Album Review: Major Lazer

by Ida on June 26, 2009

 Last week I headed over to Other Music to check out Diplo and Switch's in-store performance the day before the release of their collaborative album, Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do (under the artist name Major Lazer). When I arrived there were already about fifty people standing in a line outside, but luckily my friends are Diplo nerds and were waiting for me near the front. I spotted my buddy Alvin further down the line and went over to talk to him. While we were chatting, this passerby - a guy about sixty or so - stopped to ask us what we were waiting for. Alvin explained, "We're going to see some white boys who are about to release an awesome reggae and dancehall album." All the guy could say was, "How do they get away with it?"

When we got inside, Diplo mixed his way through the album while the crowed bounced and swayed to the eclectic array of songs that criss-cross through genres but always keep the dance floor as their top priority. The duo spent time recording with artists in Jamaica, and the dancehall/reggae sound echoes throughout almost all of the tracks, but it's a brand of island music you haven't heard before. Tracks like "Cash Flow" (feat. Jah Dan) and "Mary Jane" (feat. Mapei and Mr. Evil) are laced with marching-band style horn riffs, while "Anything Goes" (feat. Turbulence) sounds like it was recorded underwater but still manages to be one the harder tracks on the album. The album begins on a deadly note with it's first single "Hold the Line" (featuring Mr. Lex & Santigold) which has an intro straight out of Kill Bill and goes on to kick it up with Santi's repetitive promise that she'll "make you jam / vibrate like a Nokia". The energy stays high to the end, with a few moments to let you catch your breath like the laid back love song "Can't Stop Now" (feat. Jovi Rockwell and Mr. Vegas) which sticks with a more traditional reggae beat. At the performance the track the set the crowd on fire was "Keep it Goin' Louder" (feat. Nina Sky and Ricky Blaze) as the album's on-your-feet party anthem. The song features Nina Sky's sweet r&b croons and Diplo and Switch's tasteful flirtation with techno toward the end of the track. A dancehall album that brushes up against techno in a way that actually works?...How DO they get away with it?