Heard that new Jessie J number today "Domino". VERY US-oriented; no surprise, it's her second single over there. I have a love-hate relationship with that woman (just 2 months older than me), I either love or hate her music depending on my mood. I initially embraced the cocked pistol of a melody and boom-thwack-pow powerpop backing, courtesy of "Abracadabra" producer Dr Luke, but I was put off once I realised the similarity to "Last Friday Night", also produced by the Dr... Christ, just change a couple of chords at least, don't make it THAT easy to sing said Katy Perry song over the top. I mean it's still pretty feel good, and I think Jessie's presence and trademark flailing vocal is just about enough to salvage it from being throwaway, but what do you think?
HOWEVER, I am pleased to report a sufficiently varied bag with enough oomph and kick-ass moments in most of the tracks to allow me to declare "Welcome Reality" a full-length success! At least in comparison to the dire latest efforts by Chase & Status and ugh, Pendulum. Non-single highlights include probably-soon-to-be-single "My Eyes", where subdued bass chugs alongside a sort-of dubstep waltz, as the standard female voice lures us in with the standard mysterious lyrical cliches (somehow it works), and "In The Way", which works similarly now I think of it, but sees the spiralling rhythms of "My Eyes" and raises it a bumblebee monster of a throbbing bass.
However, I also gave Azari & III's self titled debut a listen as well, and as far as dance records go, this goes well and truly beyond what I am used to. Take 80s electronic dance revivalists Grum, and their record "Heartbeats" from last year... great sounds, but a limited palette of them, the big synth chords, cheesy R&B vocal samples and happy-clappy beats grated before halfway.
Azari & III take their influence from alternative dance legends of the 90s; Underworld and Future Sound of London for example, to whet your appetite. And they have a knack for creating minimalistic future-house numbers that have rarely worked this side of 1999. And its good to see someone bringing back the atmospheric, dark side of dance music, just check out the Vangelis' esque outro of the hypnotic "Infiniti", the trippy downtempo rhythms of "Manhooker" and the dissonant synth programming of "Tunnel Vision". Whether you liked their poppier singles "Into the Night" and "Hungry for the Power" or whether you miss industrial sounding house, Azari & III's record doesn't disappoint.
For those of you wanting something a little more obnoxious, check out this irritatingly infectious mix by electro house DJ Calvertron of 1989 dance number "My Love is Right" (I'd not heard of it either). Its sit-on-your-face bass breakdowns quite irresponsibly prompt thrusting in your seat.
Champagne - My Love Is Right (Calvertron's Cristal Ball Mix) by championrecords
Track of the day?
There have go to be 2. The new discovery...
AZARI & III - UNDECIDED
And the reminder of something amazing.
NERO - INNOCENCE
I dunno how I ended up here but was interested in your review of Azari & III and the comments on Nero intrigued.
ReplyDeleteThere are moments in the Nero album of brilliance at the same level of Innocence, but it is mostly a disappointment! I dunno how you ended up at your conclusion right after mentioning how potentially bad it could be/expected to be. It's a let down because so much poppy, bro-ste,daft-punk-of-dubstep wanna be production. They had so much potential and now this album probably won't be remembered even if some of the tracks go to #1.
Azari & III I will give another listen but while I enjoyed the singles...there's something that is too weird about the package.... it's sooo old school house/tech sounding that it's almost too much. I mean, most of us have heard those sounds before and this is just like all that good old stuff but with modern super-production. Memory lane is fun but this is just over the top smashing our heads against the cobblestone. Let me get back to more up-to-date Turbo sounds with the odd dash of nostalgia here and there and I'll be fine.
My initial reaction to A&III was that is sounded like every Turbo release ever wrapped up into one thing....but at the same time like none of the Turbo releases ever existed. Mind warp/time warp.
Anyways, cheers on the pop blogging or whatever you've got rollin here.