The RunOff: Kode9 | Preview

Kode9

Photo: Tobias Siebrecht

When writing about DJs and producers, people have a strong compulsion to throw around the term "forward-thinking," but few are more deserving of the descriptor than the U.K.'s Kode9. The DJ, producer and accomplished academic is also the owner of the Hyperdub label, an imprint equally deserving of the forward-thinking tag. Home to mysterious and brilliant producer Burial, it plays an integral part in introducing ears to some of the more progressive underground dance acts from around the globe.

Originally inspired by the U.K. dance styles drum 'n' bass, jungle, 2step and the country's heavy dub sound-system culture, Kode9 has gone on to co-mingle and push all these sounds into the new millennium, first through forays into dubstep, grime and U.K. funky, and now into the foggy realm that can only be described as bass music. His latest, "Xingfu Lu," which recently aired on the British radio outlet Rinse FM—and through its subsequent leak onto YouTube—hints that he's also working Chicago footwork sounds into the fold.

As a thinker, his musical presence becomes even more formidable. With a Ph.D in philosophy, Kode9 (a.k.a. Steve Goodman) has taken on such tough topics as cybernetics, Afrofuturism, memetics and postmodernism and applied them to rave culture and music as a whole. Whether speaking before an audience or broadcasting from the DJ booth—as he'll be doing from Smart Bar's monthly RunOff party tonight—this guy creates a heady brew, one that's well worth acquiring a taste for.

Bass philosopher Kode9 joins the RunOff's DJ Intel and Maker tonight at Smart Bar. 10pm. $12, before midnight $10.