James Murphy has done extremely well out of his electro-pop hybrid style of music: chances are you won't know he is but his latest musical project LCD Soundsystem has produced two great albums which were both well received. On top of this he runs his own music label, Death From Above, and is constantly in demand as a DJ. Don't forget the fact that in 1992 he was asked to write the script for a small new show called Seinfeld, but turned it down, citing a busy schedule as his excuse. So.... you might call him multi-talented then, what with dabbling (successfully, mind) in different projects. Unfortunately, his mettle is about to be tested by Matthew Dear, the latest contender for the multi talented go-to guy crown. And the way in which Dear is challenging him? Well, you could say imitation.... Asa Breed, Dear's new album, is very similar to the latest LCD Soundsystem release, Sound Of Silver.
Matthew Dear is an Texas-born music producer from the same mold as Murphy, although so far he hasn't managed to emulate Murphy's success. Also the owner of a record label, Ghostly International, Dear has had many successful songs and remixes but has found it hard to translate the success across to a full album. I'm not lying when I say Matthew Dear is one of the most prolific artists I've ever come across, remixing and recording hundreds of tracks under different aliases (Matthew Dear, Audion, Jabberjaw and False) and surprising everyone by constantly flitting between styles and genres of music (check out his wikipedia page if you don't believe me). The last few years have been highly exciting for his followers, who have patiently watched him changing into a first class musician/producer- there were hints of this but his style quite defined yet, so this process was a metamorphosis if you like. With his latest album, Asa Breed, I can happily say that he has found his sound, although its still hard to identify what different elements it is made up of. And there you have the fundamental reason why his music is so interesting to listen to: across Asa Breed there is a varying pace, sound and style to every track, and Dear has obviously come to terms with the fact that his most successful music has been impossible to define: genre tags like hip-hop/electronica/garage/dance are commonplace with his music, and also means that in theory, some elements of each song should appeal to everyone.
This really is a fantastic third album, and in my opinion Dear has really come into his own. If he keeps up his producing and DJing he could be a serious threat to well-established people like Murphy. The only problem is that Dear has to learn when to stop slicing and dicing music, or he could end up alienating his main fan base: Asa Breed is good because it subtly puts together the best elements of many styles of music, although on some tracks there are points where he is close to the edge in terms of how much variety you can stuff into 3 minutes. After I've listened to the album a bit more I will probably do a review of it, probably later this week. There are a couple of tracks available for download below, you should know the drill by now.
Matthew Dear- Pom PomMatthew Dear- Deserters
Weird Album Cover?
Probably for the first time ever on The Cold Cut, I get to combine two of my greatest passions: music, and Apple. And before I hear numerous cries of 'Fanboy!', let me state my case. Just a few days ago, Apple's computer market share broke 8%. Their shares now lie at somewhere around $200, when but a year ago they were valued at $80. They've produced some of the most iconic products of the last decade (iPhone, iPod, iMac, Macbook (Pro)). So what's not to love?
