And yeah, it seems like everyone thinks they can DJ these days, but that doesn't mean there aren't some good house artists out there.
One of my favorites has been Canadian producer Deadmau5. He gets a lot of flak for being a "skinny white boy," but he's a great artist. I like the range his songs exhibit; for example, "Strobe," from 2009's For Lack of a Better Name, goes from the soft flow of rainstick-percussion to punky synths and drum machines.
One thing that I think is problematic with dubstep, though, is that it tends to rely too much on digitally created sounds. If house artists aren't careful, they can get pigeonholed into a certain system of sounds that they rarely deviate from. Skrillex is one such example; I don't see much variation in his work.
And at the outset of this album, it appears that Deadmau5 is making this mistake. "Superliminal" and "Channel 42" showcase the same Nintendo-esque synths and poppy percussion that shot the artist to stardom.
However, these songs become a warmup to the somewhat creepy "The Veldt" and the explosive "Professional Griefers" (featuring Gerard Way, lead singer of My Chemical Romance), which has appropriately punk sensibilities.
The tracks I was most intrigued by were "Sleepless" and "Failbait." "Sleepless" is a lonely, existential, yet delicate exploration, and it's a good example of how Deadmau5 is using more genuine strings instead of created sounds. "Failbait," which features Cypress Hill, shows that Deadmau5 is equally at home creating rap beats or instrumental EDM. It's a true-blue rap anthem with chunky bass.
All in all, this is probably one of the better albums Deadmau5 has put out to date. And like a good book, though it lags a little at first, once it gets going, you don't want the ride to stop. I'm definitely going to pick this one up.
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