script she's been perfecting since making her debut on Hyperdub back in 2008. That means attractive and weighty R&B and hip-hop beats, aural ticks lifted from techno, the surging low-end movements that mark out British-made dance music, and occasional blasts of boogue-flavoured synth riffs. Pleasingly, the guest list of vocalists and collaborators includes MC Jammz, Andrea Galaxy, Jessy Lanza and Night Slugs' Sweyn Jupiter, all of who make fine contributions to enhance Ikonika's "futurist and industrial" approach.

Review: Having kept fans hooked since her first Hyperdub single Please/Simulacrum, Ikonika graduates with flying colours into the the big league with this stunning debut. Ikonklast (Insert Coin) starts things off in a measured but confident way, with half-step beats and bent Eastern scales vying for your attention. The rollicking funky meets glitchcore of Idiot is a revelation though. A perfectly tempered mix of stacked snares, sub bass and a complex melody picked out of a slew of bleeps and test tones, it's both satisfyingly familiar whilst also sounding totally unique and fresh.


While her early singles were leapt on by dubstep fans everywhere, Ikonika takes the wise decision not to go down any cliched or well-trodden routes on Contact Love Want Have. There's no gratuitous wobble for example on tunes like Millie or Sahara Michael, the basslines are tight and full of bounce rather than showy and over the top. There are also so many influences at work here (all expertly realised through her sharp production) that every listen solicits a different response from the listener. Continue? for example gives off a slow-jam R&B vibe with the beats but quickly picks up the pace and transforms into something else entirely. Heston gives off some serious kwaito vibes too, coming over like a sequel to Township Funk (Mujava's classic which Ikonika remixed for Warp last year) and Psoriasis will be the one that dj's will go crazy for - a seriously banging fusion of funky and swirling melodies. Fans of Zomby, Kode9 and the extended Hyperdub and Planet Mu family will instantly rate this straight away, but there's every chance it's unique edge and all round quality will see it reach a wider audience pretty soon.

Review: The title for West London producer Ikonika's second album Aerotropolis supposedly refers to a city centred around an airport, and was apparently chosen because the album is "about height, getting high and become distant". It supposedly underwent more significant polish than her previous productions and it shows; lead single "Beach Mode" sounds like a classic '80s house track, while "Mr Cake" glimmers with all the sheen of classic US boogie and the shimmering arp of "Eternal Mode" shows hints of disco in its DNA. But Ikonika's connection to the darker strains of UK dance music still shine through; the thick bass and syncopated rhythms of "Manchego" are pure grime while the monolithic "Mega Church" sounds like futuristic, high concept dubstep. Incredible stuff.

Review: Loraine James continues to trust her instincts and serve us some of the most honest and original music within the leftfield electronic sphere right now. Having recently paid tribute to the work of Julius Eastman on Build Something Beautiful For Me, now she retunes to Hyperdub with the record she claims the teenage version of her would have made. The label text makes explicit reference to the likes of DNTEL and Telefon Tel Aviv as well as math rock, but James is also way out in her own zone metabolising such influences into unique expression. There are some wonderful guest spots from the likes of RiTchie, Marina Herlop and Eden Samara, while James herself centres her voice for some of the album's most poignant moments. Gentle Confrontation is another outstanding chapter in James' ever-intriguing story.

Review: Kode 9 makes a much awaited return to his own Hyperdub stable with a new album, and that is exactly what we were wanting to hear from the one of the founding fathers of contemporary UK bass music. His explorative style is perfectly suited to the album format, and "Zero Point Energy" is the perfect opener to a stunning sequence of events - large folds of bass deconstruct over sci-fi sonics and sink into the pensive melodic flux of tunes like "Notel", and "Void". There is also plenty of beat-laden material here, so don't worry, and "Holo" even ventures into a bit of jump-up juke, but there's no point trying to dissect Kode 9's music; the album is all made up of hybrid tunes, and it's exactly the sort of music that pushes boundaries further and genres to their very edges. Quality, of course.

Review: After the widely acclaimed Burial debut album, Hyperdub throw out another tangential long player, a mutant satellite to the grime/dubstep scenes, this time from label boss Kode9 and resident vocalist Spaceape. 'Memories Of The Future' features 14 dread filled flash-backs and flash-forwards from a world trembling in an ecology of fear. The album brings together the long sought after Hyperdub debut single 'Sine Of The Dub' from early 2004 with other minor classics such as 'Kingstown', recent singles 'Backward' and '9 Samurai' and 10 new tracks of uneasy, sometimes queasy listening. Time scrambling dubtronic poet, Spaceape circulates around the lyrical black hole he calls home with tales of cultural addiction, urban paralysis, bioterror, smouldering flesh and psycho-affective meltdown.

Review: Frequent Jeremy Greenspan and Morgan Geist collaborator Jessy Lanza was hailed as a future star on the release of her 2013 debut album, Pull My Hair Back. That album projected her as some kind of New York freestyle chanteuse dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, backed by an all-electronic band fascinated with the potential of future R&B and left-of-centre synth-pop. This belated follow-up, which was once again produced in cahoots with Jeremy Greenspan, is even better. Colourful, vibrant and attractive, the ten songs are truthful to their '80s NYC inspirations, but smartly avoid the pitfalls of such blatant retro-futurism. In other words, it's a superb collection of future R&B and pop gems.

Review: Four years have passed since Jessy Lanza last offered-up an album, the Jeremy Greenspan co-produced leftfield space-pop masterpiece that was "Oh No". While plenty has changed in Lanza's working life since then - she now lives in New York and improvises more with "modular and semi-modular" synthesizers - her commitment to delivering a genuinely unique take on 21st century synth-pop remains. Those versed in the work of the Junior Boys will hear the hand of regular collaborator Jeremy Greenspan in the chords, melodies and synthesizer settings, but "All The Time" is undoubtedly Lanza's vision. Combining her usual glassy-eyed vocals and ear-pleasing, often melancholic synth-pop sounds with the colourful vibrancy of future R&B and grooves that subtly reference all manner of styles (dubstep included), it's most perfect underground pop album you'll hear all year.

Review: Jessy Lanza's skewed, left-of-centre take on electronic pop has helped her deliver a string of inspired albums, though few are quite as joyful, bold and ear-catching as Love Hallucination. It was created following her move from San Francisco to Los Angeles, with a string of musical friends and collaborators - Jeremy Greenspan, Jacques Greene, Tensnake and Paul White included - lending a hand with the production. The results are undoubtedly inspired, with UKG-influenced synth-pop nuggets, drowsy electronic disco and AM radio-friendly synth grooves being joined by future r&b bullets, bass-heavy pop-house throb-jobs and undeniably Balearic workouts. In other words, Love Hallucination is another inspired full-length excursion from one of the best in the business.