Hyperdub

Hyperdub boss Kode9 has announced the release of his solo debut album, Nothing, due out November 6. The full-length arrives after acclaimed albums with his late musical cohort The Spaceape — 2006’s Future and 2012’s Black Sun — who passed away in 2014 after a lengthy battle with cancer. The dynamic between Kode9’s moody soundscapes and the creeping tension of Spaceape’s raspy poetry was tailor-fit from the start, and it’s good to see that he’s featured on “Third Ear Transmission” on the upcoming album.

According to a missive, Nothing is “obsessed with zeros. The album throws horror soundtracks, sampled library records, and J-pop into a no man’s land between grime, early dubstep and Chicago footwork.”

In 2016, in collaboration with simulation artist Lawrence Lek, Kode9 will tour a live a/v set which revolves around an evacuated, fully automated, luxury hotel known as The Nøtel, whose corporate logo features on the album’s cover.

The project explores a post-scarcity world in which the only thing in short supply is humans. The performance guides the audience on a first-person tour through the uncanny architecture of the Nøtel. In sprawling chambers deep within slick glass corridors, they encounter warped spaces, quantum clouds, gravitational pools, dancing voids and holograms of the dead.

A launch party for Nothing will take place on November 7 at Corsica Studios in Elephant and Castle. The lineup features Kode9, Scratcha DVA, Ikonika, Cooly G., DJ Spinn, Taso and DJ Paypal.

Tracklist for Nothing

1. Zero Point Energy
2. Notel
3. Void
4. Holo
5. Third Ear Transmission feat. The Spaceape
6. Zero Work
7. Vacuum Packed
8. Wu Wei
9. Casimir Effect
10. Respirator
11. Mirage
12. 9 Drones
13. Nothing Lasts Forever

As the music world comes to terms with the untimely passing of DJ Rashad, Frankie Knuckles, MC Sparks and others in recent months Hyperdub’s news yesterday that vocalist/poet Stephen Samuel Gordon (a.k.a. The Spaceape), a solo artist and collaborator with Kode9, Burial, The Bug and Martyn, had died after a five-year battle with cancer was almost too much to handle.

Fans, friends and peers have been offering their condolences on social media since the news broke. Several notable DJs have paid tribute to The Spaceape on Twitter, describing him as a poetic giant.

Sadly, his death comes a few weeks before the release of The Killing Season EP, which is his first collaborative release with Kode9 since their 2011 album Black Sun, due out on October 28.

Here’s an assortment of some of their heartfelt tweets — from the likes of Skream, Maryanne Bobbs and Ambivalent — who pay homage to the poetic giant.

Rest in peace, Stephen Samuel Gordon, and thank you for all of the brilliant music you gave us. Continue Reading →