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He is undoubtedly the hottest name in today's electronic music scene: Deadmau5. In less than two years, this youngster has taken the world by storm with a slew of releases that have been played to death by virtually any self-respecting DJ. And those who didn't ought to. Big names such as Tiësto, Armin van Buuren, Nick Warren, Sharam, and James Zabiela have all been dubbing him as the most important producer of both 2007 and 2008, resulting in his tunes Faxing Berlin and Not Exactly dominating literally every thinkable chart and amassing over 30,000 downloads each on Beatport alone. His secret? A combination of (electro-)house, minimal beats, progressive and trance guarantees compatibility in any DJ's set of course, but his productions also do have another trademark: they are commercially catchy while at the same time maintaining an edgy and raw underground feel. 6 October sees the release of his album Random Album Title, which among the most long-awaited albums of this year. Let's put it to the test...

The theme of the album revolves pretty much around the sounds heard as on Faxing Berlin and Not Exactly: uplifting, melodic and proggy electrohouse. One can therefore dub the album as highly commercial and not too diverse, but a closer listen reveals the actual genius of Deadmau5.

The first track on the album is Sometimes Things Get, Whatever: a stomping house track that flirts with minimal elements and is remarked by a great dose of vicious claps and a jacking rhythm. The robotic vocals 'Sometimes Things Get Complicated' ensure a hysteric dance-floor, while the electro bass in the track's breakdown promises a whole lotta hysteria. The climax is a bit simple, as Deadmau5 uses the 'let's create a tension during the break and then use the same old rhythm again' trick, but hey... the production's great including some great effecting and a whole lotta raw clubbing power. As all tracks are mixed, we suddenly find ourselves listening to the second track, Complications, a proggy house tune that starts off with a series of bongos over a filthy beat after which a buzzing bass sequence comes in that gives a track a nasty vibe. The breakdown's typically progressive, the rhythm's ace, and the overall feel is amazing too. Slip, track number three, sees Deadmau5 combining elements of minimal techno to house and trance (check out those synths!) into a first-class piece of pure arousement. This one comes with an extensive break in which arped bell synths are combined to progressive and trance waves and melodies that slowly build up to a great climax. This is one of those 'allrounders': Armin van Buuren would love it, but so would Steve Bug and Sharam. A perfect mix of various genres, kicking and punching it's way around the floors.

"Fan-freakin'- tastic."

Some Kind Of Blue sports a typically progressive house rhythm with lots of twitchy hi-hats and bass, while short bits of trancey synthesizers viciously fly over the sequence. The first break on this track immediately sets things on fire, as the synths are used in such a way that they instantly boost one's excitement. Although the track's rather monotone and loopy at some points, the overall production is one again top notch and the overall tune sounds incredibly strong. And there's simply no stopping. Brazil has the best introduction of all songs on this CD: A mid-tempo jack rhythm combined to uplifting, typically trance keys. These keys are slowly altered in frequency, resulting in the break being one uplifting trance extravaganza. A pure injection of tension XL for you there! The climax is well worked out, with the real power being exposed later on as all keys are slowly rising in frequency again. Very trancey, very good. Alone With You speeds up the tempo a bit to a solid 130 BPM. Beats and a melodious bass-line make up the intro while the track heads off to the short but incredibly efficient intro: a sudden drop and then... back to the beats with a rhythm that sees bass, synths and beats colliding into one spacey proggy affair. I Remember is the only vocal track on the album (apart from the robot vox on track 1). It starts off with typical progressive trance beats, and warm genuine strings. The sounds used on this one do sound a bit like Gabriel & Dresden, and so do the fantastic vocals. Very easy 'Air-style' vocals, but then in a proggy cover you could say. The female vocals match incredibly well to the synths, creating a massively exciting, adrenaline-fuelled track that will even have the biggest trance hater jump on their feet. An incredibly powerful track oozing with energy, destined to blow the roof of any club! Fan-freakin'- tastic. One of my fave's.

Up next is the Piano Acoustica Version of Faxing Berlin: a, how surprising, piano-fuelled version of one of Deadmau5's biggest hits: it has the melody transformed into a moody piano sequence right before smoothly introducing the original version. The tune has been among this year's most popular tracks and it must be said: it is a damn good track: there's this continuous, warm progressive synthesizer wave that changes in frequency throughout the track, while stomping house bats take care of an energetic vibe. it might sound a bit simple, but the dance-floor frenzy it reflects is one-of-a-kind. Amazing. Following up right after is Deadmau5's other hit single Not Exactly which features more or less the same approach as Faxing Berlin but with a slightly more staccato and more raw electrohouse cover.The manic electrohouse synthesizer functioning as the track's theme is known to have blown many a wall out of clubs across the globe till date, and it still hasn't lost anything of it's magic. A first class four-to-the-floor rocker, simple as that. Then there's Arguru, another progressive-influenced track that relies on a emotive piano/string clash in the introduction, after which a heavy synthesizer wave is introduced. While slowly building up towards an incredible groove, the tune brings along an amazing dose of energy and tension carefully mixed into a sea of sounds. The climax is spectacular featuring jacking house beats and loads of melodies taking care of a real hands-in-the-air festival feel. The album then closes with So There I Was,a remarkable tune that revolves around a progressive/techno rhythm with amazingly deep synth basses and a very, very trancey melody. The result is another sure stomper with a touch of elegance, and a perfect closure to the album.

It's clear that Deadmau5's long awaited artists album has exceeded all expectations. All tracks feature an outstanding production: they sound clear, contain bright sounds, and also the mastering and mixing is superb. There's no time to take it easy on this CD. It's just a 12-track trip featuring nothing but fat stomping beats, uplifting synths, soaring bass-lines and insanely driving melodies, just as we know best from the much anticipated producer. But what makes this album so cool is that it actually combines loads of elements into 12 electronic dance music cross-overs without sounding corny, cheap or cheesy. It's highly commercial as underground at the same time, with each track being a potential single. This is a bar-raising artist album that has set the stakes very, very high for artists in the field of progressive, trance and house. One of 365Mag's 2008 fave's: you simply cannot afford to miss out on this one.

Track-list:

1. Sometimes Things Get, Whatever
2. Complicated
3. Slip
4. Some Kind Of Blue
5. Brazil
6. Alone With You
7. I Remember
8. Faxing Berlin - Piano Acoustica Version
9. Faxing Berlin
10.Not Exactly
11.Arguru
12.So There I Was

Related Items:

• Deadmau5 Dance Department 04-10-2008  
• Deadmau5 - Slip (Sebastien Leger Remix)
• Video: Chris Lake @ Mau5trap Party, Matter, London
• Exclusive Deadmau5 Video Interview for Imeem
• Deadmau5 Interview for RA