Kode9 (SCO) // Lee Gamble (GBR) // AIWA // Asvany

KODE9

Kode9 aka Steve Goodman, Scottish DJ, producer and writer. In 2004 he founded the now world-renowned Hyperdub record label (his first signed artist was Burial) and in 2019 he created the Flatlines label to house his audio essays. He has released four albums, two of them with the poet and MC The Spaceape, who died in 2014, Memories of the Future (2006) and Black Sun (2010), followed by a solo album Nothing (2015). His most recent work is Astro-Darien. Escapology (2022), a soundtrack to his fiction work Astro-Darien (2022), which explores the possibility of a post-Brexit Britain through the genre of speculative science fiction, even to the point of a vision of an independent Scotland.

He is also credited with Dubstep Allstars vol.3 (Tempa, 2006), a DJ Kicks (K7, 2011), Rinse 22 (Rinse, 2013) and a Fabric 100 mix with Burial in 2018. In addition to Hyperdub, he has released tracks on Aphex Twin's Rephlex label, under the Soul Jazz and Rinse labels, and remixed tracks by Lee Scratch Perry, Battles and Dabrye/MF Doom. His book Sonic Warfare was published by MIT Press in 2010, and he edited the book of essays Unsound: Undead (Urbanomic Press, 2019) in collaboration with AUDINT, to which Lee Gamble contributed a text. His sound installations have been shown at the Tate Modern (2018) and the Barbican Centre.

As a central figure in the British dubstep scene, Kode9's work has had a significant impact on the sound and development of contemporary bass music. His early work, as well as his Hyperdub releases, established the genre's dark, gritty, urban yet zen aesthetic. Drawing inspiration from jungle, footwork, UK garage and gqom, he often explores themes of urban decay, isolation and social inequality. In addition to his work as a producer, Kode9 is an acclaimed author and cultural theorist who actively contributes to the global musical and political discourse through his writing and lecturing. His multifaceted work bridges the gap between underground and academic culture.

LEE GAMBLE

Birmingham-born, London-based Lee Gamble is an experimental electronic dance music artist and founder of the UIQ label. Starting out as a young DJ playing jungle music on various pirate radio stations around the island, Lee discovered the inexhaustible tools of computer music and digital noise around the turn of the millennium. On the Entr'acte label, he has released several abstract, sound-sculpture-like releases, such as 80mm O!I!O (2006) and Join Extensions (2009), and has recorded collaborations with artists Yutaka Makino and John Wall. Later, he returned to the dancefloor with abstract ambient-techno-jungle deconstructions on two landmark releases for PAN, Diversions 1994-1996 (2012) and Dutch Tvashar Plumes (2012), the latter voted Best British Album by FACT Magazine in 2013. In the following year, Lee released his most extensive albums, the Kuang EP (2014) and KOCH (2014), which presented a sensitive, authorial perspective on the possibilities and limitations of club music. He has produced remixes for Mount Kimbie, Special Request, Amon Tobin.

Lee's work is characterised by complex sound design, a captivating blend of deep, immersive rhythms and intimate ambient veils. His recurring themes are hallucination, nostalgia and memory, noise, hyperreality and the realms beyond the imagination, social realism, musique concrète and a kind of constantly mutating hardcore hypnosis. His talent for infusing complex dance music structures with emotional depth has earned him a prominent place in the lodge of contemporary electronic music. His latest album, Models (2023), was released on Kode9's Hyperdub label.

AIWA

AIWA, or Lajos Nadhazi's live, improvisational music, built from repetitions of dance music motifs, is situated somewhere on the border of experimental electronica, at the intersection of ambient-dub-bass music. He uses minimalist instruments to create an uplifting atmosphere, with repetitive analogue sequences and saturated drum machines playing the leading role in his compositions. He is a member of the Hungarian Farbwechsel label and has also released internationally on Banlieue Records, Always Human Tapes, videogamemusic, Seagrave and Infinito Audio. He has also performed at OHM in Berlin, Ankali in Prague and a club night for NTS Radio in London. Lajos is also active as a DJ, just think of his monthly AIWA Program series, but he has also been a resident at themed nights over the last fifteen years, such as: Nightdrive, Crisis and Street Dreams. He is a member of the MA'IWA and Tickle the Pea formations, and a regular guest at the ambient seance Transcendent Waves. His latest album Repetitions was released in July in the Farbwechsel catalogue.

ASVANY

Asvany (formerly asvanyviz2) emerged from the deep recesses of Soundcloud in 2021, first in a collaboration with noise musician shum, and then with the self-released album asvanycore. Brain Will (2022) was his first official release on his homegrown EXILES label, and the single was also featured by Oramics member dogheadsurigeri, dnb legends Camo & Krooked and Seoul-based artist Arexibo of Chinabot. Asvany has appeared on Telekom Electronic Beats (XPERI22), 111records (Sync) and EXILES (Healer) compilations. From scratch he released an EP called Terraforma, which has already clearly outlined the limitless horizon of a hardworking and humble artist's development, started a project with his good friend SUTA (Igric, 2023) on Hungarian folk themes, produced mixes for Ola Radio, Radio Benska, Radio Flouka and Lahmacun Radio. He has performed on the stages of INOTA, JazzaJ, Tilos Maraton, Kabinet MÚZ, Trafó and HALP festivals. His music is difficult to put into words, a genre-less and extremely emotional hybrid of club music, ambient gabber, breakcore shreds fused with folk music, with unexpected pop music details. Asvany mixes genres and moods with ease, it's no exaggeration to say that he is one of the most exciting and promising new generation artists in Hungary.ma