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Drums of Death – Blue Waves album review

Immediately intrigued, I turned the volume to louder levels and let the music move over my body. I let every track replay in a loop, almost in a hypnotic trance by mixture of unique sounds and beats.

Born Colin Bailey, Drums of Death, gathers an acute blend of techno, old school, house, punk rock and electronica to create his own distinct sound that has made him a staple in the British club scene. Since his debut in 2005 with Love Songs & Rave Horns he has come into his own, making a signature sound in the midst of a highly conceptual genre. However, it is with his new release Blue Waves, that Bailey has merged both his own musicality and gave a nod to the gimmick nature of contemporary electronica.

Completing a series started in early 2011 with Black Waves and Red Waves, this five track album brings the series to a beautiful close. While undulating melodies married perfectly with the pounding bass on songs like ‘Wave City’ that create the sound that is standard of the genre, it is tracks like ‘Let No Shadow Fall Upon You’ and ‘Transistor Rhythm’ that shows his ability to pick out the subtle nuances of samples and fitting drops almost at perfect timing. This also causes for an even flow to the complete work, allowing no skips and leaving the listener to decide whether to bask in its complex simplicity or move to its driving, forceful rhythms.

While Blue Waves is not typically an album I would pick up as I’m pursuing the local record store, it rightfully deserves a listen. It serves as a wonderful testament to the growth and musicianship of Electro-club music as it moves forward with a new audience with bigger expectations. Plus, it serves as excellent background music for your weekends around the house or it can serve as the soundtrack for a potential weekend to remember.

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Knife Party – Rage Valley album review

Knife Party is the brain child of electro-rock band Pendulum members, Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen. The Australian duo brings the bass with this collaborative effort. Knife Party has elements of multiple genres in EDM, never staying in a box and bringing plenty of variety. Their four track EP, appropriately titled Rage Valley brings something different to the table in each track that is sure to have people fill up dance floors and rage all over the world.

The EP blasts off straight into an intergalactic force field with the title track “Rage Valley.” Knife Party wastes no time getting the party started with a face paced electro beat accelerating into a huge burst of abrasive EDM fireworks surging through your ears. The best part about Knife Party is that although they have an extremely boisterous sound, their tracks still manage to be melodic and never seem to just become noise. Things get down and dirty with “Centipede”, which begins with a monotone man dropping some nature facts about the centipede before being bombarded by synthesizer and enough bass to rattle foundations if played at the right volume.

A reggae beat coupled with some fitting vocals start off “Bonfire”, when the track quickly builds up into a burst of some bass and then slows down for a little bit of dub. Knife Party switches things up in “Sleaze”, where they decide to go with a feisty Moombahton beat instead of their usual bass heavy tracks. Rage Valley is a nonstop dance party that will have festival goers go crazy when Knife Party plays these tracks during their live sets. The best thing to do is to follow Knife Party’s instructions on this one: “Until they kick us out, people move your feet.”