London Zoo

The Bug – London Zoo
Reviewed by Sadie O., 8/15/08
Electronic Dubstep/Dancehall/Grime from the UK, with some of the top UK dancehall vocalists and lots of angry political diatribe. It’s like the punk days, but without a band! Very far out on the reggae continuum (and punk only in attitude).
FCCs on 2, 5, 10, and throughout 7. I like 1 and 11 best.
1. 3:37 ***long (and low decibel) spoken intro by Tippa Irie, then uptempo electronic dancehall beat, political diatribe.
2. 3:53 clear FCC at very end “fuckaz” **electronics and spoken word intro, then downtempo electronic squoops, dancehall groove, more diatribe.
3. 4:40 **long low decibel intro gradually building into slow electronic dub skank, chanted vocals. Extremely sparse in sections. Disjointed lyrics about violence, mostly.
4. 3:57 *static and female speaking intro, midtempo electronic percussion riddim, Ricky Ranking dancehall vocals and singing. More static and speaking for 20 seconds at end.
5. 3:29 FCC “fucking world” – breathy but clear ***two females speaking intro, then somewhat uptempo electronic dubstep bounce, female dancehall vocals, more diatribe (surprise!)
6. 3:01 *plinks and forceful male speaking intro, then uptempo aggressive electronic dubstep, hyperspeed male dancehall vocals. Rasta diatribe.
7. 5:26 CONSTANT FCCs – forget about this truck. *spoken intro, downtempo electronic dubstep – he’s speaking truth, I have to say...
8. 4:12 *static and bloops for 30 seconds, then very slow riddim cobbled together from bloops, rather muddled singing. Quiet stuff, long ending of chimes.
9. 5:01 *simple percussion, chimes, electronics. Midtempo dubstep instrumental, quite sparse. Seems like insect noises – maybe that’s why he’s The Bug…
10. 3:51 Several FCCs “fuckry” **spoken march count off intro, midtempo military electronic drum riddim, male dancehall vocals. Fades out midway through to just a few random elecronic squeeps, comes back with a vengeance.
11. 6:14 ***soft boops and random voices intro, very slow forceful dubstep skank, female dancehall vocals by Warrior Queen. Think of a modern-day Slits.
12. 10:37 *very slow electronic beats, dubstep skank, dancehall vocals and bits of singing. Sections are extremely sparse. Song actually lasts 5:10, then silence for about four minutes, finally a bit over a minute of slow and trance-y electronics.