The Hyperdub label has always been known to the electronic world as left-field, experimental, mysterious and other-worldly. With an expansive roster that spans artists such as Burial, Zomby, Ikonika, Joker and even funky-queen Cooly G, it’s not hard to see why the label has had such a strong following for this long. With the release of “5″, it’s a chance to show off unreleased tracks from artists from Hyperdub’s family and friends (such as Flying Lotus, Martyn and Mala) as well as a showcase of their past releases.

The first CD is packed with new material from every artist on the roster, starting off with King Midas Sound and ending off with Joker & Ginz. Tracks such as King Midas Sound’s “Meltdown” and Kode9 + The Spaceape’s “Time Patrol” start off the experience with dub darkness delving into near-frantic and string-heavy body-boppers. The album slows down a tad after this with the trio of Darkstar’s highly anticipated “Aidy’s Girl Is A Computer”, Samiyam’s “Roller Skates” and Flying Lotus’s “Disco Balls”: “Aidy’s Girl…” is a vocoder-driven track that has bits of YMO-influence with its xylophone-sample and heavy emphasis on off-beat synth work, which unfortunately doesn’t transition well to Samiyam’s track. “Roller Skates” is typical fare for the producer, off-beat hip-hop mash-up Mayhem with 8-bit chord progressions that take over along with a slight orchestral sample. The bassline is very particular in this track, it might be the only thing that’s not pushed heavily in this work, which makes it a decent listen. The highlight of this trio is definitely Steve Ellison’s bit, showing a more bouncy, lighter side of a Flying Lotus experience. It still has the feel of his familiar tracks, but definitely finding a new way to exploit basslines and rhythms this time around. Instead of heavy head-bopping, it’s rump-shaking boogie.

Black Chow’s “Purple Smoke”, the next track, is a Japanese vocal treat of dub bass, slight 8-bit notation and hard snare and clap reverberation. The identity of Black Chow is a mystery, and the track doesn’t hint at anyone’s particular production technique, so we are left wondering who we were just listening to. Tracks like Cooly G’s “Weekend Fly” and mythical beast Zomby’s “Tarantula” please the senses with amazing rhythmic madness: Cooly G providing booming snare lines over her vocals and Zomby providing his signature syncopated rhythmic trickery.

Martyn and Mala stop by on this album as well with equally important contributions, “Megadrive Generation” and “Level Nine”. Martyn shows off his shtick by making a track that doesn’t stop pumping from the first second to the last, and Mala provides some near-Joker-esque synth lines on his track with some heavy use of repeat on the kick and snare: so pretty much classic Mala. L.V. and LD’s tracks, “Turn Away” and “Shake It”, are complete contrasts in terms of sound and feel. “Turn Away” sounds like a dub reggae anthem that turns into a garage-esque percussive treat en route to a peak. “Shake It” is a pure percussive banger that has minimal vocal samples and small synth work that only fill up what is the battle for space in this drum-heavy listen.

Quarta 330, Ikonika and Joker & Ginz all have stellar tracks to close out the first CD. “Bleeps From Outer Space” is literally 8-bit reggae bounciness, “Sahara Michael” is a warmly welcomed progression from Ikonika’s past releases, and hopefully it’s a sign of more amazing things to come. Joker & Ginz do what they do with their track, “Stash”, which is pretty much produce a banger in unique fashion.

There’s one track I did not highlight in the group of tracks: yes, it’s Burial’s much-anticipated “Fostercare”. The reason I did this is because there’s not much to compare in terms of the rest of the tracks on the album to this one: it’s typical Burial: spooky, murky, lonely and brilliant. The classic pitch-shifted vocals and light-synth work beautifully with the room-filling bass that feels like a sheet of rainclouds has surrounded your nighttime journey. Like I said, typical Burial, which of course is never a bad thing.

The second disc is a collection of tracks from past releases from the roster, ranging from Burial’s first release “South London Boroughs” to Kode9’s past releases with Spaceape, Darkstar’s garage treat “Need You”, Zomby’s “Kaliko” and Ikonika’s “Please” to name a few. It’s all a stellar compilation built-up well enough to show off the talent and appreciation of the sound that Hyperdub’s been universally known for. This very well could be one of the best compilations I’ve heard in a while. Cheers, Hyperdub: here’s to another 5 more.

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