Mylo - Destroy Rock and Roll

[DudeAsInCool]

Easily the best commerical Dance album of 2004......, January 17, 2005

The Music press (in the UK), has been predicting the demise of Dance music, for some 2 years now, citing 'More varied musical tastes' & 'A lack of innovation' to blame for the diminishing sales of Dance albums. And while Dance album sales certainly aren't as strong as they were several years ago, those willing to dig a little deeper for their dance music, will still find a thriving scene.

Enter 24-year-old "Myles MacInnes" (aka "Mylo"), who has taken the template of mainstream Dance music, and reinterpreted it, to fit within a retro/electro dance arrangement, that has the distinction of being one of the most accomplished (if not the best) mainstream dance albums of 2004. Mylo makes the wise decision of not loading the album, with hard-hitting dance numbers, and instead fuses smooth electronica, with upbeat-electro & couple of big-beat/techno tracks.

"Sunworshipper", is gorgeous downtempo electronica, that is so simple in its creation, that its a surprise that it works so well. Think smooth & elegant downtempo 'Nightmares on Wax' style electronica, with a looped dialogue sample (which seems to be from either a film or documentary), overlayed, and brought in & out of the mix. it doesn't actually build or climax into anything, but it's simplicity is so beautifully devised, its laughable.

"Drop The pressure", up the ante with full-on dance floor electro, that immediately stands out, due to its catchiness, that throws a hard hitting electro beat, that fluctuates in tempo, with a crowd please dialogue sample of: "mother****ker's gonna crack under pressure". (think prime-era "Chemical Brothers" dropping, a knowingly cool electro-number).

"In My Arms" again moves away from presenting the listening with relentless simplistic & thudding beats, and weaves a hypnotic disco spell chopping up a riff, and rearranging the pieces to form something closer to disco-house/funk hybrid. Joyous, refreshingly different, and above all...funky as hell.

"Musclecars" leaps off the album with another slab of genuinely attention grabbing electronica, a sneaky little electro tune with woo-hoo-hoo-hoos and bleeps that sounds a bit like 'Royksopp', and therefore has that ability, to reach out to a wide audience, with something that seems to chime perfectly with people that don't usually like to electronica/Dance music.

A lot of this album is made up of ideas that in someway either reference, or give a knowing nod to music of a decade or two ago (especially 80's Pop/Rock). Whether it being tracks to owe a little debt to "Prince" ("Guilty Of Love"), or taking retro-dance ideas from "Daft Punk" ("Otto's Journey"), you'll find that although the source material from which the ideas may not be original. It's implementation represents itself in a reasonably innovate & refreshing way, and the electro/house feel running throughout the album is complementary to many moods.

Those that like their dance to be 'Underground' or consider themselves to be 'music enthusiasts', and generally avoid the sort of music, that would classify for 'Radio-play', would do well to give "Destroy Rock and Roll", a miss....and search for something a little more geared, to the 'Niche' market. As "Destroy Rock and Roll", is a mainstream dance album that uses clever stealing of 80's/90's tracks/samples, and subtle electronica to reinterpret those sounds into something more palatable for todays more demanding/discerning listeners. And manages to sit in that category of electronic/Dance albums such as: ("Royksopp's - Melody A.M."), ("Moby's - "Play"), ("Air's - Moon Safari"), ("Daft Punk's - Discovery") & ("Zero 7's - "Simple Things"), as examples of albums that have that seriously broad appeal, and yet still remain fantastically unique albums in their own right.

fetish_2000 (U.K.)/Amazon.com

Get It Here.

[method77]

I like this but I don't agree with the "best dance album of 2004" part

[Malicious Intent]

Bump This is a very good album

Good call

[DudeAsInCool]

In My Arms (Remix)