Simian Mobile Disco

It is my opinion that Simian Mobile Disco is the new "cool" thing to listen to among the artists or underground crowd. It is hard for me to state that objectively since I am a part of that demographic and am exposed to all sorts of music that I assume everyone already knows about, and most of my peers do.

ADSR is a pretty good album, they jump start with you with "Sleep Deprivation" which is probably the best track on the album. It's quite dancy, but trickles into that weird singy-poppy house music bracket. I'm a really big fan of their mixes like "Suck My Deck" or "Cornerstone #39", which I think is where they really shine. I'd opt to find one of their mixes rather than this.

This album has some great hits on it, and is good car listening music or put on and forget... but... there's better techno out there.

I was never a big fan of the original Simian, although I did like a few of their songs (the best of which were often featured on car or soap commercials). Their music had an electro-epileptic tweakiness to it, as if in the search of the perfect minimalist hook, all they could come up with was the aural equivalent of a nervous tic.

Simian Mobile Disco features a longer name but half as many members. Having fewer cooks means the broth has more creative spice to it, but there's still that odd, underformed flavor. The duo of Ford and Shaw are still bravely blazing the techno corridors of pulled-back pop, but that means the album as a whole sounds like a case of trial and error. It's not like I fault the disc for lacking any kind of consistent sound, but I do fault it for its inconsistent quality.

I wish I could say what cripples it most, but there's no pattern to it. The songs that work range from jaw-busting dance ("Sleep Deprivation" and "It's the Beat," which has a cameo by Ninja from The Go! Team) to a sort of floofy, fun house trance ("Clock," which reminds me a lot of the lighter stuff by TFSOL, and "Scott"). I really like how they play with shaved off sound, techno-tinctured tinbeats sparkling along the groove lines of the songs.

But, overall, the album's wings are crippled by a basic lack of borders. Every once in a while you'll catch a track that has a high-sheen vocal track that's so silly and tired that the rather nice electronic backdrop is drowned out ("Love," for my part, being the best -- or worst -- example of this.) And, worse, some of the songs stale quite fast. On my first listen, I kind of liked "I Got This Down," but on my second time around, I wondered how anyone who wasn't drunk could find it enjoyable on any level.

On the whole, I won't say it's a bad album, but it fails to inspire any of the things its genre flopping songs want it to. And if the title is any indication of the record's goals, I'll say, for now, only one of those words is apt.

While I was really impressed with about half the tunes on this album, the other half, mainly vocals, were not my type of music. On the whole, it's all very good, well-constructed music. I just wish all of it had been instrumental, instead of being half vocals.

I bought this album after first hearing the tracks Sleep Deprivation and Scott on Yahoo Lauchcast radio. I was disappointed to find out that most of the tracks suffer from vocals that are not only cheesy, but lame.

Anyway, if you just listen to the non vocal part of the songs, these guys really do have a gift for progessing a song through various sounds and building a song that is interesting to dance to, and even to sit and listen to. But for me, the vocals just ruin the ride.

These guys remind me of Fischer-Spooner, except that the lyrics seem to come from the mind of a young child. Maybe this is what they were after, but for me most of the songs are irritating.

Worth the purchase for Sleep Deprivation and Scott alone, the bonus tracks are good, and I can tolerate a couple of tracks 2-9...

First seven tracks or so are bonkers.. this album is defintely worth buying if you are into indie club music.. or electronica for that matter!

Simian Mobile Disco have made a hit with album. listening to the tracks on this album is an enjoyable experience. Seeing this all live or hearing it in a dance club is even better.

This album is well done and has plenty of delightful dance tracks that many people can enjoy if they are fans of the sounds of Electroclash, Nu-Rave, Minimalist Techno,Synth Dominated, and even glitch heavy over driven wet bass heavy techno. This album has the potential to still be around for a decade (at least I hope to be right in that hope).

Simian Mobile Disco have made a hit with album. listening to the tracks on this album is an enjoyable experience. Seeing this all live or hearing it in a dance club is even better.

This album is well done and has plenty of delightful dance tracks that many people can enjoy if they are fans of the sounds of Electroclash, Nu-Rave, Minimalist Techno,Synth Dominated, and even glitch heavy over driven wet bass heavy techno. This album has the potential to still be around for a decade (at least I hope to be right in that hope).