Search - Deadmau5 :: For Lack of a Better Name

Excellent Album!

Gary Peterson | San Diego, California USA | 08/22/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I enjoy electronica music, and have for at least the last 10 years. It's a manufactured type of music constructed largely with the use of computers and some old-fashioned music lovers feel that nothing but acoustical music using actual instruments is the only true music. Well, so what? I'd say that almost any interesting and amusing sounds put together in a structured manner and played for the enjoyment of an audience might be considered music, and electronica is just exactly that. Some of the composers are artists and musicians second to none and I strongly suspect that electronica will become an ever-increasing fraction of the total musical output.



So, if I enjoy electronica music, where might I go to find interesting sources of information about such music? Well, I'm 74 and rarely go to hip concerts dominated by young people and, likewise, I'm not a part of the club scene. Let's face it, people of my age just don't listen to electronic music and if I discuss it with them I draw nothing but blank stares. My wife (29) likes electronica and we share quite an overlap in listening to dance music, but her tastes tend to lean more toward electro pop and bubblegum, whereas I'm more interested in the hardcore electronica dance music. My best source of purchasing information has been the Amazon computer. It analyzes my past purchases and wanderings and offers interesting suggestions for what I might like. I've found some excellent recordings in this way. A second source is listening to my XM car radio and I'm partial to the BPM dance channel. I was listening a couple weeks ago and picked up some wonderful stuff by Deadmau5 (pronounced Deadmouse). I ordered the "For Lack of a Better Name" the Next day.



The Deadmaus5 CD is an excellent recording and I've enjoyed it very much. It's real beat-heavy stuff with a wonderful and highly varied rhythmic background. The sound is crisp and clear and nicely mixed. Voices and vocals are a minor part of the total recording except on a few of the early tracks. In some places, voices are used somewhat like strange musical instruments. Plus, there's all sorts of other strange sounds. In some places the mood is gloomy and funeral like, but even that is fun. It's excellent dance music, that's for sure, and fun to listen to also. I'd say the listening experience in some places is closer to listening to some types of classical music than popular music. Some people call it Progressive House or Electro House, but I disdain using these micro-genre classifications. It's quite excellent quality electronic music, that's what it is, and it shows a lot of talent and musicianship on the part of those who put it together. Bravo! I guess it's been given and nominated for a bunch of awards, and that's easy to understand. One listen is all it takes. I'd say that it vaguely reminds me of some of the early music of Matthew Dear, one of my other favorite electronica composers. Sorry, I really don't have any other comparisons. "For Lack of a Better Name" is just an excellent album and stands alone in my book and I'll be looking into a few other Deadmau5 offerings.



The sound quality of this CD is quite high, but to fully appreciate it you'll need to have good playback equipment. I have a 100-watt per channel stereo with 7 speakers including two 12" woofers and an 80-watt powered subwoofer. I like to play the CD at fairly high, but still comfortable, volume. In that way, I feel the dramatic bass and the higher notes come across as light, delicate and playful. My system is minimal. If you ever get the chance, play this CD on a high-end system. It's just awesome!



Gary Peterson."

Deadmau5 Review

Andrew Bennett-Jackson | Charlottesville Va | 04/20/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Following the advice from numerous suggestions from class, I deiced to find more about Deadmau5. Deadmau5 is a modern technosonic musician specializing in the art of electrical sound synthesis and audio engineering. Deadmau5 is run by Joel Zimmerman and is based in Toronto Canada. Deadmau5 has won many awards in recent years and has produced eight albums since 2006. Looking at some of the more recent work that has been done, the album "For lack of a better name" was released in 2009 and contains 10 songs.

One of the most iconic distinctions of Deadmau5 is the driving beats and complex rhythms that make up most of their songs. The use of repeated rhythmic patterns was made possible by the advances in sequencers and synthesizers like the Buchla and Moog. The driving rhythm that makes many of the pieces by Deadmau5 so enjoyable is made possible by early those early inventions as well as the work of many people. The rhythm that Deadmau5 uses are made up of one single tempo and stays constant for many of the piece, however the complexity of the rhythms comes from changing time signatures. This can be heard in the first song "FML." The pieces start off with a drum set playing a repeating pattern and a thud of a bass drum is added in. The pattern slightly changes and a continuous falling tone, also known as a Sheppard tone, is heard for a small duration of time. After it ends the bass line starts and this makes up the rhythm of the piece. It appears to be in triple meter but every so often a measure of duple meter is added. This can also be heard again in the song "Hi friend." In this one the constant rhythm is interrupted by a few measures of a different meter. It still remains in duple meter but it changes from common time to one that is cut time. This change is help by the fact that the melody also changes from an increasing beeping sound to a suspended tone accompanied by the cut time feel with offbeat claps.

The melody in many of their songs is not considered to be as an important factor as compared to the rhythm and the underlying bass. This effect makes the piece more suited for dance and clubs were the bass and rhythm are important. In addition the length of many of these pieces combined the rhythm and the bass would make it easy to dance to for a long time. This is not to say all the songs on this album are just straight beats for ten minutes. Often Deadmau5 will add a few measures where the melody is the only thing that is happening. This in the case in the song "Soma." Halfway through the piece there is a slow and contrasting piano and synthesizer melody this is then followed by the same rhythm that appeared before the melody break.

Overall the album has many pieces which has catchy rhythms and beats. They will seem interesting because of the use of different types of sounds and samples used. Even if there is no distinct melody used in all the pieces there are pitched beats which make up a melodic rhythmic pattern which is enjoyable. If you are looking for a good song to dance to or something to listen to at a party then any of the songs on this album would be a good choice.





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