Deadmau5 album review

[russell]

This hits the nail on the head.....

https://apps.facebook.com/theguardian/m ... ere-review

Dance music has finally conquered the US, and Deadmau5 is its biggest star – but does he really hate the whole scene?

The first single taken from Deadmau5's sixth album was called The Veldt. It features Chris James, a vocalist the Canadian producer discovered via the internet, beatifically cooing about a "happy life with the machines … the world the children made … look at us now, so in love with the way we are".

The lyrics are based on a Ray Bradbury short story, but sound a lot like a celebration of the American electronic dance music (EDM) scene. It's hard to think of a more unexpected turn of musical events than EDM's commercial triumph. For decades, the US remained impervious to the charms of the house music and techno that had been invented under their noses in the 80s. Then suddenly, nearly a quarter of a century after the rest of the world cottoned on, dance music has become very big business indeed.

From the outside, it's inexplicable. Perhaps examining the work of Joel Zimmerman can shed some light. As Deadmau5, he is not only arguably EDM's biggest star – as evidenced by a recent Rolling Stone cover – but also the scene's self-appointed spokesman. He took Madonna to task for the scarcely imaginable crime of mentioning drugs at a rave, suggesting it was akin to "mentioning slavery at a blues concert". It was redolent, he said, of the days when "a dark veil" hung over dance music, before he and others had "taken EDM so goddamn far". By this "dark veil" period, he presumably meant the 35 years when dance music had to content itself with merely providing a glorious, euphoric voice for disenfranchised minorities, being a genuine countercultural phenomenon, repeatedly revolutionising music and changing the face of popular culture. This, of course, was before it found its true, noble calling: soundtracking Las Vegas pool parties and providing music for gurning frat boys to mosh to.

Deadmau5's pronouncements do tend towards the odd. In a certain light, they can give the impression that EDM's top dog loathes dance music. DJs are "fucking whales … I don't see the technical merit in playing two songs at the same speed together … it bores me to fucking tears". Live dance music, including his own, is essentially a con: "It's not about talent … I just roll up with a laptop and … hit a spacebar." Dance music itself is "just 120bpm with a fucking kick drum on every quarter note". "Fuck dance music, you know?" he told Rolling Stone.

Perhaps this is the righteous iconoclasm of a nonpareil artist, so far ahead of his peers that he can splatter his scorn with impunity. Or perhaps not. Anyone who remembers the glut of electronic albums released in the late 90s might find something familiar about Album Title Goes Here. It keeps doing the things lesser talents signed in the wake of the Chemical Brothers and Leftfield's success seemed contractually obliged to do. There is an awful hip-hop track, featuring rappers some way past their peak: Failbait, with Cypress Hill. There is a bit of waffy ambience with vocals by a female singer-songwriter (Imogen Heap on Telemiscommunications). There is an attempt to meld electronics and hard rock, Professional Griefers, featuring Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance. If it featured a track described as "the soundtrack for a film that hasn't been made yet", he'd have the full house. It doesn't, but it does feature Closer, a track based on the five-note pattern scientists use to communicate with aliens in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which is the kind of idea The Two Ronnies would have come up with had they been called upon to parody rave culture in 1989.

Perhaps Deadmau5 appeals to a middle-American audience traditionally resistant to dance music because he seems to have taken a genre born out of a largely black, largely gay club scene and ruthlessly expunged any lasting sonic evidence of its birthplace. You can hear his style's roots in the big stars of 90s electronica, their respective sounds adjusted to cut them adrift from the music that inspired them. It's the Chemical Brothers without their love for hip-hop and Detroit techno; Daft Punk without their deep understanding of Chicago house; the Prodigy without their roots in breakbeat hardcore. What's left is bizarrely unfunky, unambiguous, unsexy and unreconstructedly macho: Maths or Fn Pig offer a noisy euphoria that makes you think not of the communal transcendence of the dancefloor, but a bloke from sales with his tie wrapped round his head, waving a can of Relentless in the air and roaring. It's house music that Frankie Knuckles wouldn't understand, but Finchy from The Office would get straight away.

For all his dismissal of pop's co-opting of EDM, Deadmau5 deals in an amalgam of sounds indistinguishable from those you'd find on a pop R&B single – the distorted bass wobble of dubstep, Auto-Tuned vocals, 80s synths (including, on Channel 42, the kind of piercing electronic wail that preceded Ray Parker Jr's insistence that he wasn't 'fraid of no ghost), epic breakdowns. All this is set to beats that steadfastly decline to swing, a lock-stepped quick march across the dancefloor. It's The Triumph of the Will.i.am.

Deadmau5's album titles – Album Title Goes Here follows Random Album Title and For Lack of a Better Name – suggest a man whose motto is "This'll do", casually knocking out any old cobblers because he holds his audience in contempt. The really weird thing about Album Title Goes Here is that nothing could be further from the truth. It's derivative, cliched and gives the impression of having been made by someone who's never danced in their life, but in a purely technical sense, it's extremely well produced, punchy, powerful, with a strong grasp of dynamics and occasional flashes of a deft melodic touch. Nothing feels careless: a lot of time and effort has clearly been expended on making it as generic and unfunky as possible. It's the sound of a man who knows his market.

[SweetIshDub]

Haha wow that is a pretty brutal review. I don't really follow Deamau5 at all but after that I had to check it out and after a listen I think this review is a little exaggerated. Seems like people have a lot of hate for the guy seeing as how people do associate him with EDM in general but then he goes and shit talks everything. Regardless, if he didn't have such a big name I don't think this album would be a huge standout or anything.

I dunno man, it just seems to me like as soon as someone gets recognized by the mainstream they're fucked and it doesn't really matter what they put out, people are gonna put it down. Styles are going to change and I think a classic example (though not EDM) is Metallica, there is absolutely no similarity between Kill em All and the Black Album and while the latter was a HUGE success many of their grassroots fans were turned off. Even "Fade to Black" of all things was labeled as a sell-out track and they got a lot of hate for it.

Little bit of a side track but I guess what Im trying to say is that I don't think he deserves as much hate as he gets.

[mattus123]

Little bit of a side track but I guess what Im trying to say is that I don't think he deserves as much hate as he gets.

I think he deserves more.. his arrogance shits me

To blatantly label all DJs as 'tallentless'. He has says that all he does is push space bar and then groups all other Djs as the same as him.. I have seen DJs do much more than him. I dunno if he's trying to be funny, or is jsut that ignorant.. either way, he's wrong.

There was also the incident a few years ago about putting down a local DJ at the afterparty of one of the festivals.. like what a WHALE to do that. He's a professional, he's made it to the bigtime, do you also need to be that much of a tool to put down some kid whose trying to do the same thing?

My opinion is that Deamau5 is an absolute whale, and i have completely boycotted his productions. I wouldnt lose any sleep if he was to quit the EDM scene. There are far more appreciative and talented artists who could fill his spot

[russell]

^ well said. it's his attitude towards everything that makes him earn a living that pisses me off the most. His negative view of the scene which feeds him is ridiculous.

I do find his music to be nothing special/shite which really makes his arrogance even worse as is not merited at all.

[Kodiak]

I haven't heard all the album to judge, but I do like "The Veldt." And I have had non-EDM people state they didn't mind it either. The snobs will scoff at this mainstreamisation of EDM, yet happy to accept the greater exposure and income that comes with it.

Back on topic..... This review is pretty negative, yet I had been thinking different of Deamau5's recent stuff. Like I said haven't heard the whole album, but I have come across a few of his remixes that have been absolutely awesome. The original song may have a lot to do with it, but the couple I come across all seem to have a common distinct flavour that you would expect from the same remixer.

I have followed him on Facebook for a while. And whilst no excuse. I really do think he has some serious depression issues. I do remember a couple posts that had suicidal undertones.

[GREMM1S]

Have herd of others this album is actually really good, going to check it out now.

[Addi]

Haven't heard the album but will get it to make my own opinion on it.

He is arrogant, no doubt about it. Mattus you hit the nail on the head. He wouldn't be where he is without the fans or the industry, so to come out and hate on everyone supporting you is a pretty shit thing to do.

In all honesty I do have a lot of respect for his productions in the past, i've listened to his previous albums and they are incredible, especially when baked haha. He goes to incredible detail in every single sound in his tracks, and his melodies and breakdowns in past albums are pretty amazing too. If only he wasn't such a WHALE I would probably appreciate his stuff more.

[SweetIshDub]

Purely talking about the music, I stand by what I said.

Dude sounds like a dickhead from looking into it more though and I guess (for me) sheds some light on the review which makes some good points about how if you look at his attitude its questionable what his motives are for doing what he does. Personally I think this could have been two separate articles, a review and a character critique. If you're going to do an album review you should check any emotions and preconceptions of the artist at the door and give it an honest listen. This guy probably legitimately hates the album but it sounds like he was pretty determined to hate it anyways just because of who Deadmau5 is.

[LabRat]

When Joel first came out and started telling it straight I thought he was a dick. Now I have a lot more respect for the guy. He takes things and exaggerates a little much but I somewhat agree with everything he says

[GREMM1S]

I used to hate him but can relate to him more and more these days.

He doesnt bullshit which i like, wrong about somethings but at least he will put his opinion out there and stand by it.

( or maybe im just a WHALE like him hahah)

[GREMM1S]

Ps think the album is sick