At first glance, Kode9's connection to Canada seems pretty tenuous. Yet the Hyperdub boss was the first person to give Hamilton, ON's Junior Boys a step up in 2001 by posting a couple of their tracks on his website and then remixing their song "Double Shadow" in 2007. Now, he's rekindling that connection by releasing Pull Back My Hair, the debut album by Jessy Lanza, co-produced by head Junior Boy Jeremy Greenspan. The LP drops via Hyperdub on September 10.
"I'm very excited about it," Kode9 (a.k.a. Steve Goodman) tells Exclaim! "It's the first time [Hyperdub] has done a more R&B-influenced album, but the production is very typical of Jeremy. Both he and Jessy are modular synth freaks."
The public got their first taste of the album at the beginning of July with the release of the video for the song "Kathy Lee," shot entirely in Hamilton. It features a fellow decked out in a leather vest and winklepickers grooving to the song while wandering the streets as the classically trained Lanza sings on a band shell stage and drifts through a local Goodwill.
"I'm always delighted when we release something that is a new chapter for the label," says Goodman about Lanza's LP. "It makes running the label worth it on a day-to-day basis by not feeling like were doing the same thing we've always done. It's evolving and musically changing. I'm excited about that."
Goodman goes on to talk about the next set of releases coming out on Hyperdub. The label has released a string of EPs by Chicago footwork pioneer DJ Rashad, and there's an album coming out in October.
"He's probably my favourite producer right now," Goodman says, the enthusiasm in his voice becoming more and more evident as he speaks. "Rashad's music reminds me of when I got into jungle in the early '90s. There was a point in jungle and drum 'n' bass where any music you ever liked could be the basis of a track. It could be a bit of techno or '80s funk or '70s jazz. There's a feeling that you don't really know what's about to come.
"[DJ Rashad] is voracious with his sampling. His songs have that element of recognition where you think, 'I remember that track,' but it's put into this new context. It's fast and very bass-heavy with constantly changing rhythms. It's an amazing feeling to be releasing an album on your own label by someone that you respect so much. I didn't imagine that would happen."
A date for the Rashad LP has yet to be confirmed, but watch Jessy Lanza's video for "Kathy Lee" below.
"I'm very excited about it," Kode9 (a.k.a. Steve Goodman) tells Exclaim! "It's the first time [Hyperdub] has done a more R&B-influenced album, but the production is very typical of Jeremy. Both he and Jessy are modular synth freaks."
The public got their first taste of the album at the beginning of July with the release of the video for the song "Kathy Lee," shot entirely in Hamilton. It features a fellow decked out in a leather vest and winklepickers grooving to the song while wandering the streets as the classically trained Lanza sings on a band shell stage and drifts through a local Goodwill.
"I'm always delighted when we release something that is a new chapter for the label," says Goodman about Lanza's LP. "It makes running the label worth it on a day-to-day basis by not feeling like were doing the same thing we've always done. It's evolving and musically changing. I'm excited about that."
Goodman goes on to talk about the next set of releases coming out on Hyperdub. The label has released a string of EPs by Chicago footwork pioneer DJ Rashad, and there's an album coming out in October.
"He's probably my favourite producer right now," Goodman says, the enthusiasm in his voice becoming more and more evident as he speaks. "Rashad's music reminds me of when I got into jungle in the early '90s. There was a point in jungle and drum 'n' bass where any music you ever liked could be the basis of a track. It could be a bit of techno or '80s funk or '70s jazz. There's a feeling that you don't really know what's about to come.
"[DJ Rashad] is voracious with his sampling. His songs have that element of recognition where you think, 'I remember that track,' but it's put into this new context. It's fast and very bass-heavy with constantly changing rhythms. It's an amazing feeling to be releasing an album on your own label by someone that you respect so much. I didn't imagine that would happen."
A date for the Rashad LP has yet to be confirmed, but watch Jessy Lanza's video for "Kathy Lee" below.
