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Daedalus is one Alfred Darlington, a prolific Santa Monica producer, currently part of the Ninja Tune stable. Love To Make Music To is the current offering after a heavily-laden, diverse and erratic back-catalogue. The diverse nature of this nominally electronic artist stems from his skills as a multi-instrumentalist. This album sees him remaining true to form.
It opens with Fair Weather Friends; an upbeat poppy number, replete with handclaps, swarming synths and an agreeably emancipated sample. It comes on like Boards of Canada on uppers, which is no bad thing. Make It So continues in a similarly genial vein with what sounds like a choir's worth of multitracked singers.
Twist The Kids sounds tremendously 80s with its tongue in cheek, rapped vocals and lo-fi, analogue rhythm. It could be the illegitimate child of Suicide and Mantronik, and coming after the denser preceding tracks, is a welcome bit of minimalism. Get Off Your HiHats features tumbling piano figures, married to speeding tinpot percussion that suddenly takes a left turn into Miami Vice analogue funkiness, a minute before the end.
Hrs:Mins:Secs is built on some fine left-field samples that tumble together, clash and repeat in a satisfyingly chaotic fashion. It's a little reminiscent of Klaxons, but with added synths and beatboxes, as well as the guest vocals of Erika Rose and Paperboy. In fact, six of the fifteen songs here feature guest singers, a line-up which includes Om'mas Keith and Taz of the Sa-Ra Foundation.
Love To Make Music To feels a little exhausting by the end of its 55-minute duration and would have benefited from a bit of judicious pruning. Despite that, it's an enjoyably varied album, full of texture, emotion and playful ideas. --Colin Buttimer
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7 reviews
18 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Daedelus explores straight-ahead dance music - a big disappointment
15 July 2008
Format:Audio CD
I hate to say it, but I'm not digging Daedelus's new sound. When I hear his production work on that Obama video, I attributed it to Taz and his incredibly annoying voice/insipid lyrics ("we hood, we votin', and throwin' it uuuuuup"). Unfortunately, that song is pretty typical of what is on "Love to Make Music to." Most of the tracks sound fairly straightforward with MCing over almost everything.
My reaction to this album is tied into what I liked about Daedelus in the first place. "Invention" was full of wonder and mystery. Sampling is a normal technique now, but Daedelus managed to find a unique approach. The combination of acoustic instruments with slight digital manipulation, layering, and cutting was unlike anything else going on. His other albums seemed to expand on this idea, until "Love to Make Music to." The old 78 acetate samples are mostly gone, in favor of synth stuff that basically any other producer could be doing. There are some Daedelus touches and every now and then you'll hear a scratched-up sample off some strange record, but for the most part, it's synths and drum machines.
This is not the first time Daedelus has used MCs on his albums. I had been unimpressed with the bland, flavorless rapping of MF Doom and Lil' Sci, as it seemed at odds with the music. I still feel this way. At his best, Daedelus evokes a mystifying abstraction of time and music. However, when you tie this down to repetitive loops to accommodate lyrics, it forces the music to become increasingly normal.
I'm very disappointed in this album because most of the elements in early records that appealed to me are gone. Where "Invention" sounded like a record nobody else could have name, "Love to Make Music to" sounds like something countless producers could basically do. There are touches of Daedelus's unique style, but they're minor details.
My recommendation is to stay away. Make sure you have all of his other stuff before you mess with this album. For those new to Daedelus, this is absolutely not the place to start. I'm sure die-hard fans will buy this anyway, and if you do, you'll probably find something you can tap your foot to. Sure - it's a decent album, but Daedelus doesn't make "decent" albums, he makes "great" albums. Lets hope this is just a temporary excursion into convention.
My reaction to this album is tied into what I liked about Daedelus in the first place. "Invention" was full of wonder and mystery. Sampling is a normal technique now, but Daedelus managed to find a unique approach. The combination of acoustic instruments with slight digital manipulation, layering, and cutting was unlike anything else going on. His other albums seemed to expand on this idea, until "Love to Make Music to." The old 78 acetate samples are mostly gone, in favor of synth stuff that basically any other producer could be doing. There are some Daedelus touches and every now and then you'll hear a scratched-up sample off some strange record, but for the most part, it's synths and drum machines.
This is not the first time Daedelus has used MCs on his albums. I had been unimpressed with the bland, flavorless rapping of MF Doom and Lil' Sci, as it seemed at odds with the music. I still feel this way. At his best, Daedelus evokes a mystifying abstraction of time and music. However, when you tie this down to repetitive loops to accommodate lyrics, it forces the music to become increasingly normal.
I'm very disappointed in this album because most of the elements in early records that appealed to me are gone. Where "Invention" sounded like a record nobody else could have name, "Love to Make Music to" sounds like something countless producers could basically do. There are touches of Daedelus's unique style, but they're minor details.
My recommendation is to stay away. Make sure you have all of his other stuff before you mess with this album. For those new to Daedelus, this is absolutely not the place to start. I'm sure die-hard fans will buy this anyway, and if you do, you'll probably find something you can tap your foot to. Sure - it's a decent album, but Daedelus doesn't make "decent" albums, he makes "great" albums. Lets hope this is just a temporary excursion into convention.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
An excellent vintage for an interesting year.
5 Mar 2010
Format:Audio CD
'Love to Make Music to...' and the fan base reaction reminds me when DJ Shadow gave the world 'The Outsider'. Oh, man...every loyalist hissed like a wet cat when Shadow showed he could bring NorCal flavor to the 'Durrrrty Souf' and make it excellent. And it was excellent, since it plainly painted that Shadow was well rounded and can pull off something that no one really heard him do.
Daedelus is no different. I've listened to my share from Snowdonia to his collaboration with Busdriver/Radioinactive as The Weather, to The Long Lost with Laura Darling. I equate all of Dadelus' work as wine, honestly. Every bottle is distinct and you have to appreciate it for what it is when drinking it in. 'Love To Make...' shows what was bouncing around in his head that specific year; mainstream club beats a' la Alfred. With heavy bass thumpers like 'Twist the Kids' and 'Touchtone' to airy, synthy Xanadu-esque 'If We Should' and 'I Car(ry) Us', you get a distinct feel of intelligent mainstream that can reach anyone if they appreciate a good beat.
I'm pretty happy Daedelus took a mainstream route this time around. To be honest, I didn't think he could; most artists stay in their niche and are too afraid to venture out and do something unfamiliar. Daedelus proved to me that he can honestly do any genre and make it a trip to listen to.
*raises glass*
Here's to a great year; can't wait for the next bottle.
Daedelus is no different. I've listened to my share from Snowdonia to his collaboration with Busdriver/Radioinactive as The Weather, to The Long Lost with Laura Darling. I equate all of Dadelus' work as wine, honestly. Every bottle is distinct and you have to appreciate it for what it is when drinking it in. 'Love To Make...' shows what was bouncing around in his head that specific year; mainstream club beats a' la Alfred. With heavy bass thumpers like 'Twist the Kids' and 'Touchtone' to airy, synthy Xanadu-esque 'If We Should' and 'I Car(ry) Us', you get a distinct feel of intelligent mainstream that can reach anyone if they appreciate a good beat.
I'm pretty happy Daedelus took a mainstream route this time around. To be honest, I didn't think he could; most artists stay in their niche and are too afraid to venture out and do something unfamiliar. Daedelus proved to me that he can honestly do any genre and make it a trip to listen to.
*raises glass*
Here's to a great year; can't wait for the next bottle.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Daedelus nails it
2 Jan 2009
Amazon Verified Purchase
Daedelus explains in interviews that he attempted to capture the "essence" of the 90s rave scene with this album and he nailed it. Perhaps it's just nostalgia for my own downtown LA warehouse days but I feel he captured something from the heart; it comes off well-researched too, all the way down to trax-style 606 snare reverb.
Daedelus' other albums are more experimental and some are interesting but many are failed experiments. Nothing wrong with that but this album is tight and polished yet still loose and funky. It's a phenomenal listen start to finish, his best work yet and possibly one of the best electronic albums of 2008.
- DJ Bylamplight
Daedelus' other albums are more experimental and some are interesting but many are failed experiments. Nothing wrong with that but this album is tight and polished yet still loose and funky. It's a phenomenal listen start to finish, his best work yet and possibly one of the best electronic albums of 2008.
- DJ Bylamplight
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