eMusic Review 0
Around 2008, just as Hyperdub's association with dubstep was beginning to seem like a millstone around its neck, the sound of "U.K. funky" burst onto London's pirate radio stations, and provided a flood of new creativity which the label eagerly tapped into. Twisting grime and dancehall into the structures of house music, U.K. funky provided a new kind of party sound that was upbeat without being facile, culturally rich without sinking into undifferentiated "fusion." Ill Blu, Cooly G and Kode 9 himself have all turned in glorious demonstrations of this style's flexibility, but its Hyperdub stalwarts L.V. who made 2010's barmiest anthem in "Boomslang," bringing out the implicit African influences in the style with the repetitious vocals of maverick South African MC Okamlumkoolkat, the irresistible syncopations of the rhythm track and "boomslang" chant punctuated with cries of "SNAKE!" Its flipside "Zharp" is more disjointed, with wiggly-worm funk synths creating a deeply bizarre digital-tribal groove. Two hilarious, disquieting and profoundly peculiar dance tracks and a paragons of 21st-century underground cross-fertilisation.
