- Kevin Martin's The Bug project is as distinguishable as it is versatile. Over the last 15 years, he's teamed with idiosyncratic vocalists from the realms of dancehall, dub and grime—from the spoken-word coos of Colliston White to the defining dread of Flowdan. And it usually works, as Martin is an intuitive engineer who's sensitive to the personalities of his collaborators. He also has a clear vision for the music, which lends The Bug an inherent sense of duality that calcified on Angles & Devils. On that record, Grouper's Liz Harris and irate Death Grips vocalist MC Ride represented the two extremes of Martin's collaborations. With Box / Iceman, The Bug's latest Ninja Tune EP, that gap is significantly narrower.
Stylistically, D Double E's serrated chattering on "Box" is like bubbling lava to Riko Dan's menacing, ice-cool delivery on the flip. The A-side's horns and crystalline snares do the leg work around the vocals, while Martin's production on "Iceman" is a weighty soundsystem detonator of the highest order. Both tracks convey the foreboding energy that has become The Bug's calling card, carefully tweaked to suit each MC's needs.
TracklistA1 Box feat. D Double E
A2 Box (Instrumental)
B1 Iceman feat. Riko Dan
B2 Iceman (Instrumental)