I’d been meaning to write something on the very solid King Midas Sound collaboration between singer/poet Roger Robinson and British dubstep deacon Kevin Martin, or as he is more popularly known around these parts, The Bug. However, the ever-dependable Nate Patrin does my homework for me with his Pitchfork review: “every strength this record holds, draws off the symbiotic relationship between Martin’s beats and Robinson’s voice, which adapt to each other in a way that the last two people in a barren environment might. This is dub production rendered as the final reverberations of a deserted cityscape, infused with a crumbling low-end that does for bass what a single fluorescent tube in an underground concrete tunnel does for light. And the voice decorates it like a spiderweb– fragile in appearance, but structurally resilient enough to hold strong against the rhythm.”
Needless to say, if you don’t like spiderwebs and/or this record, you may be a coward. Also, recommended reading is this Fact magazine Q&A, where Martin and Robinson reveal their inspirations (Lover’s Rock, Horace Andy, Gregory Isaacs, Cornell Campbell), how living in London affects their sound, and Robinson’s rapso past (a form of rapped calypso music native to Trinidad, who knew?).
Download:
MP3: King Midas Sound-“Cool Out” (Left-Click)
MP3: King Midas Sound-“One Ting (Dabrye Remix)” (Left-Click)
