Artist ...... : Damian Lazarus
Title ....... : The Monster Out
Genre ....... : House
Label ....... : Get Physical Music
Catnr ....... : GPMDA009
Source ...... : WEB
Quality ..... : 320kbps avg / 44.1KHz / Joint Stereo
Duration .... : 01:01:48 (141.MB)
Ripdate ..... : 23-07-2010
Store ....... : http://www.whatpeopleplay.com
Tracklist ... :
1. Neverending 7:10
2. Lullabies 7:06
3. Come And Play 7:37
4. Bloop Bleep 7:42
5. Diamond In The Dark 6:33
6. Moment 7:27
7. It'S Raining Today 9:16
8. Memory Box 8:57
Release Notes :
Damian Lazarus? debut artist album Smoke The Monster Out is his indisputable
opus. Already world renowned as a DJ, producer and the head of influential
underground label Crosstown Rebels, Lazarus redefined himself in May 2009 with
Smoke The Monster Out; a brave, textured, enchanting and intensely personal
passion project that reflected his own wide-ranging tastes as a music lover, and
showcased his talents as producer, lyricist, vocalist and arranger. Having
caused a seismic ripple amongst fans and critics alike with Smoke The Monster
Out, the album became the basis of an extensive worldwide club tour for Damian
in 2009. From his new Los Angeles base, he set to work early in the year with
one of his favourite American artists ? abstract techno producer Kenneth J
Gibson of [a]pendics.shuffle ? to rework the album to form the basis of the live
show. Through many studio sessions, Smoke the Monster Out was re-imagined for
the club experience, combining the delicacy and quirkiness of the album?s best
and boldest moments, with the deep, dark and twisted dancefloor groove that
Lazarus is famous for. With an increasing number of requests for these club
versions, Damian is now finally able to sate appetites by releasing this highly
anticipated selection, Smoke The Monster Out ? Club Versions. ?Neverending?, a
delightful treasure of neo-tropical, vocodered electro pop, that cheekily
sampled the hugely popular James Holden remix of Andre Kraml's "Safari", here
blooms into a quirky pastiche of cut-n-paste sounds, as a heavy stepping
bassline forms the soundbed for the track?s robo-vocals and tiny, layered
snippets of electronic sounds. While the album version of ?Lullabies? flirted
with a raw and dirty sound, via its slow-mo fusion of abstract sounds and a
chiming lullaby melody, the club mix here shakes off the murk and ramps up the
unpredictability, taking ingenious left hand turns into deep and organic
discofied funk, and again to melodic tech-electronica, all the while drenched in
a woozy, wonky harpsichord melody. The gothic dance-pop of ?Come And Play? was
unique for its distinctive Nick Cave sample and the haunting vocal interplay of
Taxi Taxi twins Johanna and Miriam Berhan. Packed with tension and atmosphere,
this rework retains the track?s brooding atmosphere, dubbing out the vocals over
dueling upfront & low down synth melodies, all the while engineering an
increasing sense of dancefloor urgency perfect for peaktime builds. Bursting out
of the gate, album favourite ?Bloop Bleep? is transformed from a slice of
playful retro pop into a heavy dose of quirky minimalistic funk. A plotted bass
loop is punctuated by filtered horn stabs and the reverbed vocal sample of
children's favourite storyteller Danny Kaye, before it all takes a sideways
swerve towards twisted musical mayhem, full of clicks, claps and the requisite
bloops and bleeps. Damian?s club version of ?Diamond In The Dark? takes it on a
deep and spooky trip to a zany after hour party, where the track is exposed to
all manners of debauchery. He forms it into a twisted House groove that spits
out the sounds of the original awash in reverb and effects to send your
imagination into overdrive. The falling-down-the-rabbit-hole feel of ?Moment?
combined a stomping beat with pitch-shifting vocals. The new club interpretation
has a thrumming, elasticized bassline that?s in league with syncopated
percussive synths that lend the new arrangement a new sheen of dancefloor swing,
while the vocals either drift in and out of focus in a dream state, or bounce
back and forth in stereo clarity. ?It?s Raining Today?, a lush, orchestrated
ballad in its original form, is turned on a 180░ axis in the hands of Lazarus &
Gibson; pitched down vocal snippets are suspended over an endless loop of string
samples, chattering handclaps and a minimal techno framework. It?s an
irresistible journey into a late-night world of dark and sweaty dancing, with
delicious tension between the delicate vocals and their new unwholesome setting.
A breakdown reintroduces the emotive original, before the denouement intertwines
the old and the new for the ultimate club synergy. Lazarus & [a]pendics.shuffle
bring to ?Memory Box? all their deep experience of what makes dancefloors tick.
The vocals ride a minimal but rolling, bassy house rhythm that?s draped in
hypnotic synths and the odd clipped klaxon blast, blaring like the ghost of
nights gone by. Smoke The Monster Out was a defining moment in the ever moving
and illustrious career of Damian Lazarus. Only Damian could create an album as
exhilarating and audacious as Smoke The Monster Out, and only his inventiveness
and ingenuity could revitalise, reform and recontextualise his masterpiece in
such an accomplished way.