Wonderland – Steve Aoki (Album Review)

Wonderland – Steve Aoki  (register & login to view link)

Steve Aoki has long been associated with all aspects of the EDM scene. Club promotions, remixes, label head, producer, A&R… I could go on. His Dim Mak Records has released some of the biggest electro-house tracks over the last few years, and 2012 looks to be the year he becomes a household name.

The first thing to note is that this is an incredibly diverse album, ranging from trance and electro to dubstep and punk, and many fans may find this frustrating. For example, “Earthquakey People” is Über-poppy, with the chorus, courtesy of Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo, commanding us to “jump around, nothing they can do or say to bring us down”, or “Ladi Dadi“, featuring Wynter Gordon, which sounds a bit like a Dirty Talk dubstep remix, are both perfect radio-ready records. Then, at the other end of the spectrum, you’ve got “The Kids Will Have Their Say“, a sonic mind-f*ck that sounds like Slipknot did some ecstasy, and got in the studio with Aoki, a live drummer, and a violinist? Combining hip-hop, with features from Kid Cudi on two tracks, dubstep, and rock on many tracks, on the whole I can’t see this being a popular album amongst fans of Aoki’s works such as “I’m in the House“, “Warp“, or “No Beef“, but musical prejudices aside, I enjoyed the majority of this record, with tracks such as Steve Jobs (The 80′s) and Control Freak highlighting Aoki’s talent as a producer.

However, taken as a stand alone album, this is a strong offering, from a very talented DJ/producer indeed, flexing his creative muscles, creating a melting pot of genres to satisfy a current musical scene where pretty much every one from every scene is collaborating with every one else. Unfortunately individual tracks let it down, with one too many features and one too many genres included, watering down the EDM content to the point where you find yourself forgetting if you’re listening to a LMFAO album, a Pitbull album, or an Aoki one.

Shout out to Will at Dim Mak for giving me an exclusive listen to this.

Stand out tracks: Dangerous (Featuring Zuper Blahq), Steve Jobs (The 80′s), Control Freak, Earthquakey People.

What do you guys think? What would you give this record out of 10? Is Aoki heading in the right direction with his sound?

Ed