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Black Sun

Steve Goodman, who works under the artist name Kode9, is the producer of the music album Black Sun, which features the vocals of collaborator Stephen Gordon, artist name Spaceape. Black Sun is their second album and is an example of the electronic genre from South London referred to as dubstep. Goodman is a recognised pioneer of the sound, which he took forward on his debut album, Memories of the Future, also recorded with Gordon. Working as a practitioner and a cultural theorist, Goodman understands his production work along with his regular DJing appearances to be an articulation of the affective politics he writes about in Sonic Warfare: Sound, Affect and the Ecology of Fear, where he outlines an original analysis of the politics of frequency. With the electronic music of the black diaspora generating an alternative and perhaps even oppositional form of sound and sociality, Goodman continued to contribute to the dance movement that gathered around dubstep with the release of Black Sun. On the album he deepened his exploration of Afro-futurist sound by placing greater emphasis on mid-range frequencies than had been the case with dubstep’s earliest releases, which were dominated by bass and percussion. The innovation contributed to dubstep’s reinvention of itself, which in turn helped it remain true to the organic dance network that had shaped it in the first place. In practice-theory terms, the proponents of dubstep had avoided capture by maintaining their level of sonic innovation and demonstrating that they were in control of their destiny. Goodman released Black Sun on Hyperdub, his acclaimed record label, which also helped pioneer dubstep. The album booklet includes a graphic novel-style text written by Goodman and Gordon, illustrated by Raz Mesinai.