The now widely known Canadian electronic powerhouse, known to the general public as deadmau5, has released his sixth record entitled >album title goes here<. The album is a wildly different approach to the world of electronic/trance music than what listeners have heard on the previous albums. The only question one may ask is this: is this a good or bad thing? deadmau5 has been ridiculed in years past for making music that sounds no different from the next, meaning that all of his songs that he produces sounds alike. Now, I must agree that is kind of a common theme in the music business in general, so it isn’t really a surprising that people have accused deadmau5 of this. Especially when you consider the genre of music that is fairly notorious for the music sounding alike. However, >album title goes here< varies so greatly from previous deadmau5 albums that it is hard to believe at times you are even listening to a deadmau5 album!

I am going to say something that is going to contradict myself right now…and I want everyone that reads this to know that I am doing so and that I realize it. While I was listening to >album title goes here<, the first song, “Superliminal” sounded like pure deadmau5 goodness and I was very much anticipating the next tracks. To my utter surprise I had recognized the beats to the very next song! How was that possible since it was my first time experiencing the album? I soon realized that the song “Channel 42” had recycled the opening beats and fade-in intro from one of my favorite deadmau5 songs from 4×4=12, “A City In Florida.”

Like I said before, it is not uncommon that musicians often stick to what works and this is clearly what happened here with the song “Channel 42.” I am sure that there are other songs from other albums by deadmau5 that are closely related to one another too, but this is the one I found to stand out to me. And I realize this can open up a Pandora’s box of criticisms of other artists, which is not what I am trying to accomplish with this statement, but just pointing out an observation that I made while listening.

The variety of musicians that leant their vocals and other musical talents to >album title goes here< is so broad that it ranges from; emo pop icons, to a Cuban/Latino hip pop group, to a British Grammy Award winning songstress, to a house DJ to a dude who happened to add his vocals to one of deadmau5’s tracks, “The Veldt”. The artists that I am speaking of are Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance in “Professional Grifers”, Cypress Hill in “Failbait”, Imogen Heap in “Telemiscommunications”, Wolgang Gartner in “Channel 42”, and Chris James in “The Veldt”. Quite frankly, I haven’t heard that kind of diversity on an album that at the same time holds true to the original genre, electronic/house music.

I feel like it is ridiculously hard to review an album of this nature. There isn’t much you can add to reviews that have been written in the past about electronic music due to the similarities between them. Bumping bass? Check. Synths? Check. Random bits of sampling? Check. The formula is pretty basic when you break it all down, but I think the most important aspect of electric/house music is this; does it make me want to dance like an overwhelming fool? In the terms of this >album title goes here< not so much. There are certainly times when the album lags and changes from traditional electronic music. Now, the question is if this is a bad thing or not and quite frankly that is a matter of opinion. Maybe deadmau5 has stumbled upon a new kind of electronic music. Only time can tell on that thought.

I feel like the musicians are expected to make music that sounds the same but at the same time completely different and fresh. >album title goes here< is an album that makes this idea a reality by having the first half of the album sound like “old” deadmau5 tracks and the second half of the album is the completely different “new” sounding deadmau5 tracks. Basically, the album is split down the middle in my mind. Old versus new. I have to say, I stand on the old side for the most part. Quite frankly, it is hard for me to decide whether I liked the album or disliked the album. Indifferent would be more appropriate.

Outside of the normal sphere of my musical tastes, my first attraction to Dan Deacon’s newest album America was not the music but the concept behind the album. I had stumbled across his website while perusing in the internet one afternoon and was captivated by the opening statement found there.

I should preface this all with saying that I tend to be a bit of a purist and nostalgist. That is, I long for the days when musicians’ aim was on the full album not just on releasing a strong, radio-worthy single with some supporting songs. Some of my most enjoyable moments with music have come when lying on the floor listening to old Motown records while reading the liner notes. The world can say what they want regarding an album or a specific track, but there is something fervent about knowing the feelings of a musician towards their own work.

What Deacon described as the inspiration for America struck a personal chord with me. By the final paragraph it did not matter if his newest album was death metal or pop country, I was enthralled. Deacon himself describes the word America as “a word with an infinite range of connotations, both positive and negative.” He then goes on to state that the album America “is layering of dichotomies: light and dark, acoustic and synthetic, celebration and contemplation.” To Deacon, this is an album centered on a concept, the concept of the present realities of his country that he both loves and questions.

In the recording world, Deacon is known for his previous electro-dance focus albums. An ardent support of the Occupy Wall Street movement, he was responsible for the Union Square dance party involving thousands of protesters and has the viral youtube video “Drinking Out of Cups” to his credit. But beyond frivolous, dance club infused persona, Deacon a student of music composition.  He describes his music now as “electro-acoustic,” a fluid blend of the rigid perfection found in electronic music and the indistinct irregularities that come from the humanization of music.

If Deacon’s true intentions were to capture the contradistinction described in his attempt at digitalized liner notes, America has done that and more. It is loud and it is noisy, yet it has moments where it can be subdued and delicate. It is hurried and it is frantic, but not without distinct moments of prolonged clarity. And it is automated and it is simulated, while still maintaining it’s organic and genuine nature. From the orchestral focused piece “USA,” a four part movement that plays like a musical mapping of the United States, to the pop influenced riffs of “Prettyboy,” America is a diverse yet cohesive album.

During a recent interview, Deacon expressed his love for absolute music or music without any meaning attached to it beyond its musical ideas. America appears to be the antithesis of that, programmed music with an explicit purpose. Yet it is only blatant in its dichotomies, making America as personal and individualized as its namesake. My only hope is that when I come back to the county that so greatly inspired Deacon, the copy America that awaits me will contains a hard transcript of the online liner notes that moved me to listen to this album.

Caribou, formally known as Manitoba and currently known as Daphni, has gone through a few name changes (as you can see) and the main composer/musician of it all, Daniel Snaith, is anything less than brilliant musically as well as academically (the man has a PhD in mathematics for goodness sakes!) Snaith’s musical quality is eerily relaxing and yet upbeat and exhilarating. The album Swim was released in 2010 and was significantly different in comparison to his older albums released under the name Caribou.

Before, the music of Caribou was heavily influenced in psychedelic beats, which is still there in Swim but the musical quality reflects more on Snaith’s time as a DJ in London. Meaning that the music of Swim is more of a dance based album.

According to Snaith, the album Swim motivated him to get back into making music (he was on a 2 year hiatus before the release of Swim). Snaith, apparently, recored over 700 songs, many unfinished, for this album and ended up only choosing 9 songs to make the cut onto Swim.

In terms of the sound of Swim, it is certainly a unique album to listen to. His only single off of Swim, Odessa, is a strong opening to the album, giving the listener a taste of the music that is to come. Snaith is very talented with his ability to play the synthesizer. I say this, because generally speaking I am by no means a fan of synthesized music. However, the way that Caribou melds it into the music makes each song for me. I must say that the synth in “Bowls” does get a bit out of control for me with the repeated bell-like ting and weird, wet sounding noise (reminds me of someone who would beat-box). To be honest, I could do without the song “Bowls” being on the album at all.

Odd and titillating are about the ways I could describe HEALTH’s 2010 remixed album ::Disco2. ::Disco2 is the remixed version of their 2009, second full-length album Get Color and also features a new track by HEALTH called “USA Boys.”

“USA Boys” and “Before Tigers” (the first version of it, there are 2 other versions on the album) are the two lead off songs on the album ::Disco2 and are by far my two favorite songs on the album. Granted, it takes some time to adapt to the uniqueness of HEALTH. The lead vocals are significantly muffled and unlike most other bands seem to be considered second the instrumentals. Which works for HEALTH considering the instrumental quality is significantly more interesting and entrancing in comparison to the vocals that are monotone at best.

That being said, according to HEALTH, they meant to make the vocals second to the instruments. HEALTH states about their lyrics that they are “purposely kept vague for the listener” so that the listener is unable to relate to the lyrics which is something that they do not want. They even go on to state that they wanted to the lyrics/vocals to have an even quality like a “Zombie melody” or a “Gregorian chant.” Quite frankly, I have never heard of a band making their lyrics and vocals the background to the actual music before.

Oddly enough, I am not too heartbroken that the vocals are second nature and I almost feel like they could be cut entirely from the album as a whole, almost. The lyrics that you do hear and can make out are quite good, but you really have to force yourself to focus in on them. I must say that the most brilliant quality I have found about the band is their use of the drums. Their drumming ability is out of control. Listen to “In Heat” or “Die Slow” for an example.

Hot chip recently announced some details for their new album, In Our Heads, which will be available on June 12th in the U.S. The new album is Hot Chip’s fifth studio album and a follow up to their 2010 One Life Stand. In Our Heads will be their first album on the record label Domino Records.

Track listing for In Our Heads:

1. Motion Sickness
2. How Do You Do
3. Don’t Deny Your Heart
4. Look At Where We Are
5. These Chains
6. Night and Day
7. Flutes
8. Now There Is Nothing
9. Ends Of The Earth
10. Let Me Be Him
11. Always Been Your Love

Hot Chip tour dates
June 15 – London, England – Lovebox
June 16 – Barcelona, Spain – Sonar
July 13-15 – Chicago, IL – Pitchfork Music Festival
July 27 – Dorset, England – Camp Bestival
August 10 – Hamburg, Germany – Dockville
August 11 – Saalburg, Germany – Sonnesmondsterne
September 2 – Stradbally, Ireland – Electric Picnic
September 6 – Isle of Wight, England – Bestival
September 9 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl