Whilst making a playlist for a friend of mine, consisting of some new tracks I'd recently laid my hands on, my interest was peaked by how a few of them reminded me immediately of other songs. It's not necessarily obvious - or maybe even real - but it sure does make a nice combination.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Today I have a treat for you loyal blog fans out there. I am going to do an album review on Dark DJ's new album,2010. If anyone of you out there is scoffing, stop now. This album is quite epic, and i don't say that often, as i try to be a critcal as i can when i listen to songs. However, 2010 is by far leagues from what dark dj used to be, and it shows. you'll hear it later, but for now, on to the review.
First off we have Craptastic: This song has a warpish like intro, then just starts building up on to it with layers of beats to go with it. Not my personal favorite, but its very nice. 8.25/10.
Don't Care (yes that is the songs name): How can I explain? Its different from the first song in respect, and better. It has a more electronic-ambient feel to it, yet seems very upbeat.9/10.
257 Squadron: Probably the odd bunch of the tracks. It has that generic rap-like noise, but it has beats to make this track solid. At first it may not appeal to you, but then it goes into a electronic-trancish feel later on.Pretty good really, just that it can get a bit annoying.7.5/10.
19: Now this track is really cool. It has a real dark feel to it, one that would make you just jam at a club. Its one of my top favorite tracks on here. 10/10.
Alter Ego: This track seems to have almost a 8-bit/Danger-esque feel to it. Reminds me of Atari games, and that's a good thing. 8.75/10.
Why Should I?: This song HEAVILY derives from a well-known track,but im not going to tell you, as i wan't you to guess it. However, It does have a certain style only Dark DJ can give it. I absolutely love this song. 10/10.
Bellerophon: Quite an interesting track. It has a strange feel to it, but it doesnt leave you feeling bleh. Rather, it gives you a pumped feel. 9.0/10.
Monster: This one is probably the only black sheep in the album. i think it just sounds too weird. 7.25/10. nuff said.
R600L: This one is quite good actually. It has a good beat. the synths are quite nice and not too whiny like monster. But it can be rather strange. You may need to have an acquired taste for it. 8.25/10.
Tangmere: This.Track.Is. INSANE! By far my favorite track of this album. This track is really just too hard to describe. Its well-made and has a club appeal potential inside it. 10/10.
Unlikely: Bizarre is the only way to explain it. Still, I like it. 8/10.
True Fax: Not really the best track to end such an epic album. Its an acquired taste really, one of which i dont have for this song. meh 7/10.
Pros: The songs have a flare in them and mainly all of them are worth listening to without skipping. Plus, some of them are club worthy.
Cons: Few of the tracks are weak, and some of them can get just way too weird.
LeBatman, also known as Gianluca, is one of the earlier and increasingly forgotten French House 2.0 artists. I can't find any releases by him, but his tracks permeated through the net in 2008-2009 thanks to blogs and our favorite daft girl, Alex. Luckily I've been able to track down a few tracks of his. Not all are in 320, so be warned.
"Killer Deffos!" is a high-energy track. The main sample is meh, but the various samples running throughout make it for me. This is what you can expect in a typical LeBatman track: smooth beat, microsamples chopped and filtered to hell, microsampled vocals and effects running in and out. Overall not a bad track at all when you get into it.
"La Maitresse Aux Yeux D'Or" (trans: "The Mistress With Golden Eyes") is a little different from the usual LeBatman, incorporating some synths stabs and some 80s sounding samples, making for a bit more of a dark-sounding track. It's a bit quirky, especially the random French film samples, but I just love the sample arrangement. Only issue is that the sidechaining is a bit heavy.
"Isabelle" is a collab between LeBatman and 18-year-old producer Dom from Italy. I can't find too much information about him, but he seems to have connections to a lot of house producers, namely Titan. "Isabelle" is a cavalcade of filtered and bitcrushed horns a la Le Knight Club's "Soul Bells". Not crazy about the first horn sample or the scratching, but the track is a smooth ride throughout. Anyone who knows the sample let me know, as its familiarity is killing me.
I never did find out who Worship is. As far as I can tell he's a low-key electro producer who's remixed for GRUM and B-Xentric. LeBatman's remix of his (unreleased) track "Fat Love" has always been a favorite of mine, and was in fact the first LeBatman-related track I got my grubby little hands on. The synths and chopped vocals speak to me in a way, and the Togetheresque bass just makes the track. Anyone who can dig up info on Worship, please do so. (Yes, this track has been posted twice before. No, I don't care. The other ups have become downs as it is.)
Also, one final track, my favorite of LeBatman's, sadly in yucky 96kbps quality. ;_;
Also: I apologize for my lack of posting as of late. I had this post ready a week ago but didn't get around to posting it until today. Standardized testing + me working on a remix + general stress = no time for blogging. But I'm back and here to stay, don't worry. -Wulf
Gorillaz' comeback single "Stylo" was a bit of a damp squib in its original form, but these two remixes from man of the moment Alex Metric and blog favourite Louis La Roche more than make up for it. Louis' version is a slow chugging beat, revolving around a sampled funk riff with the odd vocal snippet thrown in, while Alex goes for a much more epic approach, starting out with a simple beat and chorus chant, before getting Moroder-y as fuck, then finally plunging head first into a full-on disco onslaught.
Patrick Alavi has really gotten around a fair amount in his 15 or so years of producing, and he's gone under several other pseudonyms and cranked out some really cranking awesome house with some powerful vocal samples.
Attack Yourself! has always mystified me about how he rose up in the house community so very fast in relation to people like myself and Evil Stereo. Just POOF and he was there, putting out disco house and using the strangest graphical elements ever. Anyway, the Popcop remix of his track Far Away is simply brilliant!
And Starlifters is a pretty cool group too. Their Rockelectro EP was like a combo of French House and a bit of crunchy synthbased electro. This one is definitely one of my favorites.
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