The Bug - Fire (Ninja Tune)

[J3FF3R00]

Could it be that this thread doesn’t already exist?? 

https://ninjatune.net/release/the-bug/fire

”Kevin Martin’s first solo full-length album under The Bug moniker for seven years could not be better timed, and could not be more needed: ‘Fire’ - the third exhilarating part of an incendiary urban triptych, that began with 2008’s explosive ‘London Zoo’ via 2014’s mind-melting 'Angels & Devils' - is fourteen tracks that immolate the synapses, flail the body, that cinematically take you from arcing evocations of a bleak lockdowned city-scape to swooping deep-focus close-ups of Martin and his collaborator’s psyches at breaking point. The aggression, the attitude, the vertiginous scope and subterranean incisiveness, the destabilising unsettling frenzy of The Bug sound is marshalled to perfection throughout but ‘Fire’ is no mere reanimation of the Bug’s past - for Martin, the album is both a response to the unique circumstances of the past year but also a chance to reflect his own journey from reclusive sound-obsessive to family man, and his thirst - in a period of enforced hermetic isolation - for contact, for the mayhem that can only happen between people, noise and bass, the derangement of the senses that has been Bug’s method and trajectory ever since it first crawled out of London’s deepest corners in the late 90s. It’s the Bug’s best yet, possibly the most ferociously realised and immensely moving music Martin has ever made, and still touches on those initial cravings and impulses that first propelled ‘London Zoo’ into your world like a pipe bomb through your letterbox. It’s a HUNGRY record in all senses. 

“I've always been addicted to the physicality and intensity of sound: I started The Bug because I wanted to make music for a soundsystem I had in storage, and the live experience of The Bug has always been something I wanted to reflect on record - I’m always looking for fuel to the fire and live shows - and MISSING live shows in lockdown was a real impetus” Martin admits. “I’m always asking - how can I ramp this up MORE? How can I get people more out of control? For me a live show should be unforgettable, should alter your DNA, or scar you for life in a good way - that’s always been my goal, to set up shows that are unforgettable. I like friction, chaos, fanning the flames with sound, and this album is the most reflective of the live show in terms of intensity and the sheer fuck-off attitude of those shows. ‘WHAT the FUCK?’ is the reaction I want - insane is a good reaction especially at a time when there’s so much control in how people consume music and are pacified culturally” 

The MCs featured (longtime likeminds like Flowdan, Roger Robinson, Moor Mother, Manga Saint Hilare, Irah & Daddy Freddy alongside relatively new names to the Bug stable like Logan, Nazamba and FFSYTHO) inevitably reflect the external madness of a world turned upside down, but also dig deep into themselves to craft reflective, pitilessly honest portrayals of the rage, resistance and resignation the last year has engendered in all of us. Check the juddering maelstrom of ‘Clash’ wherein Logan matches every lunging hit of the kick and Martin’s none-more-dank dubtronics with a diseased narrative of mental warfare and strife, or ‘Pressure’ where Flowdan imperiously calls out the universe for a scrap over a beat so thunkingly rapacious its as if the ghost of Andy Weatherall has been reanimated for some rerubbing duties. Throughout ‘Fire’ you can hear MCs and Martin upping the ante, pushed to new heights and lows by an ever-present, periphirally-glimpsed armageddon. The album is bookended by the TS Eliot Award winning poet and long term friend and collaborator Roger Robinson. 

“2020 was the worst dystopian nightmares made real - part of me was panic-stricken, the other part of me was ‘how am I going to stay sane?’” recalls Martin. “I’ve got to support 4 people and it might be YEARS before I play shows - this was at the back of my mind making the album. Just to keep calm I got into making solo albums which was meditative, got me back in touch with myself and enabled me to rebuild my studio which kept me working and helped me keep my head straight. It was crucial because I’ve realised through life that what keeps me grounded is music. I used to think I wanted to bury myself in NOW, reality, sensation, information - as time’s gone on I’ve realised I want to actually make a parallel world in sound - the studio gave me an escape from just how fucked up the world was last year. That feeling of external chaos but really questioning yourself internally is something that all the MCs, in different ways, reflect on ‘Fire’. And I feel I’ve grown - making music not just as an egotistical pursuit but to support my family has meant I’ve stopped overthinking things - we KNEW when tracks were finished and loosening my maniacal control over the music, letting it breathe and come together more naturally. That’s something I think you can hear throughout the album.”  

‘Fire’ then is 14 tracks that not only chart where we are right now, but offer tantalising glimpses of just what miracles we might soon conjure again together. Growing up VAST. Get some ‘Fire’ in your belly and feel the BURN. This plague has found its soundtrack. “
 

 

deep breath 

 

i insta-bought this one from amoeba because they had a special limited edition of 100. 
 

[usagi]

oh shit. bringing back some of the same legends (Flowdan, Daddy Freddy, RR) and some new ones (Irah, Nazamba). out 27th August, looks like.

of course this thread doesn't already exist, you could probably count with one hand how many Kevin Martin fans are on here.

[J3FF3R00]

I’m surprised that the blurb completely ignored the Pressure album. Like…Wtf??? That album was a major game changer. it also contained a track that earned an AFX remix. How does that get forgotten? Seriously tho. I feel like that album was emulated by so many higher profile, watered-down attempts by other artists to repackage a similar energy safely. Gun Disease was also a legendary, non-album single. 
Hoping this new one is half as explosive. 

Edited July 2, 2021 by J3FF3R00

[usagi]

true. London Zoo was the first album on Ninja and they seem to not be acknowledging anything prior, which does their artist a disservice. Pressure was so raw, I felt like he was able to channel his intentions on that album much more simply and directly, while London Zoo he described as being a much more wrought and intense process. for all of Pressure's awesome high-energy attacks though, I still like Night Steppa the best off there.

 

[iococoi]

1 hour ago, J3FF3R00 said:

i insta-bought this one from amoeba because they had a special limited edition of 100. 

there's a different 'limited' one on his bandcamp

https://thebugmusic.bandcamp.com/album/fire-2

[usagi]

on a separate note, it was a real pity about that Zonal album. I thought it was a tragic misfire. for what was meant to be the reincarnation of Techno Animal, it was muddled, toothless and lopsided. I like Moor Mother but there was way too much of her. you'd think putting Justin Broadrick and Kevin Martin together again would produce this sort of classic magic but I struggle to remember any standout moments from that album.

 

[Key]

I agree on the lopsided. Thought it was an interesting decision, but it just doesnt work in practice, comes off like a really intense EP with a load of bonus instrumentals tacked on the end. 

[Kid Lukie]

 

[usagi]

dropping in a few days.

 

[Franciscus]

released in two days. probably album of the year contender for me

[usagi]

fucking HUGE hypnotic bass on this thing

 

[NI64]

I was worried from the descriptions that this was gonna be fast and energetic, which isn't my favorite flavor of Bug. So glad I gave it a shot cause this is as slow, dark, and brooding as he gets. Holy fuck this is good. 

[Extralife]

1 hour ago, NI64 said:

I was worried from the descriptions that this was gonna be fast and energetic, which isn't my favorite flavor of Bug. So glad I gave it a shot cause this is as slow, dark, and brooding as he gets. Holy fuck this is good. 

Yes. It’s sick. Some of his best productions on here.

[thumbass]

This shits gooood

[Key]

The Bug always delivers the goods. 

Once old gloomypants Robinson has finished laying down the law about Covid death squads I knew we were in for something special.

Def occupies the same hallowed ground as Pressure & London Zoo. Loving the new MCs but missing Warrior Queen a bit.

[Soloman Tump]

6 minutes ago, Key said:

Def occupies the same hallowed ground as Pressure & London Zoo.

 

They are a trilogy

[usagi]

^ I liked A&D but yes, this is definitely superior to it and of the same calibre as those two. likely top AOTY candidate for me.

War is currently my favourite track, with Bomb a close second. Flowdan has been my favourite grime MC since the beginning, because of his flows on London Zoo.

52 minutes ago, Key said:

Covid death squads

this was stupid and disappointing to have the album start off with. somewhat expected, I guess... lotta people of west indian/rasta culture have problematic views on all that business.

Edited September 1, 2021 by usagi

[Richie Sombrero]

9 hours ago, Soloman Tump said:

 

They are a trilogy

 

Think second in trilogy has actually been attributed to Concrete Desert.

[beerwolf]

Savage album. Usually this vocal style and the lyrical subject isn’t my thing, but I suppose if I rewind 30 years it was no different to me being obsessed with Public Enemy, and why I rarely in recent times revisit them (PE). Because that person which related to that seems long gone and maybe that’s why when I listen to this it’s like blowing dust off an immense generator and feeling the surge of a massive power station whirring back into life. Definitely after 1 play I’m thinking this is easy one of the best things I’ve heard this year. The production is amazing. I’d really like to hear this live. Soon. 

Edited September 2, 2021 by beerwolf

[Ivan Ooze]

Ok i'm pretty excited to check this one out!

[splesh]

Quite dig The Bug (and some other Kevin Martin things) and very excited to hear this.

[Ivan Ooze]

just wow, one listen in and i'm blown the fuck away

love the features 2, fire indeed!

[thumbass]

Definetely an aoty contender!

[beerwolf]

I used to very tribal with my music tastes, I guess it’s natural as you get older that perhaps that tribal nature mellows, and one matures a bit and becomes more welcoming to all kinds of music. However listening to this album it seems the old tribal beast has woken from its slumber and it’s why when I listened to that new Jon Hopkins track I wanted to bellow and breathe fire upon it and reduce it to nothing but ash that tumbles forgotten on the breeze. I can’t be vibing with this album one minute and then be chanting some hippy-dippy I-believe-in-fairies jibberish the next. 

My feet are firmly with The Bug

Edited September 4, 2021 by beerwolf

[NI64]

Anyone have a favorite track yet? I straight up can't decide. I think this is pretty undeniably the best Bug album though.