Through his work with Justin Broadrick (Techno Animal, God, Ice), his own King Midas Sound project, and most notably as the Bug, Kevin Martin has earned a reputation for being on the cutting edge, while maintaining near obsessive quality control. Angels & Devils is his first album since London Zoo ascended all those year-end charts in 2008, and it's primed to expand that reign of glory where so many producers would fade into the fringes after that long a gap between albums. As the title suggests, the album is split into two halves.
The "Angels" portion is clearly denoted by the contributions of Liz Harris (Grouper), copeland (formerly of Hype Williams) and Congo mystic Gonjasufi, with instrumentals tapping a rich vein of ambient downtempo. The "Devils" side breaks down into a grimy hip-hop and post-apocalyptic dancehall assault closer in style to London Zoo, but with more subtly and dynamically executed production, while Death Grips, Warrior Queen, Manga and Flowdan take no prisoners lyrically (check the ire of "Fuck a Bitch" and "Fuck You"). Angels & Devils dwarfs its acclaimed predecessor, as it does almost everything else released in the electronic music genre this year.
(Ninja Tune)The "Angels" portion is clearly denoted by the contributions of Liz Harris (Grouper), copeland (formerly of Hype Williams) and Congo mystic Gonjasufi, with instrumentals tapping a rich vein of ambient downtempo. The "Devils" side breaks down into a grimy hip-hop and post-apocalyptic dancehall assault closer in style to London Zoo, but with more subtly and dynamically executed production, while Death Grips, Warrior Queen, Manga and Flowdan take no prisoners lyrically (check the ire of "Fuck a Bitch" and "Fuck You"). Angels & Devils dwarfs its acclaimed predecessor, as it does almost everything else released in the electronic music genre this year.
