Ninja Tune brings back The Bug

Legendary label Ninja Tune has been celebrating its 20th birthday all year long and they’re still not getting tired. On the contrary, there have been some ass-kicking new releases. Amongst them is this double 12″ vinyl (also a digital download) of Kevin Martin’s The Bug. As the promo says, “Infected blurs the lines between his various guises, lulling you into a false sense of security before striking out hard.”

On the video to ‘Catch A Fire’ you can see and hear King Midas Sound collaborator Hitomi on vocals.

Over at XLR8R you can also download a podcast (one of a series of Ninja Tune XX podcasts) with label founders Coldcut teaming up with old-school Ninja Tune acts DJ Food and DK. It’s a massive mix of 70-plus minutes and more than 40 tracks showcasing the many eras, sounds, and styles of the label’s history.

Wonderland

This one is taken from the second Jahtarian Dubbers album. It’s a tune by Black Chow and that’s short for Kiki Hitomi and Kevin Martin playing upgraded dancehall and achingly sad torch song dubs. Dub the way we love it.

King Midas Sound again

It’s the Guardian talking to Kevin Martin aka The Bug, dub poet Roger Robinson and vocalist Hitomi. Together they are King Midas Sound and they have a wonderfull album out now on Hyperdub.

King Midas Sound

King Midas Sound is the new outfit of Kevin Martin (also known as The Bug and much much more) and Trinidad-born poet and singer Roger Robinson. The tune above is taken from the beautifull 2008 Hyperdub 12″ ‘Cool Out’/'One Ting’.
Their new album is due to be out end of this month. From what you can hear on their myspace page, it promises to be equally great. Mixing haunting dub with tearjerking ballads, this is 21st century lovers rock with a ghostly feel. Wordsound take power again with King Midas Sound.

Some more King Midas Sound: John Eden (uncarved.org) had a long talk with Martin and Robinson for FACT magazine, he aptly subtitled it The melancholy of  hope. You can read pre-release reviews from Boomkat and BBC, the latter calling the album already a classic. And King Midas Sound have started a blog with some artwork, some linkage and Kevin Martin’s excellent sleevenotes for the classic “Macro Dub Infection” compilation.

The Bug interview

Slang Tang brings a special interview podcast in which Stu Buchanan talks to Kevin Martin – better known under his moniker The Bug. The occasion is his new album ‘London Zoo’, released on Ninja Tune.

When you say Kevin Martin, you also say dark, heavy and often brutal beats. Martin has a long history of underground productions which he made with outfits like Godflesh, Techno Animal, ICE, King Midas Sound, Ladybug, etc. His career (if cult heroes can have a career) consists of dub, dancehall, noise, grime and hiphop. And nowadays -as the Bug- he adds a dubstep flavour to it. Some consider him to be one of the most influential producers of the moment.

Listen to the interview.

Extra! Kode9 has remixed the “London Zoo” album into a seventeen minutes long version. It’s not only a great promo for a great album, but it’s also a good way to get to know The Bug a little better. Download from The Fader Magazine.