Serving as U.S. ambassadors to foreign flavors of music, DJs Diplo and Switch have already become well established in their inclusion of Brazil's baile funk. Now, the two grammy nominated producers ("Paper Planes") have decided to give Jamaica's dancehall and reggae sounds a shot. Recorded at Tuff Gong's infamous studio, Major Lazer (the moniker the duo has recorded under) are joined by some of the dancehall/reggae genres bigger names in order to craft their debut Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do. From the outset, they let it be known that this isn't a gimmick but an honest attempt at making a great album. "Hold the Line" with its hectic soundscape and surf rock guitar start things off nicely. From there, true dancehall is brought to the forefront ("When You Hear the Bassline" and "Anything Goes") with a couple straight reggae tracks throw in (the excellent "Cash Flow"). Amongst all the basslines and (nearly) unrecognizable Jamaican growls (Turbulence is the shining star in this set) Diplo and Switch seem bored at times and just drop in random sound effects. Lazers (duh), cell phones, horses, chipmunk vocals, and even the Auto-Tune make appearances (with "Keep It "Goin' Louder" sounding like a U.S. club song with its generic Auto-Tune usage). Every heard an Auto-Tune baby? Thanks to Major Lazer we now have the capability. A fun listen from start to finish, the album has a frenetic pace which suites the genre nicely. Baile funk. Check. Dancehall. Check. What will be the next step for these two musical saavy DJs....
3.6/5.0
No comments:
Post a Comment