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Pressure

Pressure

a review by Stephen Fruitman of
release format Pressure by The Bug (CAT134CD)

text

'Ard beats and autistic electronica. And BASS! Badasssss bassss. The most stripped to the bone of all the bone-stripped.

On 'Pressure', The Bug (Kevin Martin of God, Ice, Techno Animal) recruits a whole cartload of Caribbean singers, covering the widest possible spectrum of reggae subgenres - traditional culturalists, dancehall rudeboys, toasters, ragamuffins and one Daddy Freddy ("once entered in the Guiness Book of World Records as the World's Fastest MC") - to croon, shout or just spew out syllables over incessant, spine-rattling minimalist electronics and percussion. And that bass. Certainly the most relentlessly pile-driving CD dub has ever seen.

A highlighted singer is Tikiman, now trading under his given name, Paul St. Hilaire, after another "Tikiman" in the States sued for encroaching on his trademark. Call him what you will, with his three contributions the singer further cemets his status as one of the finest and most expressive reggae vocalists of his generation.

The suppleness of St. Hilaire stands in bold relief to some of the punk brats The Bug has chosen to grace other tracks on 'Pressure', like Toastie Taylor, Daddy Freddy, andWayne Lonesome's adults-only rant "Fuck Y-Self".

Though as stated at the outset, this CD pummels its way through all twelve of its tracks, there is actually plenty of nuance on tap, albeit of a minimalistic nature. The Bug possesses an enormous cache of varying, egging rhythms. And a touch of true class and social consciousness is added by Trinidadian poet Roger Robinson on "Executor" and "Thief of Dreams", both of which The Bug accompany beautifully, calming down the riddims to showcase the wordsmith. The Rootsman and He-Man allow The Bug to take another swing at a track previously released on BSI's fine compilation 'Docking Sequence', and plummy-voiced Singing Bird proves on "Superbird" that while he ain't no lyrical genius, he does possess quite a fine set of pipes.

After the deluge, peace, sunshine and smooth seas, with a reprise of St. Hilaire's "Live and Learn" in dub version, with the added metaphysical musings of Robinson.

A fearsome and utterly captivating CD.

Posted by Stephen Fruitman at 16:30, 28 Jul 2003