For Lack of a Better Name [CD]

Who needs an album title when you're music sounds like this? Over the last few months Deadmau5, aka Joel Zimmerman, has been steadily growing in demand as both a DJ and producer. He has written some of the summer's best dance tunes and in recent years has collaborated on awarding winning tracks like `All U Ever Want' with Newton-Davis and `After Hours' with Melleefresh. Last year he released his debut album called `Random Album Title' which was hailed with critical acclaim and was rewarded by a number one in the US Billboard Magazine's Hot Dance Airplay chart. In 2009 he has been heavily in demand as a live DJ performing headline slots at Oxegen, Leeds and Reading as well as Creamfields. This is Deadmau5' year and it's not over yet since he has just released his second album `For Lack of a Better Name'.

The album then starts with a lovely drum roll and echoing bass hits like cannon fire before it cracks into the majesty of `FML'. This is a taste of the dance credentials that will swell throughout the rest of the album. It has a persistent but not unoriginal beat and a nice break half way through the track, as well as moments that break the whole atmosphere down to nicely show off a lead line before building it all back to another break. `Moar Ghosts `N' Stuff' is named as though it should just be a lead in to the storming single of almost the same name. Instead Deadmau5 fills this track with some really nice moments. It is a strong bit of electro/dance in its own right. It has a useful beat and nice hook with some subtle little touches and variations that keep you guessing as to what might happen next. The previously mentioned `Ghosts `N' Stuff' featuring Pendulum's Rob Swire then kicks in and it sounds as glorious in your living room as it does in any club. The reason that it works so well in the club and at home is that in the club it has a really strong beat, brilliant use of an organ sample for the main hook and a great uplifting vocal to top it. On the other hand it works at home because it balances and follows on from the previous track beautifully as well as being a brilliant bit of production.

So three tracks down and ready for more then? `Hi Friend!' featuring MC Flipside starts off in fine electro style with cheeky little cut off guitar samples, a rising synth line and vocals which match with increasing pitch. You could probably ignore what the lyrics actually are and pay more attention to extra dimension they add to the track as a whole. It's great fun. `Bot' then exaggerates a trick that Deadmau5 uses throughout the album. He takes beat and builds it a bit before dropping you straight into a quiet moment that is lead by a single hook before sharply throwing you back into the preceding beat and building it all back up again. It's a really nice trick and strangely doesn't really get boring. `Word Problems' then opens with slow handclaps and a gradually growing beat that develops once more into something recognisably Deadmau5 with a friendly bouncing hook as accompaniment.

The last four tracks then play out in what by now has been established to be a recognisably Deadmau5 style. Zimmerman however does not allow it to get monotonous. `Soma' is filled with strange tinkling and bouncing lead line lines and has a fantastic moment of relaxation halfway through with a beautifully epic piano section. The title track is pleasantly trancey from the start and would likely work well in a darkened room of a Friday night. It's not really one to zone out from and relax at home to with your coffee though. `The 16th Floor' starts in a strangely haunting mood and swells through the fuzz into a strong electro/trance track once more. It has moments of widescreen epic wonder hinted at throughout as they swirl into view and disappear just as rapidly in Deadmau5' break/build/break style. It is an intriguing trick here since the highs are used to drive the beat on to greater and greater intensity before fading back into the background to leave it to work its magic alone. The album then closes out with `Strobe' which is a beautifully still track at the end of all the intense madness gently sweeping you home at the end of a long evening.

So ultimately Deadmau5 has succeeded in making a very unique album of consistently high standards. It is undeniably him throughout, it doesn't really get boring and there are some moments of truly epic electro/trance. Welcome to the year of the Mau5.

I was so disappointed with this deadmau5 album.

There is a lot more techno influence on it compared to the mainly house sound of the his first album (Random Album Title), which would be a wonderful thing if he was good at making techno, but in my opinion he isn't. I gave the whole thing a fair listen and found about 20 minutes of decent music beyond track 7.

Randon Album Title was one of the first electronic albums in ages that i've been truly excited about - i think it's one of the best ever made - so i was expecting a lot from the follow-up. But it's mostly average, sometimes silly, and only occasionally interesting.

Which is a shame!

Good value cd with catchy tracks from a very creative artist.
One for your collection and at a very cheap price.