Djrum's LA EP is the second in a series of three being released by 2nd Drop Records this summer. Leaner and more focused than its predecessor, it offers up a good 14 minutes of drum'n'bass-inflected electronic music that's good enough, but fails to make a lasting impression.
It's difficult to criticize the EP, as it doesn't do anything overtly wrong. It's classy and well produced, but there simply isn't anything that stands out. The problem is perhaps the genre Djrum has chosen to work within; there is a fair amount of classic drum'n'bass in his soundbank, and he has clearly absorbed the forms and manners of dubstep, but he commits to neither style fully, leading to a watered down version of both. It also features some fairly generic samples that at times lend things a savvy '90s flair (the first one in "Abandon Me" was surely raided from Liam Howlett's hard drive), but more often than not (especially in the title track) sound dated and unimaginative.
Fans of Djrum's work will find plenty to like here; the atmospheric strings and foreboding tone remain intact, the production is slick, and he retains his cinematic flair. It doesn't offend, but it just doesn't impress either. LA is for fans first, and the merely curious second.
(2nd Drop)It's difficult to criticize the EP, as it doesn't do anything overtly wrong. It's classy and well produced, but there simply isn't anything that stands out. The problem is perhaps the genre Djrum has chosen to work within; there is a fair amount of classic drum'n'bass in his soundbank, and he has clearly absorbed the forms and manners of dubstep, but he commits to neither style fully, leading to a watered down version of both. It also features some fairly generic samples that at times lend things a savvy '90s flair (the first one in "Abandon Me" was surely raided from Liam Howlett's hard drive), but more often than not (especially in the title track) sound dated and unimaginative.
Fans of Djrum's work will find plenty to like here; the atmospheric strings and foreboding tone remain intact, the production is slick, and he retains his cinematic flair. It doesn't offend, but it just doesn't impress either. LA is for fans first, and the merely curious second.