This Week on Fat Planet Radio: In Conversation with ‘The Bug’
This week on the Fat Planet radio show, I’ll be talking to Kevin Martin – aka ‘The Bug‘ – the ragga, dubstep and electronic producer whose new album ‘London Zoo’ was recently released through Ninja Tune.
The Bug has been releasing dark, deep and often brutally-heavy beats for well over ten years, but ‘London Zoo’ is only his second, full-length solo record and his first in five years.
On Fat Planet on Sunset, he talks about the intensity of life in London, how his early work foreshadowed the birth of dubstep, and about working with some of England and Jamaica’s finest MCs – such as Warrior Queen, Tippa Irie, Ricky Ranking and Spaceape.
I’ll also be playing some choice cuts from the new album along with a batch of pivotal tracks from The Bug back catalogue.
Stereotyp presents : Ku Bo
Austria’s Stefan Moerth is a producer who rarely disappoints – under his Stereotyp alias, Stefan has been brewing variations on an electronic dancehall tip for last decade.
His collaborator list includes the likes of Wu Tang’s Cappadonna, Lady Saw, Al Haca, Ras B, The Bug and Tosca, with releases primarily landing on Kruder & Dorfmeister‘s G-Stone label. Early last year, he unveiled a new project – Ku Bo – billed as “the club oriented, voodooesque side of Stereotyp”.
The first 12″ ‘Rebola / Um Korpo’ was something of a successor to his 2006 ‘Funk Mundial’ release, as he reunited with Brazilian-born, Austrian resident Joyce Muniz. The follow-up ‘Turnerment / Mela’ brought Sao Paulo’s Fefe MC into the fold for another label-cited “tropical-tec banger”.
Their latest mixtape gathers most of the cuts from those 12s, as treats to half a dozen tracks that have yet to see the light of day. The next single lands later this year, with an album released scheduled for February 2009 on Man Recordings.
mp3: KU BO – Mixtape Summer 2008
KU BO MIXTAPE TRACKLIST
01. Parolar De Veso Remix feat. SD Boys
02. Rebola feat. Joyce Muniz
03. Turnament Version feat. Yasmine Seydi
04. Turnament feat. Fefe MC
05. Uepa feat. Joyce Muniz
06. Um Korpo feat. Joyce Muniz
07. Kubo Precut
08. Lem Lem feat. Joyce Muniz
09. Tindao
Plastic Caramelo: “Glampeta” Pop
Plastic Caramelo first spun my way via the Girlcore blog, wherein they raved about the inclusion of “one really hot Colombian” Tatiana. Girlcore know their shit, and were ahead of the curve in posting this before a couple of other blogs turned up the dial.
The NYC collective dropped an email last week which explained more: they brand their work “glampeta” – a self-defined amalgam of “Colombian dancehall, cumbia and champeta”. Whilst that’s moderately true, the eponoymous debut track also wraps the sound in 110% sugar coating, giving it a fluro-pop shine and paving a direct route to wide radio airplay.
The results are therefore a mixed bag – but, like most good pop, there’s still enough to enjoy a few times over. The crew behind the project is ‘La Fabrica’ – a ten-piece collective of media artists, fashion designers and music producers. The Girlcore-cited Tatiana directs the clip with Christian Castagno.
