Kode9 - Nothing [Hyperdub Promo]

Still catching up on reviews of late 2015 promos we're taking a closer look at Kode9's November 6th-released album "Nothing". "Nothing" is also KOde9's first longplay piece the created without his longtime partner- and poet-in-crime The Spaceape who passed away in 2014  - with the exception of the posthumously released track "Third Ear Transmission" this is which is to be found on here. Based around the theme of a fully automated luxury hotel which is about to play an essential part in forthcoming audiovisual performances set up alongside simulation artist Lawrence Lek we see the album revolving around a rather conceptual approach than focusing on dancefloor needs, bringing in rather clean and robotic aesthetics, futuristic sound design and even twisted, heavily morphed Easy Listening-references - see especially "Holo" for this - although there are quite a few tunes riding the uptempo train here. In particular "Zero Work", the techy, Footwork-resembling "Vacuum Packed" sporting various scientific synth patterns and beautiful, melodious breakdowns or the bouncy slow jam "Wu Wei" can be seen as the main tunes to work very advanced crowds right but the regular bass music punter and Dubstep head might be left unimpressed as even those tracks seem to be too abstract and complex for maximum dancefloor impact which sadly also goes for "9 Drones", a remix of Kode9s earliest releases on Hyperdub originally put on the circuit back in ca. 2006.  Not an album we'd refer to as essential in 2k16.