Search - Daedelus :: Love to Make Music to

Daedelus explores straight-ahead dance music - a big disappo

Steward Willons | Illinois | 07/15/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I hate to say it, but I'm not digging Daedelus's new sound. When I hear his production work on that Obama video, I attributed it to Taz and his incredibly annoying voice/insipid lyrics ("we hood, we votin', and throwin' it uuuuuup"). Unfortunately, that song is pretty typical of what is on "Love to Make Music to." Most of the tracks sound fairly straightforward with MCing over almost everything.



My reaction to this album is tied into what I liked about Daedelus in the first place. "Invention" was full of wonder and mystery. Sampling is a normal technique now, but Daedelus managed to find a unique approach. The combination of acoustic instruments with slight digital manipulation, layering, and cutting was unlike anything else going on. His other albums seemed to expand on this idea, until "Love to Make Music to." The old 78 acetate samples are mostly gone, in favor of synth stuff that basically any other producer could be doing. There are some Daedelus touches and every now and then you'll hear a scratched-up sample off some strange record, but for the most part, it's synths and drum machines.



This is not the first time Daedelus has used MCs on his albums. I had been unimpressed with the bland, flavorless rapping of MF Doom and Lil' Sci, as it seemed at odds with the music. I still feel this way. At his best, Daedelus evokes a mystifying abstraction of time and music. However, when you tie this down to repetitive loops to accommodate lyrics, it forces the music to become increasingly normal.



I'm very disappointed in this album because most of the elements in early records that appealed to me are gone. Where "Invention" sounded like a record nobody else could have name, "Love to Make Music to" sounds like something countless producers could basically do. There are touches of Daedelus's unique style, but they're minor details.



My recommendation is to stay away. Make sure you have all of his other stuff before you mess with this album. For those new to Daedelus, this is absolutely not the place to start. I'm sure die-hard fans will buy this anyway, and if you do, you'll probably find something you can tap your foot to. Sure - it's a decent album, but Daedelus doesn't make "decent" albums, he makes "great" albums. Lets hope this is just a temporary excursion into convention."

Daedelus nails it

Kumar Mcmillan | Chicago, IL | 01/02/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Daedelus explains in interviews that he attempted to capture the "essence" of the 90s rave scene with this album and he nailed it. Perhaps it's just nostalgia for my own downtown LA warehouse days but I feel he captured something from the heart; it comes off well-researched too, all the way down to trax-style 606 snare reverb.



Daedelus' other albums are more experimental and some are interesting but many are failed experiments. Nothing wrong with that but this album is tight and polished yet still loose and funky. It's a phenomenal listen start to finish, his best work yet and possibly one of the best electronic albums of 2008.



- DJ Bylamplight"

Live Material

starzero | chicago, il | 10/01/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this album at a Daedelus show, after his riveting performance. I loved Denies The Day's Demise and I had no reason to think Love To Make Music To wouldn't also be great. Unfortunately, it is not. A few tracks remind me of Demise, but mostly it sounds like material for the live show. When I spoke to Daedelus after the show, he mentioned that he's been playing more dance-oriented gigs lately--that's what people seem to want from him. He sounded somewhat disappointed, as though his perception of what his audience wants, or at least what promoters want, is pulling his music in a direction he's not sure he wants to go. Live, he is astounding. On this CD, he is not.



As I said, a few of these tracks have the laid-back yet innovative feel of Denies The Day's Demise, but most of them are based either around dance or hip hop beats, sometimes even with rappers instead of sampled vocals. He does a good job of mixing up these types of tracks, but the result is a lack of cohesion. Where Demise felt like a story, this feels like a collection of ideas, or maybe a bunch of short stories with little in the way of thematic connection.



I can't argue with the first review of this album, that Daedelus makes more dance music here. The production is still layered and whimsical, but the songs feel more straightforward and less organic than previous albums. The tracks from Love he played live were twisted beyond recognition into bangers or mind-warping sample-fests. Having a recording of that performance would be much more fulfilling than the starter-tracks here."