King Midas Sound - Cool Out EP

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release

5...according to our Brett on Tue 28 Oct, 2008.

Woohoo! The King Midas Sound job on Hyperdub is finally here in our dank, sweaty pit that we call a workplace. You wait months for Kevin Martin 12"s to turn up and two come along at once - typical. Hot on the heels of the long delayed Ganja/Flying effort from The Bug comes the Cool Out EP offering the title track on a densely packed Habitat plate with garnish in the form of remixes from Frying Rotus and Dabrye. 'Cool Out' features a gentler, much more classic dub pace than The Bug's material without losing any of the oppressive claustrophobia and industrial undertones of his more well-known project. Space and tension are the operative words here but the bass stabs really hit the mark when they cut through. Roger Robinson's soothing, honeyed tones lick your neck while Martin's beats wail on your face with a slow inevitability. This is a proper stark and sinister mister that's well worth the wait! We're a bit more ambivalent about the mixes of the other side, with Brian and Ant saying they like elements of Dabrye's version of 'One Ting' and Phil just muttering under his breath about how he doesn't like soul music.. Personally it doesn't do a right lot for me, I think it's a little bit of a passer-byer. Flying Lotus ups the ante a bit more, definitely putting his personal aural stamp on 'Lost' to good, if not hugely memorable, effect. This is highly recommended for the title track though, it's quite excellent! While I'm here, check out the RSD 12" we got in last week but didn't get the chance to review, 'Forward Youth' on there gave all three of the N0rm@n Dubztepp Kru massive boners.

King Midas Sound is Kevin “The Bug” Martin and the angelically-voiced Roger Robinson, who first came together on The Bug’s 2003 Rephlex LP ‘Pressure’. With Martin taking a more blissed out, but equally deranged approach from that of his new epic Bug album ‘London Zoo’, the King Midas Sound is 21st Century jilted lovers rock. First surfacing on Kode9’s Sonar mix from the summer of 2007, and heavily in demand ever since then, ‘Cool Out’ is finally getting the release we’ve all been holding our breath and turning purple for. If that wasn’t enough, this EP also features two previews from the forthcoming King Midas Sound album, in the form of remixes by two producers known for sending their off-beats into orbit. Graced and defined by Roger’s sweet, sweet vocals, ‘Cool Out’ is a hymn to the ever persistent ghosts and mutations of Jamaican sound system culture. The remixes of ‘Lost’ and ‘One Ting’ on the flipside take that same spirit into hip hop peripheries. Dabyre’s rendition of ‘One Ting’ laces his funk with unexpected and shrill shards of early Detroit techno, while Flylo captures the essence of ‘Lost’ with a suicidal Japanese monologue and dysfunctional bleeps and crunches. Another tale of the unexpected from Hyperdub and taster of the forthcoming KMS album due later in 2008.

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