Label of the decade - Hyperdub

Perhaps an indication of one of the albums of the last ten years, no label has been as influential yet stayed true to its roots as Hyperdub.


Hyperdub, formed in 2004 by University lecturer Steve Goodman is of course a south London dubstep label, credited as being one of the first labels to introduce the dubstep soud to the commercial markets. In 2004, the London music scene was still reeling from the crash of garage and 2step music, a scene that left london MC's and producers with little say in a music industry that was distancing itself from the violence and drugs that had inevitably accompanied the scene when it errupted in the late 90s.


Beginning with the release of his alter-ego Kode9, it wasn't until 2005 when Hyperdub made a serious splash. In May 2005, Burila released his first EP, the South London Boroughs EP, shortly followed by Kode9 + The Spaceape single, Kingstown. Kode9 + The Spaceape were to form a stunning partnership, dark and brooding beats coupled with low jamaican grumbles, the likes of which had rarely been heard. They provided an alternative to Aphex Twin and Squarepusher in the IDM field, proving that electronic music was valuable beyond dreamy synths and harsh beats.

However, it was in Burial that Hyperdub hit it's goldmine. With the 2006 debut album winning numerous accolades for it's atmospheric representation of South London, creating music that was clearly referencing the defunct garage scenes as if speaking about them at a funeral. The words were chopped up and fading, the beats there but only just, a fading memory. Hyperdub's output continued with limited run EPs from new artists, fitting the hyperdub mould.

However, it's biggest achievement was the release of Burial's seminal 2007 album Untrue. This truly was an album like no other, an album that sounded like no other, evoked emotions through souds and production, using words in an unconventioal way to further the effects.
It was drenched in reverb, in a distance and disconnection from the listener.
It was simply perfect.

Hyperdub did not stop there however, releasing more interesting and challenging music, from Darkstar's more melodic dubstep through to the emerging King Midas Sound. This culminated in the 5 years of Hyperdub collection released earlier this year. Debuting new material from its roster as well as putting classic releases onto CD for the first time, it became startlingly clear that Hyperdub were at the forefront 5 years ago and have not let up.

Though many record labels such as 4AD give artists a home that would fit nowhere else, Hyperdub has carved its own niche in the market, maintaining a theme within it's artists whilst releasing some of the most challenging and intelligent electronic music of the last decade.

Long may they continue

I dont undesrtand. You want lots of people to do exactly as there told, based around the line "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me"?

The X Factor winner will get to Xmas number 1, of course they will, it's always the biggest selling single of the year because that's what the whole 3months worth of competition leads up to. Even last year's winner, who only really emerged towards the end of the competition, sold over half a million copies in 1 week. This year's winner is probably a little more obvious and will probably sell more copies than last year.

Facebook and Twitter are great for uniting people, it's fine that people join campaign groups to raise awareness, raise money for charity or reunite you with people you may have lost contact. However, the irony that you're asking 300,000 people to rage against the X factor machine by funding the Rage against the Machine machine is simply ludicrous.

I simply don't understand. It's not going to stop those half a million people buying the winner's single anyway so it doesn't stop the money going into the respective pockets of Cowell and songwriters. It also debases one of the great protest songs as a conflict with an ITV reality show. Is that really how Rage Against the Machine meant it? Does that not further ruin the credibility and respectability of a christmas number one instead of restoring it?

I am no fan of the X Factor but Im not going to protest it, the Xmas number 1 tradition has been dead for a while now and X Factor provides entertainment for a lot of people.

Please don't ruin a great song to get back at a poor one

Best gig of 2000-2009

The last decade hasn’t just been about albums however, and as I finalise my albums list, I thought I’d post my other notables from the last ten years.


First off, best gig. Now ten years ago, I hadn’t even been to a gig so this has the horrible responsibility of deciding which has been the best gig I’ve ever been to. It’s changed incessantly as memories fade and tour t shirts are slowly thrown out but there are a few gigs that will always be just that little bit better. There are of course many Bloc Party gigs to choose from, a stunning gig by Foals at Concorde 2, Radiohead at Victoria Park or the Apollo, littered with many Feeder gigs, some youthful trips to Less Than Jake and even some of my own gigs in there, Dear Reader being one of the best gigs I've been to in a LONG time.

This may be a bit of a rash decision and I'm sure in 6months time I'll think differently but I'm going to award the title to this year's Coldplay at Wembley stadium gig.

I'd never seen Coldplay before, despite beign a massive fan of all their albums. For some reason unknown to me, it's not cool to like Coldplay. They can write a sad song like nobody's business, Viva La Vida is a dense record, filled with interesting sounds and hooks and they're exceptionally talented musicians, succesful at both stripped-back and orchestral arrangements. Coldplay's songs were also built for stadiums, a point which became evident before they'd even taken the stage.

We were seated to the left of the stage, about halfway up the stands, a fantastic view of both the main stage, the smaller stage in the crowd and a panormaic view of everything around us. As the lights dropped on a rainy, hot summers evening and the opening bars of Life In Technicolour rang out, 75,000 people errupted into the singalong refrain of Viva La Vida, creating a moment like none I've ever experienced.

The setlist was brilliant, heavy on the new album and rightly so, an album whose grandiosity perfectly suited Wembley Stadium. It was also telling that the older songs, Yellow or God Put A Smile were no more special than the Viva material; this was a showcase of a catalogue of superb material, not a crowd yearning for the old songs with obligatory new album songs. The reworkings of God Put A Smile and Talk were fantastic, finally making Talk their own without the Kraftwerk snippet.


Best gig of the last ten years? It's the biggest gig I've been to by one of the most influential bands I've ever seen at the end of an extensive world tour. It was of course slick, it was a little gimmicky at points but it was a truly earth-shattering experience watching a band such as Coldplay work the crowd and hearing those familiar and well lvoed songs with a 75,000 strong backing choir was simply superb. Sadly there are not enough superlatives to describe how good it was but it's going to take some beating