Articles
2009 Top 10s and 20s
King Midas Sound
Starke
Albums
36
Aardvarck
Matias Aguayo
Anaphoria
Anduin
Arbol + Fibla
Aufgang
Beneva vs. Clark Nova
Black to Comm
Bvdub
Cornstar
Dinky
Enola
Fieldhead
FOURM / Shinkei / Turra
Billy Gomberg
The Green Kingdom
Chihei Hatakeyama
Ian Hawgood
Marek Hemmann
Khate
King Midas Sound
Marcel Knopf
Robot Koch
Lambent
Shinobu Nemoto
Olekranon
Laurent Perrier
Piano Magic
Porzellan
Pylône
Ryonkt
Shadyzane
Slow
Small Color
Solomun
The Sound of Lucrecia
Stray Ghost
The Use of Ashes
Sylvie Walder
Compilations / Mixes
Sebo K
Will Saul
Tama Sumo
VOLTT Amsterdam Vol. 1
EPs
Blindhæð
Roberto Bosco
Franco Cangelli
Dieb
dub KULT
Abe Duque/Blake Baxter
Gemmy
Christopher Hobbs
Duncan Ó Ceallaigh
Christopher Roberts
The Sight Below
Two Fourteen
Van Der Papen
Andy Vaz
Vetrix
Eddie Zarook
DVD
Optofonica
KING MIDAS SOUND: 10 WAITING FOR YOU INSPIRATIONS
King Midas Sound unites the unique talents of poet Roger Robinson and Kevin Martin (The Bug, Techno Animal) into one thoroughly heady and oft-dread-laced cocktail. Listeners familiar with Martin's thunderous tracks might expect Robinson to be as aggressive in his vocal style but in fact his delivery is more 'lover's rock' falsetto croon than ragga growl. The duo's combination of deep dub-based sounds and whispered vocals makes for one of the most arresting debut albums heard in recent memory, and we're delighted that the two found a few moments to cite ten works that inspired the new material.
Kevin Martin:
1. 15,16,17: Magic Touch (DEB)
Timeless lover's rock from a teenage female trio hailing from ‘80s London. Sugarsweet voices with bittersweet sentiments.
2. My Bloody Valentine: Loveless (Creation)
A blur of endless chords, blissed-out vocals, and zoned-out sensuality maintains anti-gravitational pressure.
3. Scientist: Scientist Wins The World Cup (Greensleeves)
King Tubby's apprentice Scientist stole the dub crown from his master with this insanely inventive musical sorcery.
4. Vincent Gallo: When (Warp)
Like Chet Baker set adrift in the deepest sonic space, I love the melancholic drift of this freaknick's cosmic crooning collection.
5. A.R.Kane: 69 (Rough Trade)
Prophetic multi-cultural stargazers who fused shoegazing whitenoise guitar with dub's dread black rhythm force.
Roger Robinson:
1. Sylvia Plath: The Colossus
Sylvia Plath's debut already had a dark brooding undertone of sadness that was amped up later on in her books.
2. Ai: Cruelty
Known as a poet of terror, she inhabits the spirit of muderers and prostitutes and monologues their voice.
3. Thomas Hardy: Poems of 1912-13
Upon the death of his wife, Thomas Hardy writes a series of elegies lamenting her death but does not put himself in a good light as most elegies do.
4. Mikey Smith: Mi Cyaan Believe It (album)
A compatriot of dub poets Oku Onuara and JeanBinta Breeze, Smith was a dub poet stoned to death in Jamaica for his political views.
5. Wheel and Come Again: Kwame Dawes (ed)
My writing mentor and a professor at University Of South Carolina. This was his attempt to collect literary poems that he'd term would fall under a “reggae aesthetic.”
Hitomi, Roger Robinson, The Bug
December 2009
