Well, I came, I listened, and I grew bored. I’m trying to think of a song which I liked, but my mind goes blank. The whole thing takes itself far too seriously and hardly any light shines on in. Of course you might have figured that from the project name, the album name, or a cursory listen to the music
Musically, it does reference a good deal of British electronic music, both old and new, but to little avail. Samples are distorted, strings are canned, and the beats sputter along oblivious. I’m sort of surprised at how cheesy the whole thing comes across despite the obvious intense nature of the music. Maybe it is meant ironically.
Every time the strings came in, I thought of some cinematic scene for a movie I didn’t give a damn about. Like in “Dog Shelter” I imagined some character from a Mortal Kombat film staring out into the wilderness before a big battle.
“I’m worried about the fight tomorrow” he’d say to the hellish landscape below.
This being a movie there’s naturally his friend standing within earshot. She’d say:
“Believe in yourself and remember what your (insert significant now dead person’s relation to you) would have wanted. They want you to succeed in this endeavor.”
Then when those beats start up the two awkwardly prepare for battle to some boring montage.
Why did I write that? Well, I’m disappointed. Each time I try to temper myself against extreme hype. This time I succumbed to that, I allowed them to try and sell me whatever packages that they were pushing. Like, a whole culture exists to push this and that (of which I’m party to) and I try to keep you informed of the better stuff. But here, this is the emperor has no clothes. Neither working on a beat, intellectual, or even a hanging out reading a book level, I’m sorely disappointed. Years from now people will wonder what exactly it was that made them extol this album from the rooftops.