DJ-KiCKS - Kode9

Written by Youri Jozee

One of the most recent additions to DJ-KiCKS impressive compilation discography comes from the hands of one of dubstep’s most prominent purveyors: Kode9. Can his delivery sustain the series’ high standards?

Kode9 has been gigging for nearly two decades now, and this has certainly left its marks on the man’s sound. As the owner of the well respected Hyperdub label (home to likeminded sould such as Burial, Zomby, The Bug and Spaceape), both Kode and his label have become known for their broad musical vision on dubstep, grime, 2step, garage, dub, kuduro and even dancehall.

“It’s definitely not an exploration of my musical heritage but it’s not all new stuff”, says Kode9 on his take on the DJ-KiCKS series. “It probably signifies something about my relationship to dubstep that the mix only has a few dubstep tunes in it, and is instead a mix of UK funky, broken beat, dubstep, grime and some R&B.” Across 31 tracks, the mix manages to cover the aforementioned genres in an utterly organic, sometimes hectic but unstoppably funky mix. Broken beats, dubby echoes, African drums and both silk soft as totally freaked out synthesizers are just some of the ingredients Kode9 uses in his exotic melting pot that roughly covers 20 years of electronic music. Lone’s Once In A While opens deceivingly housy, but Aardvarck’s Revo introduces the manic drums in a ferocious kuduro/electro cross-over. The build-up and mixing are marked by great professionalism: Kode9 manages to blend a variety of genres without losing focus, and this turns the mix as a whole into a very adventurous, energetic but also slightly obscure affair.    

Some of the standout tracks? The dancehall-infected Look Pon Me (feat. Natalie Storm) by Sticky really kills it with its heavy cinematic synths, ace vox and stomping kicks, while Pleaze Mugwanti by Mujava brings on the heavy artillery in a awesome blend of drums, vocals, dirty bass and effective breakdowns. Around track 20, the mix gets even freakier as Kode9 throws in some of the most obscure cross-overs in the field. Just try to sit still on the extremely banging 2 Much Chat by Digital Mystikz, some sort of FUBAR fusion of dubstep and grime full of industrial beats. Or Zomby’s Godzilla, another monster in which the insane synth work really stands out.

Kode9’s DJ-KiCKS mix has become a proper overview of the man’s diverse taste on all things exotic yet typically UK, underground, dark, doomy, funky, grimey and dubby. Although it might be a very tiring listening experience to the untrained, the mix as a whole sparks a great deal of energy and cannot be labeled as being ‘Too much of the same’. Au contraire. This, in combination to Kode9’s mixing skills and the way each record is used in this mix, makes this edition in the series a well recommended pick and another highlight on the !K7 label.  

Rating: 7.7/10
Label: !K7
Release date: June 22nd, 2010

Tracklist:
01. Lone - Once In A While
02. Aardvarck - Revo
03. Kode9 - Blood Orange
04. Kode9 - You Don't Wash (Dub) (DJ-KiCKS)
05. Cooly G - Phat Si
06. Ill Blu - Bellion
07. Ikonika - Heston
08. Scratcha DVA - Jelly Roll
09. Mr Mageeka - Different Lekstrix
10. Grievous Angel - Move Down Low
11. Sticky feat. Natalie Storm - Look Pon Me
12. Sticky - Jumeirah Riddim Sequel
13. Mujava - Pleaze Mugwanti
14. DVA - Natty
15. Aardvaarck - Re Spoken (Nubian Mindz Released Mix)
16. Morgan Zarate feat. Sarah Ann Webb - M.A.B.
17. Rozzi Daime - Dirty Illusions
18. Zomby - Spiralz
19. Kode9 - It
20. J*DaVeY - Mr. Mister
21. Digital Mystikz - 2 Much Chat
22. Terror Danjah - Stiff
23. Digital Mystikz - Mountain Dread March
24. Zomby - Godzilla
25. Digital Mystikz - Mountain Dread March (Reprise)
26. Addison Groove - Footcrab
27. Kode9 vs. LD - Bad
28. Maddslinky - Cargo
29. Ramadanman - Work Them
30. Terror Danjah - Bruzin (VIP)
31. The Bug - Run (feat. Flo Dan)

Kode9 - You Don't Wash (Dub)

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