HOT OFF THE PRESS! Cyril Hahn- Perfect Form

Artist: Cyril Hahn

Song: Perfect Form feat. Shy Girls
Release: 9th September 2013 Via PMR Records

After practically being at what I would say was a disjointed front row performance by the man above, Cyril Hahn, at Leeds' very own hidden gem The Faversham back in February, I realised that this man's talent goes beyond simply remixing some of the most recognised songs such as "Say My Name" by Destiny's Child (to great success I might add) or also being a very talented DJ in his live performances. The Swiss born, Canadian raised producer seems to make anything work; give him a production studio and a deadline, and he'll create a work of genius, which appears to be the case with his latest song Perfect Form (which at the time of writing was released a mere 24 hours ago!) featuring the vocals of Shy Girls, this song has instant classic written all over it. Although that phrase is used too liberally nowadays, I can justify as to why.

It moves away from a lot of what the current House music mill is producing in that it provides an old school feel, almost reminiscent of a Trance track thanks to the highs in the song, whilst keeping within the realms of House (thanks to the 4/4 beat) making it perfect both on the dancefloor and in more relaxed settings due to the lows which Hahn always seems to perfect, definitely giving it that Balearic feel without making it too relaxed. It isn't overcomplicated by effects like phasers or echos, the vocals are simple and short which will be ideal to play out in any DJ set since the vocals between the beats are short enough for listeners to remember, but long enough that it won't be labelled as a cheesy Euro-beat style song, maintaining the songs re-playability factor. 

What makes this song different from Cyril's other works is that it's not a remix as many of Cyril's better known songs tend to be, this is purely his own work, which highlights his credentials as a producer, and hopefully is hinting at a possible album release in the foreseeable future. either way the man behind the "Sweet Talk" remix of Jessie Ware has definitely proven himself; Perfect Form simply sets that in stone.

Here's the link if you haven't heard the song: https://soundcloud.com/cyrilhahn/cyril-hahn-perfect-form

Disclosure's Settle: The Review

Artist: Disclosure
Title: Settle

Released: June 2013
Label: PMR, Island Records

After the rumours of the apparently "faked" DJ set by the breakthrough duo that is Disclosure at Wembley Arena having made it into the musical worlds news bulletins, I felt that it was about time that I actually listened to the album, since despite not listening to the radio a great deal, whenever I do its guaranteed that the Lawrence brothers' songs are on the general rotation.

I've been waiting for this album for a long time, since I've been listening to Disclosure a long time before the likes of "Latch" and "White Noise" were jamming the airwaves of Blighty, and when the release of Settle slowly approached, the hype that surrounded this musical duo was unbelievable, as I don't think there has been such a buzz over House/Garage style music like this in the mainstream since the 90's, and it's clear to see why. Catchy songs such as the aforementioned are perfect for the dance floor, and will surely become crucial songs for many DJ's when transitioning from one genre to another in their sets. The one thing to note is that the majority of the songs on the album either have had a music video release or a single release, hence the amount of airtime that some of the songs have received.

The intro of the album typifies the "classic" Disclosure sound, with the use of minimalistic snares and hi hats with an underlying bass carrying the song to a crescendo at the mid-way point. This format for which many people recognise the Lawrence brothers' music, is configured so that the bass and lows of the song take precedence in "When A Fire Starts To Burn", however listening closely you can see that the song has borrowed the same snare beat from "White Noise", which mentally detracts from the production of the song. Moving into "Latch", the blueprint by which Disclosure follow almost religiously is returned to normal, with the voice of Sam Smith definitely making the track what it is, and is undisputed in the reason as to why the song had such immense success in the UK charts.

When "Defeated No More" comes on, you know that it is going to be an instant classic, or would be should it ever get a single release. Once again the singing here takes the song to the next level, and the instantly recognisable voice of the Friendly Fires front man Ed Macfarlane  almost makes it feel like Disclosure have remixed one of Ed's songs, to great precision, giving the song the overall feel of the sort of Balearic Summer many thousands of musically minded Brits will be experiencing come the summer holidays. The singing is equally as impressive on the track "Voices" featuring Keable, however I don't think that it quite compares to the collaboration with the "Hawaiian Air" superstar.

The final part of the album is introduced in a way by the interlude of "Second Chance" a two minute piece which is a lot more relaxed than the other tracks, definitely giving the listener time to reflect on the first part of "Settle". The sampling here is also of a very high standard, something which Disclosure cannot be faulted on, the track definitely gives a similar feel to one of their older tracks called "Tenderly". "Grab Her" is certainly a low point in the album, as it is a very lacklustre track which could be passed off as any other Future House musician's work, with a simple bass kick and synthesiser set up, this track definitely takes away from the overall production quality of the album, apart from the sampling, which is again quality although again slightly lacking.

The final two track are definitely the two that I would pick to finish the album off with. "January" which features the underrated Jamie Woon definitely sounds and plays like a Jamie Woon song, it could have certainly had it's place in the "Gravity" singer's own album with the multitude of synthesisers that are on display here. The final track featuring London Grammar called "Help Me Lose My Mind" also equates to the  previous song in that the featuring artists definitely make the song their own.

To highlight, Disclosure have succeeded in producing an album which will cater for both the Chart music lover who can't escape the Top 40 just as much as those who are more in tune with the world of House or this emerging genre of "Future House/Bass" which sees the Lawrence brothers pioneering this. An issue I find though is that all the songs have a sample or singer laying their vocals on the track, which I feel may annoy many fans of House which doesn't include any vocals and strives to show instead the intricacy of the actual melodies produced, but I feel that with the current state of music nowadays, a "cross-over" act like Disclosure who have the ability to make quality melodies, with or without singers will truly succeed, as they can provide something for everyone. A final issue is that many could see this album as being a sample pack in essence due to the number of singers that are present, hence why many of the tracks with better known artists such as Woon and Macfarlane feel like they could be adapted to both their respective albums, however this doesn't present a problem overall as the album is strong enough to allow Guy and Howard Lawrence to receive the credit they truly deserve for delivering this album the way they have.

In terms of RE-PLAYABILITY, "Settle" certainly holds this factor well, as long as the songs which have been horrendously overplayed on the radio are avoided and not played too many times, since this is such a solid album.

the STAND OUT TRACKS for me are as follows:

January ft. Jamie Woon
Help Me Lose My Mind ft. London Grammar
Defeated No More ft. Ed Macfarlane

Review System

First of all, I feel it's important to let people know that these reviews are all MY OWN OPINION. I don't believe that I'm writing for any sort of journalistic format, so I won't be trying to critique music as if the heads of major record companies are going to be breathing down my neck to get a positive review out of me.

Also, there won't really be a rating system as I don't feel experienced enough to provide an /5 or /10 rating for music since when looking back in retrospect you never agree with what you will have rated something, so I will instead end all my reviews with sub-sections summarising the re-playability of the album, and the stand out tracks from my point of view. I hope that everyone can take something from this as I try to show my love for music, in a more professional sense at least!

The beginning

As I already mentioned in my first blog "Jumping the bandwagon", I wanted to provide something more than just me blabbing on about how wonderful my life as a student will be when I'm visiting a billion and one places in the coming summer and year. This is where the title comes in, and I know it's in Spanish, but I like to chop and change things every now and again, keep it interesting; such is the life of a Languages student.

So this blog (if you haven't Google Translated it yet) is for me to review albums, my way. Hopefully I'll be adding in some background information to the proceedings (just so it seems entirely legit and I haven't sprawled it out in about 5 minutes). A lot of what I'll be reviewing will be from the world of Electronic music. With that being said I feel that a musical review blog needs to be wide ranging so I'll be dissecting other tracks as well, so that readers don't get bored of me just talking about "ooh how bassy!" or "that drop is insane!". However apart from reviewing music, I'd like to also highlight new music or music which I feel could be better advertised, since there is a lot of musical talent in the world which is highly under-represented in my opinion.

Just to whet your appetites, here's a picture of the Dubstep legend that is Benga and little old me, who I found roaming the streets of Manchester last weekend before his set at Parklife 2013. As many people will already know, I was in awe, since his music was what got me into listening to more electronic music and caused my transition from Hip-Hop to the world of EDM, before eventually winding up listening to House and taking a greater interest in Deep House (yes that's right, I didn't start listening to it just because the student populous of Leeds all listen to it!).