Bug, The / Angels & Devils
Album: Angels & Devils   Collection:General
Artist:Bug, The   Added:Sep 2014
Label:Ninja Tune  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2014-09-05 Pull Date: 2014-11-07
Week Ending: Nov 2 Oct 26 Oct 19 Oct 12 Oct 5 Sep 28 Sep 21 Sep 14
Airplays: 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 1

Recent Airplay
1. May 21, 2015: channel 0+i
Mi Lost (Ft Miss Red)
4. Dec 30, 2014: the crop report
Save Me (Ft. Gonjasufi)
2. May 07, 2015: channel 0+i
Void (Ft Liz Harris Of Grouper)
5. Oct 31, 2014: A Visit From Drum (Spooky Scary Time)
Fall (Ft Inga Copeland)
3. Jan 04, 2015: the springfield law review (best of 2014)
Void (Ft Liz Harris Of Grouper), Function (Ft Manga)
6. Oct 30, 2014: The Sunset Life
Void (Ft Liz Harris Of Grouper)

Album Review
lionel hutz
Reviewed 2014-09-03
electronic/dance

A heavy and noisy amalgam of dub/reggae, dancehall, grime/dubstep/bass music, and some industrial tendencies. Apocalyptic and dystopian moods. An array of vocalists adding everything from ghostly melody, to toasting, to nimble rapping. Despite the title, the angels still sounds a little demonic. Either way, great album, especially if you like the noisier and/or darker corners of dubstep and bass music.

RIYL: Distance, Hyperdub's more aggressive tendencies, other projects by Kevin Martin (aka The Bug), Dälek

NOTE: we have an FCC clean copy in the case, and it's marked as such. it says sampler, but it has full songs. it omits two that they couldn't clean up. the track list is for the clean version, but i made notes at the end about the tracks that are only on the full version.

1: crawling bleeping bass, ethereal vocals from grouper's liz harris. a more disconcerting and swirling synth comes in for a while after the 1:00 mark, and drums get all echo-y. things settle down a bit for a while, but then slowly start going weird again.
2: rubbery mid-range bassline. stormy, echo-y, clicky wood blocks. dry but cooing vocals from inga copeland. gone in a puff of smoke.
3: more really watery snares. a really heavy but melodic bassline creeping and crawling along. thins out for just a bit before 2:00, and then starts thickening back up, with the addition of a repeated set of short beepy synth pulses.
4: female vocals toasting over a rubbery, percussive bassline. rising synth beeps, ticking metallic percussion.
5: slow. organ. forboding synth on the high-end. gets some static later on. beatless, atmospheric (not that the rest of the album lacks atmosphere), has an almost post-rock feel.
6: slow. static-y, forlorn, modern digital reggae. gonjasufi harmonizing with his pitch-shifted self over the top of things. reminds me a little of the king midas sound stuff kevin martin (aka the bug) and roger robinson did (that's a very good thing).
7: fast. big punchy kicks, rapid fire snares, bits of what sounds like rhythm guitar bouncing around in the background. flowdan nimbly weaving around the beat at speed. ends with everything melting into the increasing buzz of the guitar or synth or whatever's providing the melody.
8: serrated synth, trappy snares, big drum machine beat that you can look at as 70 or 140. some don't-fuck-with-me toasting ("i'm just trying to function").
9: heavy, echo-y kicks. cymbals that sound like they're run through a ring mod. slow, stalking rhythm. menacing rap from flowdan. (track 10 on the unedited)
10: insistent siren-ish synth in the background. slow rolling 808 style drums. ringing and some other sound effects in the background. rap from flowdan. (track 12 on the unedited)


recommended: 4, 6, 7, 9


9: sounds like death grips + the bug (death grips guests on the track). too bad you can't play this on the radio.
11: warrior queen turning in a really aggressive sex jam. it's no "poison dart" (but asking for that would be like asking tv on the radio to make another "staring at the sun").

Track Listing
1. Void (Ft Liz Harris Of Grouper)   6. Save Me (Ft. Gonjasufi)
2. Fall (Ft Inga Copeland)   7. The One (Ft Flowdan)
3. Ascension   8. Function (Ft Manga)
4. Mi Lost (Ft Miss Red)   9. Fat Mac (Ft Flowdan)
5. Pandi   10. Dirty (Ft Flowdan)