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Album Review
by SashaS
6-3-2002
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| Maas of Loud |
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Timo Maas: 'Loud'
(Perfecto)
Timo Maas delivers a good album with a very ambitious sonic embrace
Another DJ/remixer makes it over the dividing line between a decknitian and an artist. Approved by Madonna, buddy with Fatboy Slim with whom he is to duel-decks soon, Placebo re-modeller and hanging out with Kelis, Timo Maas has done things that have set a very high standard for his debut disc. He lives up to it, almost…
‘Loud’ is a fine example of pumping beats, dancey hooks, effective sonic details and it gets really hot and heavy, as in ‘Manga’. This is a funky-driven music that bounces like a lady on a trampoline, from ‘Hash Driven’, with its catchy repetition, to ‘Shifter’ of teutonic-disco brand. The album is far from a homogenized affair and despite ‘machines’ being used, there is something visceral about it.
Kelis guests on the opening ‘Help me’ delivering an erotically haunting vocal, Finlay Quaye turns up in ‘Caravan’, Martin Bettinghaus (a German ‘Beck’) handles a couple of songs, of which ‘Ubik’ was a hit last year. Add to it atmospherics, cyber-modernism, minimalism, breakbeats… and you might start to get the picture of how wide ranging this is.
It is a solid album but not a groundbreaking one as many might have expected it to be. Outstanding tracks are few here but there is lack of dafters, equally. There is an overall groove-elegance but there are certain musical solutions that seem to disrupt the flow of chord progression. What is missing a bit is instantly memorable tunes; there is nothing so catchy to work its way into your brain and pester you for a while as Maas requires your time…
Which is strange as the songs are more radio- than floor-friendly inasmuch that there are not enough bpm tune-wise. Otherwise it is an excursion into different genres – rock, techno, house, downtempo – that feels like a night in the hands of a DJ with split personality. Which is not a bad thing when most are happy to join ranks of follow-the-lead dictum of the industry.
7/10
SashaS
6-3-2002
Timo Maas’s album ‘Loud’ is released 04 March 2002 on Perfecto
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