Quarta 330 & LV: "Hylo"

Another fine product off the Hyperdub line, this one released as a simple double-sider instead of the full-lengths they’ve churned out of late. Carrying on the theme from last month’s Ikonika debut, “Hylo” comes from Japanese pad hacker Quarta 330 taking up with the UK’s LV—an ambassador for the sensual 2-step delights that help convert newcomers to the label. If you don’t need converting then you already know what to expect: a jerky bass signature slapping Morse code S’s into 8-bit, synths mewling in the gaps in the traffic.

It’s not instantaneous but reaching it’s half the fun—as drum pads bustle with the label’s trademark tics, a toothache buzz thrums and thrums, and everything stays discordant until circa halfway through where it very quickly meshes and makes sense. Quarta 330 completes the final connection and all his dead Game Boys start dancing, icy as the score to the Double Dragon port that everybody fucked up the buttons on. If you’re new to Hyperdub then this’ll definitely help stoke your interest; if you’re an old hand, it’s not quite the fairytale bin-kicking you might expect but it’s still as alluring as watching a multicoloured insect trying to right itself. And that’s pretty much the height of alluring.