Review Pressure, the new CD by The Bug

I liked it first, then I doubted it, now I love it. I think it’s probably the record of the year, at least for a certain subculture.

Mostly I like it cos it’s a proper ragga album (that’s a contradiction in terms, but hey) rather than a digital hardcore mash up — I really like digital hardcore mashups, but albums of them usually disappoint. This one doesn’t, really, cos it has ace toasting from decent ragga artsists, none of whom I have heard of.

Run the Place Red with Daddy Freddy will be the single of the year, if the remixes are any good (maybe it’s out already? Who knows?). Certainly it qualifies as best ragga album ever done by a white boy. It still has elements of that distorted Ambush style but they’re pushed way down in favour of the groove and the lyric. And it’s constructed like an album, man, cos it’s interspersed with slower tracks done with some sort of ragga poet, that you’re not sure of at first but stick in your brain.

Really good record. An unexpectedly traditional record too — proper craft.