Rating: ***1/2
Matt Warren is a renowned engineer, mixer, and DJ famous for his work with Bjork, Faith Evans, and KMFDM.
He's here with an album that he calls the first Nu House album, appropriately titled "Music is My Life". It releases on October 15th, and is Warren's first album of his own music in over 10 years. That's a long time to be working on other peoples stuff, so I'm expecting a creative explosion from this one.
Chicago house music isn't really my scene, but I can appreciate good stuff when I hear it.
So let's dive into this one. See what's up.
Watch a sample clip of "Musica Es Mi Vida" on Youtube here:
Track one is "How Do I Love Thee" and it's pretty cool. It reminds me of an early 90's dance club. Very Dee-Lite-ish. It's well produced and mixed, but that's to be expected from Warren. I dug it. I didn't love it though. Track two is "The Way To My Heart" and it's more of the same. Club beats and vocals. Catchy, but not revolutionary. Let's see what's next. Tracks three and four are different mixes of "Catch Me If You Can" with the first being the "Main Mix" and the latter being the "Disco Mix". They're both pretty dope. The Main Mix is more my speed, but I bet the Disco Mix will kill on 70's nights around the nation. Probably my favorite tracks so far. "Get On Up" is next. It's a banger for sure. It's not changing the game, but it's rock solid. "Going Deeper" and "Musica Es Mi Vida" are both as catchy as the rest of the record, with the former having serious dancefloor appeal. "Musica" has a Latin flavor to it that adds a little bit of depth to the album as a whole. "Bang the Box" is a remake of a Chicago House classic, and it bangs even harder than the original. This is Warren at his absolute best. Hip-hop and jazz fusion on full display here. Super dope stuff. "La Rosa" is next and it's a little bit of a letdown after BTB's energy. "Sometimes" is the penultimate track on the LP. Futuristic sounding. Might be the most original sounding track on the entire record. "The Dark Storm" is last. A cool piano track that literally sounds nothing like anything else on the record. Really beautiful and totally unexpected.
Listen, you're gonna dance your ass off to this. No bad tracks, but too many tracks that don't stand out to really call it excellent. "Bang The Box" is a standout for sure, and worth the price of the download for that track alone. I recommend this highly to dance music fans, and moderately to everyone else.