On his new album, London Zoo, Kevin Martin (a.k.a. The Bug) retooled dubstep and dancehall into something bleak, apocalyptic, and jaw-dropping. His gritty, bass-heavy assault on the future is helmed by an all-star squad of MCs, from Flowdan and The Spaceape to his current touring partner Warrior Queen. Here, The Bug and Warrior Queen talk about their flow, both on and offstage—how she's a split personality while The Bug will always remain The Bug.

You can download a free mp3 The Bug ft. Killa P & Flowdan 'Skeng' HERE courtesy of XLR8R.

Ghetto- Sing For Me




77Klash- Mad Again ft. Johnny Osbourne




The Bug- Skeng ft. Killa P & Flowdan




Roots Manuva- Let The Spirit



Baby Kites & Nokea- Reef

Last weekend, electronic music talent from around the world all converged on the city of Seattle for the 5th year of the Decibel Festival. Featuring music from all ends of the electronic spectrum; from Ambient to Techno, IDM to Dubstep, Downtempo to House, and everything in between; the city came alive with beats from every which direction. We arrived to Volunteer Park in Seattle early Saturday afternoon for the festival's first ever dB in The Park event, a free outdoor event featuring music from Jacob London, Truckasaurus, and LA's Glitch Mob. We arrived at the end of London's set, and as we settled in, began to hear the chiptune anthems of Seattle's Truckasaurus. Clad with gold-plated Nintendo cartridge bling, the trio played an awesome set incorporating their 8-bit sound into tracks ranging from hip hop to downtempo.



Next up on the stage on an unprecedented sunny afternoon in Seattle was the Glitch Mob. Bringing their brand of glitch-hop and hyphy music, they brought the most energy felt in the park all day with their remix of Matty G's dubstep tune 'West Coast Rocks' complete with classic west coast hip hop vocals overlaying the beats. They also dropped a big albeit shallow remix of Lil Wayne's hit 'Lollipop' which also got the crowd moving their feet.



After their set, it was time to get ready for the evening's festivities which entailed the Ghostly International showcase at the Baltic Room Saturday Night. As the line to get in stretched long around the block, Deru hopped onstage and played some of the more upbeat sounding tracks on the night. After Deru, it was Tycho's turn as he debuted his first Audio/Visual set to the eager crowd. Beautiful blended and layered imagery as well as kaleidoscopic patterns were a perfect backdrop for Tycho's sound. Next up on the bill was another hometown favorite, Lusine; who's set spanned much more territory than strictly downtempo. Complete with analog visuals being manned from the back of the club with film reels and a dual projector, Lusine brought the house down and had the crowd aching for more long after his set was finished.

Sunday night provided the finale showcase for Decibel 2008 at Neumo's. On the bill were Fax (MEX), Flying Lotus (US), The Bug (UK) and Supermayer (DE). We arrived at the start of Flying Lotus' set and immediately you could feel his excitement performing spreading throughout the nearly sold out crowd. Putting his signature glitch stop-start touch and Michael Jordan-esque tongue hanging, FlyLo played one of the best sets I heard all weekend; the highlight being his blend of Rustie's 'Spliff Dub' remix seemlessly into Kode9's epic '9 Samurai.'



Next up was a set from the UK's The Bug. The Bug started his set off solo, dropping familiar dubstep tunes including one of the big single's off of London Zoo 'Skeng', Distance's 'Victim Support', as well as Dizzee Rascal's classic 'I Love You.' After about 20 minutes solo, The Bug was then joined by one of my personal favorite MCs the ineffable Warrior Queen. The energy level noticably kicked up once Warrior Queen hit the stage rapping over her London Zoo cuts including 'Poison Dart' and 'Angry' taking over the vocals of Tippa Irie on the latter. She also treated us to a solo track of hers entitled 'Things Change' released on Soul Jazz and produced by The Heatwave.



There could be no more appropriate a closer to the Finale of decibel than the tag-team set of Kompakt's Michael Mayer and Superpitcher. Playing the most dance-friendly set I witnessed at Decibel, Supermayer tore up the Neumo's floor until the lights were forcibly turned on to end the show. A highlight of their set was their intricate reworking of DJ Mujava's African ghetto-house banger 'Township Funk.'



All around an amazing weekend that made me proud to be a resident of the PacNW. Out to the Decibel crew that made this event happen and here's to next year being even bigger and badder.

rahspect!

for more pictures and video from Decibel 2008 check out the Flickr Group.

Coming off the recent buzz of their newly released and critically acclaimed album 'London Zoo' on Ninja Tune and overcoming VISA issues that prevented the Bug's Live debut performance at club Love this past July; everything is now sorted for their first North American tour. Warrior Queen, Flowdan, and the Bug coming to a city near you this fall, get ready.

you can find the Pitchfork review for London Zoo HERE

DATES:

09/19 Nelson, BC: TBA
09/20 Vancouver, BC: Open Studios
09/21 Edmonton, AB: The Pawn Shop
09/26 Los Angeles, CA: TBA
09/27 San Francisco, CA: Club Six
09/28 Seattle, WA: Neumos
09/30 Portland, OR: Rotture
10/01 Montreal, QC: Academy Club
10/03 New York, NY: Love
10/04 Boston, MA: Great Scott

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July 3, 2008
Words: Thomas Palermo for XLR8R.com



Bass Reaction’s theme this month: Enter the Technodrome. Lately, dubstep has been infiltrated by interesting IDM and dub techno elements. For evidence, check out completely superb new recordings by 2562 (Aerial, on Tectonic), Scuba (A Mutual Antipathy, on Hotflush), iTAL tEK (Cyclical, on Planet Mu). and Appleblim’s standout mix compilation for Tempa, Dubstep All-Stars Volume 6. All of the above mentioned titles excel and explore dubstep’s spatial possibilities, with clicks, pulsing melodies, and synthetic dreamscapes that drive the music. These albums are techy, dubby, refreshing.

Kode 9 and Hatcha are touring the U.S. in July. Dates include Tuesday, July 8 at Chop Suey in Seattle, Wednesday, July 9 Rotture in Portland, Thursday, July 10 at Mezzanine in San Francisco, Friday, July 11 at the Roxy in Los Angeles, and Friday, July 18 at Love in New York.

Hotflush Recordings has a big night called Sub:Stance happening July 11 in Berlin. The event takes place at one of the city's most renowned venues, Club Berghain, and features sets by Mala (Digital Mystikz), Shackleton, Appleblim, Distance, Scuba, and more.

BBC1 Radio’s Mary Anne Hobbs announced a special one-off radio broadcast called Generation Bass she’ll host August 18-19, featuring sets by new artists chosen by the original Dub Warz 7: Mala, Skream, Kode 9, Vex'd, Hatcha, Loefah, and Distance. The show will be recorded, filmed, and posted on YouTube. Hobbs recently compiled the diverse dubstep-to-techno Evangeline CD compilation.

Digital store and label Sonic Boom will air an exclusive video interview with Antisocial producer Silkie, available for viewing starting Monday, July 14.

Benga breaks down his production wizardry for Future Music in a scintillating video series! Essential viewing!

Matty G’s “West Coast Rocks – Glitch Mob Remix” is available as a free download. Nice one!

The ill Grime City collective is offering its third multi-DJ mix, featuring Cyan, Munk, SamSupa, 100 Spokes, Enzyme, and hosted by the brapped-up Emcee Child.

Big respect to Dusk & Blackdown who drop their debut album, Margins Music (Keysound), July 14. The heavy disc features established grime MCs Durrty Goodz, Trim, Farrah, Target, and more. A launch party takes place July 13 at FWD featuring Blackdown, Dusk, Oneman, and Joker. Blackdown’s blog and monthly Pitchfork columns are also essential reading!

Sub Swara’s Coup d’Yah (Low Motion Records) is 100% fire. No exaggeration. The 12-track album, available now as a MP3 download, features vocals from Zulu, MC Coppa, Napoleon Solo, and Juakali

Jackhammer dubstep producer Kevin Martin, a.k.a. The Bug, drops his Ninja Tune debut, London Zoo, on July 29. The album features Warrior Queen, Tippa Irie, Ricky Rankin, Flodan, and more. Watch the video for “Poison Dart,” featuring Warrior Queen.

A Bass Reaction underground hero is the mysterious Mr. Forensics, who’s pumping out the fresh DJ mixes (the Adventures In Death Star Valley series) and original plates with a quickness. His style is dark, fractured, and slightly IDM-influenced, but weighty nonetheless.

Fixations: Series One is the new compilation from Seattle‘s Insectmind that dropped April 20 and features new business from Hatcha, MKS, Struggle, and others.

Support BareFiles, the site for exclusive DJ mixes and new releases. New mixes and profiles are up now of Deapoh, Incyde, and Alien Pimp.

Other new and forthcoming releases:

-Joker's “Gully Brook Lane” (Terrorrhythm) drops July 7.
-Los Angeles’ Edwin Mendoza and Graham Dye introduce their new LA Dubstep Nostra label with a debut label-titled EP featuring Nebulla & Dore, 6Blocc and Parson.
-Hyperdub’s next release is by King Midas Sound with remixes by Flying Lotus and Dabyre.

THE BUG – SHOWCASE MIX on BBC Radio, March 22, 2008.

featuring the tracks off of the forthcoming album 'London Zoo'

Erykah Badu - Twinkle
The Bug ft Tippa Irie - Angry
The Bug ft Ricky Ranking - Mad Up The Dance
The Bug ft Warrior Queen - Insane
The Bug ft Spaceape - 'Systems'
The Bug ft Flowdan & Killa P - 'Skeng'
The Bug ft Ricky Ranking - Murder We
The Bug ft Flowdan - Bad Like That
The Bug ft Seanie T - Bring Life
King Midas Sound - Cool Out
Coki - Road Rage(Exclusive Bug dubplate ft Ricky Ranking)
TRG - Broken Heart (Martyn's DCM Mix)
The Bug ft Flowdan - Jah War
The Bug ft Warrior Queen - Poison Dart
The Bug ft Ricky Ranking - Tonight
The Bug ft Flowdan - Stampin'
Darkstar - Need You
Fun Boy Three - The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum

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The Bug myspace