DEADMAU5 – At Play Vol. 2

These “10 full length DJ friendly tracks” are bearable at first, the kind of music you could probably listen to for a short period of time. By the end of track 4 I had a headache. It had all merged into one big noise, a repetition of beats which goes on for over an hour. The main thing that breaks these songs up is the occasional singing or speaking added to them for a bit of variation. The words “I’m a big attention whore!” in ‘Attention Whore’ quite frankly took me by surprise and scared me slightly, and the pretty much constant “It’s catchy, you like” in ‘Hey Baby’ makes me feel pressured to enjoy the song. The only place I can see this music playing is in a club full of drunken students who don’t care about the boring and repetitive noise in their ears. It does make me want to do stupid dances, but only after I’ve got a few drinks in my system. The whole album reminds me too much of the time I was dragged clubbing for a friend’s birthday. I suppose this kind of music is an acquired taste, however, I’m really not there yet, and I’m not sure I ever will be.

SINGLES CORNER!

It’s a mixed bag in singles review corner, but that’s the way we like it. Hopping from one genre to another, stopping just long enough to sample something new then going on about our ways. So lets see what we’ve got for you this week

MR BONES AND THE DREAMERS – Are These Actual Miles?

A touching acoustic tune with folksy overtones, the driving drums propel this to almost anthemic levels, though the vocals could do with holding back a little more at times to add some subtlety to proceedings. There’s plenty of potential here though. B-side ‘Time To Rest’ is the better of the two tracks here, majestic and interesting, it make me excited for the future of these guys!

BILLY NEWTON DAVIS vs. DEADMAU5 – All You Ever Want

Canadian vocalist Billy Newton Davis is a former Juno award winner, but with dance label Play Records he’s found a new lease of life. With veteran knob-twiddler Deadmau5 mashing the vocals across a chilled out beat this is sure to be a summer party anthem, in fact I can picture it playing out over video of teenagers stumbling through the streets of southern Spain. There are seven(!) remixes here too, so there’s a version for every occasion.

…AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD – Isis Unveiled

This follows the standard AYWKUBTTOD (I’m damned if I’m typing that name again) format, starting out as an epically grandiose rock track with hints of prog rock. It descends into murky depths soon enough though, swilling around before launching itself back up to arena music heights. Yes, it’s a little formulaic, but when the formula works, and when the tunes are this good, why switch?

TORI AMOS – Welcome To England

Opening with a harsh electronic beat, this threw me for a couple of seconds until the piano broke in. A little more restrained than a lot of the baroque pop tunes Tori has leant toward on recent albums, this is more simple, perhaps a throwback to her earlier work. If nothing else it’s a catchy single that rewards repeated listens!