This weekend I saw Hellboy II: The Golden Army, director Guillermo del Toro’s sequel to his 2004 adaptation of Mike Mignola’s award-winning Hellboy comic. I was souped when the comic was brought to life in the first film, but I sat agape at the sequel, which improves tenfold upon everything they got right the first time. The director’s Pan’s Labyrinth-fueled clout resulted in a bigger budget. Which provided all the more reason to love the film, simply because it’s a treat to look at. But the fact that I was crazy about comic books, mythology, the supernatural & the occult (before I even became a music fanatic) made it impossible for me not to love it.
Coincidentally, Daedelus, an LA-based producer and musician himself enamoured of the world of myth, has a new record coming out this week. Known by day as Alfred Darlington (nee Alfred Weisberg-Roberts) he shares his stage-name with that of the mythological Greek artificer known for building of the Cretan Labyrinth in which the Minotaur dwelt, the wings which lead to his own son Icarus’ doom and statuary which gave their viewer the illusion of movement. Driven by pulsating rhythms intended for the dancefloor, his new full-length Love To Make Music To should elicit a great deal of movement from listeners, and none of it will be illusionary.
I’ve been listening to Daedelus’ music for most of the decade and Love To Make Music To’s “I Car(ry) Us” is the first time I can remember him directly reference the mythology behind his nom-de-beat in a song title. He doesn’t stop at the title either, singing (through a Bruce Haack-esque vocoder) about “waxen wings” dragging him into the gaping maw of the waiting ocean over the track’s shuffly, UK Garage-ish drum programming, buzzy synth-bass, arpeggiated synths and acoustic guitar as a female voice whispers “I’m so high” at different intervals.
Daedelus “I Car(ry) Us”
The influence of Electronic Dance Music styles from across the pond and right here at home can be felt throughout the album. The Balkan-flavored “Touchtone” featuring Taz from Sa-Ra (whom Daedelus recently recorded a pro-Obama anthem with) & the return of Paperboy (of “Ditty” fame), the War Games-sampling instrumental “Hrs:Mins:Secs,” the Rob Base tribute “I Took Two” and the Hot Chip-ish “Get Off Your Hi-Hats” all mash up the sludgy electronic bass and fidgety rhythms of Dubstep & Bassline House, the stuttery edits, claps and booming 808s of Bmore Club, elements of more traditional club fare like House, Techno, Electro and contemporary commercial Rap with eclectic sampling and catchy melodies.
The first single “Make It So,” featuring Michael Johnson (formerly of Holopaw and Lilys), is all ’80s (but not in the way you might expect, considering the overwhelming crop of ’80s throwbacks), mixing Post-Disco Club Music and Electropop with an anthemic Alternative/Indie vocal. Other tracks like the rhythmically changeable soulful Chamber-Pop sound collage “You’re the One,” “If We Should,” with it’s experimental electronics, Prince-esque balladry and Madonna-reminiscent dance beats, and the retro-futuristic Club-Rap joint “Bass In It” all benefit from the vocal contributions of Sa-Ra’s Om’mas, Daedelus’ spouse Laura Darlington and Taz Arnold again.
Daedelus “Make It So” featuring Michael Johnson
Even tunes like the Rhythm & Quad revival “My Beau,” this time featuring new vocals from Paperboy, and the Girl-Group-influenced Lap-Pop of the title track from last year’s Fair Weather Friends EP, both of which are recycled here from that release, sound fresh. And a well-rounded assortment of instrumentals, like “Only For the Heartstrings,” “Drummery Jam” and “Assembly Lines” help showcase Daedelus’ already established knack for combining unusual samples, the glitches, gurgles, blips, bleeps, pings, clicks, whines & hums of Laptop music, and driving dance beats.
The result is Daedelus’ most diverse creation yet. One worthy of his mythological namesake even. Not to mention one of the year’s most strikingly different avant-garde Pop, Electronica or Dance albums that’s not James Pants‘ Welcome. You don’t have to love (or even know anything about) mythology or music as much as me to love Love To Music To. But if you do it just might be one the must-buy albums of 2008!