Various Artists - Hyperdub 10.1

The first disc consists of brand-new music from some of the label’s most exciting new artists, with DVA’s “Mad Hatter”, previously released in September last year on the producer’s Mad Hatter/Fly Juice EP, opening the compilation in giddy, wild-eyed fashion. From there, the listener is treated to a breathless, whistlestop tour of the full Hyperdub oeuvre. Although many of the tracks initially seem sonically disparate, upon closer inspection they are united by the accomplishment of their production and the paranoid, melancholic atmosphere that has become so characteristic of releases from this label. Highlights are difficult to pinpoint, as there is simply not a bad track to be found, but the elegiac elegance of Mala’s “Expected”, one of the compilation’s most fragile-sounding cuts, the swagger of DJ Spinn’s grandiose “All My Teklife” and Quarta 330’s masterful closer, “Hanabi” (a track which would not sound out of place on Flying Lotus’ Until the Quiet Comes), are particularly impressive.

Disc two dips into the Hyperdub archives, starting off with a track from the artist whose work has become synonymous with this label. Burial’s collaboration with Spaceape – aptly titled “Spaceape” – is a menacing tour-de-force, his customarily dark production combining with Spaceape’s imperious growl to chilling effect. It would be unfair to imply that Hyperdub begins and ends with Burial – as demonstrated perfectly by this compilation – but there is a reason why he is by far the most celebrated of all the artists on their roster. Although this opener sets a formidably high standard, the rest of the second disc does not pale in comparison. Cooly G’s “It’s Serious (feat. Karizma)” somehow achieves a twitchy, twisted brilliance via the unlikely combination of murky synths and samba-ish beats; Ikonika’s “Idiot” shapeshifts from a cartoonish beginning into a sort of hyperactive funeral march, its 80s-Nintendo lead motifs juxtaposed against a stately, mournful sonic foundation; the record’s penultimate track, label boss Kode9’s “Xingfu Lu” (a new remix of which, by Helix, appears on Disc one) is a potent mix of restless, off-kilter hip hop beats and delicate, airy textures.

Over ten short years, Hyperdub has managed to cultivate itself a reputation for quality with such style and consistency that it is difficult to think of another UK independent label that commands such a universal level of respect from devotees of its genre. Hyperdub 10.1 is predictably solid evidence of this. Here’s to another ten years.