A Kevin Richard Martin showcase
-Selection & Mix by Rendeece-
And there was… “Poison Dart”…
I suppose that we all have a very significant time in our lives that by hearing a track, a song, or a piece of music, we felt a real connection that somehow re-triggered our passion for music. In my “wow” moments, two tracks are occupying a very special space. The first one is “The Prodigy-No Good (Start The Dance) in my teen years. The second…
It was 2008. I had returned at my hometown trying to re-start my life. I was driving to my work listening to a magazine compilation cd. And there it is… “The Bug-Poison Dart”. Played again and again and… again at my car’s speakers to just comprehend the fire that this track was causing to me.
From that time and onwards I was digging Kevin Richard Martin’s music, buying his records, attending a few of his live performances in Athens as The Bug and King Midas Sound (Bios, Plisskën Festival).
This mixtape/showcase starts with a selection from some of his defining records as Techno Animal (two-person electronic act with Justin Broadrick) as well as the beginning of “The Bug” alias with “Tapping the conversation”, an album influenced by Francis Ford Coppola’s movie, “The Conversation”. A mixture of electronic, dub music with cinematic elements. The selection is continuing till 2021 closing with his last stone-cold classic album “Fire”. Another important addition in the mutant dub foundation. All tracks are in chronological order, based on the year and the date of the releases.
Nevertheless, it’s a personal selection with some of my most favorite tracks from some of the releases that in my mind are significant for presenting Kevin’s artistic vision. Be it as “The Bug” featuring mcs like Flowdan, Miss Red, Warrior Queen and many more or even singers and musicians like Grouper, Gonjasufi, Hatis Noit, Moor Mother; as “King Midas Sound”, as “Zonal”, or the new music path under his own name “Kevin Richard Martin”. Also, the collaboration with “The Earth” (Dylan Carslon), and “Fennesz” (with King Midas Sound). Or the releases that define the sound of his own labels “Acid Ragga”, “Pressure” or “Intercranial Records”. However, due to duration restriction mostly, not all the above labels are represented in this feature.
During the pandemic madness and dystopia, it’s the dub virus that is more significant and welcome than ever…
**Vassilis Sardelis is the creator of the Tarot Theater in Greece. Under his “Rendeece” alias has released albums like “Project Faust I” and “Endgame”. Presently is working on his new project based on Sophocles’ “Oedipus”. “Random Access Radio” resident since its beginning.
https://rendeece.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/chico79er
https://tarotheater.gr
Credits:
Artwork photo by Nikos Palaiologos (for VICE review) / Relevant link: https://www.vice.com/el/article/gvpxpw/to-plissken-fest-egine-fetos-tessarwn
Photo taken at Winter Plisskën Festival 2014
Plisskën Festival Relevant link: http://www.plisskenfestival.gr/gallery/
Tracklist
Techno Animal – The Dream Forger (Album: Ghosts, Label: Pathological Records, 1991)
The Bug – Countdown To Elimination (Album: Tapping The Conversation, Label: WordSound, 1997)
Techno Animal – Hell (ft. Dalek) (Album: The Brotherhood Of The Bomb, Label: Matador Records, 2001)
The Bug – Run The Place Red (ft. Daddy Freddy) (Album: Pressure, Label: Rephlex, 2003)
The Bug – Poison Dart (ft. Warrior Queen) (Album: London Zoo, Label: Ninja Tune, 2008)
King Midas Sound – Lost (Album: Waiting For You…, Label: Hyperdub, 2009)
The Bug – At War With Time (ft. Spaceape) (Digital Release, Label: Ninja Tune, July 2014)
The Bug – Save Me (ft. Gonjasufi) (Album: Angels & Devils, Label: Ninja Tune, August 2014)
The Bug vs Earth – Boa (12” Boa/Cold, Label: Ninja Tune, December 2014)
King Midas Sound & Fennesz – We Walk Together (Album: Edition 1, Label: Ninja Tune, September 2015)
Miss Red – No Guns (Album/Digital Release: Murder, Label: Red Label, December 2015)
Flame 1 – Shrine (12” Fog/Shrine, Label: Pressure, March 2018)
King Midas Sound – In The Night (Album: Solitude, Label: Cosmo Rhythmatic, February 2019)
Kevin Richard Martin – After The Party (Album: Sirens, Label: Room40, May 2019)
Zonal – In A Cage (Album: Wrecked, Label: Relapse Records, October 2019)
Kevin Richard Martin & Hatis Noit – After The Storm (Digital Release, Label: Erased Tapes Records Ltd., November 2019)
King Midas Sound – Gold (Digital Release: It’s Time…, Label: Intercranial Recordings, September 2020)
The Bug Ft Dis Fig – In 2 U (Album: The Bug Ft Dis Fig, In Blue, Label: Hyperdub, November 2020)
Kevin Richard Martin – In Love With A Ghost (Album: Return To Solaris, Label: Phantom Limb, June 2021)
The Bug – Pressure (ft. Flowdan) (Album: Fire, Label: Ninja Tune, August 2021)
