King Midas Sound

sjc

Active member
meltdown is seriously sublime. maybe my song of the year. DL-ing that mix right now.
 

grizzleb

Well-known member
Brazen bump of Model 500 by Dabrye on that remix towards the end of the mix...never heard that before. Works so well though. Class.
 

michael

Bring out the vacuum
^ Yeah, Derrick May I think it is. Was talked about a bit in the Wonky thread maybe? Or in this one? Anyway... I think it's done beautifully.
 

grizzleb

Well-known member
Shit, yeah it is Derrick May. It's totally class. More of that kind of shit. Completely recontextualising it...
 

michael

Bring out the vacuum
I was pretty disappointed by the album.

Looking back, I was hanging out for it based pretty much solely on the 'Cool Out' 12, which only had the one original mix on it and two remixes by other producers.

I find most of the production really murky and heavy (in the sense of gloomy, more than heavy heavy monster sounds / bass pressure / whatever). I'm not totally anti either of those vibes, but over the course of the album it's pretty exhausting. I never liked e.g. 90s-era On-U sound or Massive Attack circa Mezzanine.. any of that stuff that mixes dub vibes with industrial sounds, so it's probably no surprise I'm not into it. Although it's not aggressive like The Bug, I don't hear much of the sweetness / softness he alluded to in the interview upthread.

Tracks like 'Cool Out' and 'Meltdown' definitely transcend that by being sparser - just a few elements and plenty of space around the vox.

Plus, the fragility of Roger Robinson's vox is a real double-edged sword... I love how the vox sit in some tracks, but over the course of a whole album I feel like his limited range really starts to hit home.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
yeah i was also a bit disspointed by the overly trip hopping album ruminating too long in tricky territory. not enough psychedelic instrumental depth like the Hearts and Ghosts EP, which, in particular "Too Long Dub" as i've mentioned before, is the best new dub i heard in years and years.
 

IanTheM

Tame Horse
yeah i was also a bit disspointed by the overly trip hopping album ruminating too long in tricky territory. not enough psychedelic instrumental depth like the Hearts and Ghosts EP, which, in particular "Too Long Dub" as i've mentioned before, is the best new dub i heard in years and years.

I feel like once the vocals are there they hide too much of kevin martins cleverness. However, the album does kinda grow on you, it's just hard to listen through the entire thing sometimes cause it gets flat in some songs that sound too similar without catching vocals or lyrics. I still like it, but definitely won't live up to the hype. A hype built up more by the lack of competitors in the same sound space mostly, I'm more eagerly awaiting next years albums.
 

john eden

male pale and stale
A hype built up more by the lack of competitors in the same sound space mostly, I'm more eagerly awaiting next years albums.

I guess I was lucky to hear it before there being any hype but I still think it's great. As you say, there isn't exactly a crowded field of this stuff right now. In fact I've been struggling to get enthusiastic about much music in 2009.
 

Dusty

Tone deaf
It is a real grower. First couple of listens I wasn't too sure - but now it slots into my top albums of the year.

I don't usually go with Boomkats sloppy 'sounds like this' comparisons, but they did mention Tricky, and I have to agree - it does feel like Maxine Quaye even if it doesn't actually sound like it. Some kind of post millenium tension thing going on; a continuation of the kode9 and Spaceape album. This record fits on the Hyperdub label so well it's untrue (err... no Burial pun intended there).
 

Dusty

Tone deaf
i really should change my avatar... combined with this thread its making me look like some kind of fanboy, and I do love other labels. Honestly.
 

mms

sometimes
don't really get the trip hop comparisons at all, pretty lazy. The more i listen to it personally the more it all comes more alive, both the lyrics and the music, both feel sweeter, there is a sense of cinematic quality to the music, not in the 'sounds like a soundtrack' kinda trip hop way but in the way sounds, themes and incidentals accentuate the lyrical themes.
 

gumdrops

Well-known member
some of the trip hop parallels are pretty obviously sonic - the trudging hip hop drums on certain tracks and that overall sense of ambience. its a very 90s album really. apart from some of the post dubstep bass heaviness if you told me it came out in 98 or around that time i would have believed you. and thats not a bad thing. the bug can say that the similarities are from listening to the same stuff as the wild bunch etc but i wouldnt be surprised if he was kinda trying to revisit that kind of 90s cross-cutting vibe. im glad he did personally, theres not much like that going on at the moment, at least not worth listening to.
 

CrowleyHead

Well-known member
don't really get the trip hop comparisons at all, pretty lazy. The more i listen to it personally the more it all comes more alive, both the lyrics and the music, both feel sweeter, there is a sense of cinematic quality to the music, not in the 'sounds like a soundtrack' kinda trip hop way but in the way sounds, themes and incidentals accentuate the lyrical themes.

Honestly, I got more of a cinematic theme from "London Zoo" than any of this material. But I digress...

Going to have to wait 'til the new year to grab this baby though.
 
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