King Cannibal
Ninja Tune artist King Cannibal wasn’t always as beastly as you’d think. Dylan Richards a.k.a. “Ninja’s first (and only?) hard man” has a snaked history, rubbing shoulders with personal heroes and all of it preemptively flagged for greatness by numerous taste-makers publications, based on his trilogy of under-the-counter mix CDs recorded under this former name - ‘ZILLA’
Comprised of hundreds of tracks, these hand-sprayed CDs sold out in days and earned high praise on a global scale, so much so that Warp Records took note and invited... read more
Ninja Tune
Ninja Tune is an independent record label that is based in London, England (with satellite offices in Montreal and Los Angeles), created in 1990 by the duo known as Coldcut. Coldcut were pioneers of the emerging hip-hop/electro scene in the eighties. Inspired by a visit to Japan, Matt Black and Jonathon More (Coldcut) primarily created Ninja Tune to act as a vehicle by which they could release music of a more underground nature, free from the restraints placed on artists by major labels (the same restraints that were put on them via their brief stints with Arista and Big... read more
Not for nothing has Radio 1′s Mary-Anne Hobbs has already declared the music of Dylan Richards aka King Cannibal “too dark!” But with So… Embrace The Minimum Richards takes a step back from the intensity of "Aragami Style" and "Murder Us" with a tune which uses its considerable energy for upliftment. “It’s really my take on what artists like Martyn are doing with dubstep,” Richards explains, “combined with my love of Detroit techno.”
Following on from the inner-city claustrophobia of "Murder Us", "So…" Richards tells us, is about taking “refuge in small pleasures in order to make the every day grind seem bearable. The ‘minimum’ of the title, he points out, “also ties in with the experience that gave birth to "Murder Us" – the Berlin minimal techno scene.” It’s a superb tune and one which will give early adopters of King Cannibal’s trademark sound a little pause for thought. The darkness and paranoia is still there, but it feels more like dawn than pub chucking out time!
Over on the B, Richards calls in the considerable vocal talents of Daddy Freddy. This is maybe more what people expect from King Cannibal: “I ended up using a lot of static and noise weaved into the track to give it that grubby feel!”. As for Daddy Freddy, he took this deconstructed dancehall skirmish and its voodoo feel for “an exploration of violence” which sounds shockingly real.
When Eddie Temple-Morris heard King Cannibal’s debut single, “Aragami Style,” he loved it so much he added an section to his XFM show and called it “Remix Darkside” in his honour. Championed by The Bug, Bong Ra, Jagz Kooner, Strictly Kev, Kid 606, Knifehand Chop and Ebola, King Cannibal was recently personally requested by Liam Howlett to remix the Prodigy. His debut album, Let The Night Roar is due Autumn ’09 and the ground is already rumbling as it approaches. Get dark.
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