Sometimes albums are kind of disappointing; it sucks, but it's true. Waiting for You by King Midas sound is sadly one of those for me. When I first started listening to dubstep around early 2008 I could tell it was gonna catch on with people, and I always expected there to be some sort of vocal/pop dubstep album that would blow everyone's collective mind and break into the mainstream. But aside from that one Britney Spears song Rusko did, it never really happened. As far as acclaimed full-length dubstep albums with a vocal focus go, pickings are pretty slim; there's Waiting for You, London Zoo, Kode9's Memories of the Future, and the self-titled James Blake (which I think is genius).
I know I'm coming off as a downer, but it's not all doom and gloom; "Cool Out," "Meltdown," and "Goodbye Girl" are complete bangers. The concept's brilliant, too: a nocturnal, grimy, Portishead-esque, vocal-oriented dubstep album has a lot of potential. But there are some loose ends that hold it back. The songwriting and melodies aren't very strong on a lot of the tracks, and you need those for pop appeal. On top of that, the production feels a little formulaic at times; the first half of the album's almost too cohesive. And "Earth a Kill Ya" and "I Man" deviate thematically from what's obviously meant to be a breakup album by delving into spiritual Rasta bullshit, not to mention those songs are just kind of turds.
Overall, it's certainly not a bad album. I'll admit I'm demanding. But as far as what I was hoping for, I didn't really get it until last year's James Blake LP, and while it's a brilliant album, it's more minimal than what I'm envisioning. Dubstep has undeniable popular appeal (see: Skrillex is nominated for 5 Grammies), so I'm kinda surprised it hasn't been done... well, poppier. I guess there's still time; maybe the next Materielle release.
No comments:
Post a Comment