Artists who make music for themselves above all others are creating on a pure level.
Trouble is, others may have a hard time connecting to their work.
Only 22, critically acclaimed Joker is nonetheless a longtime veteran DJ of the dubstep scene of Bristol, England, though he would loathe to have “The Vision” labeled as dubstep. He prefers to call his creations “purple music,” which is a colorful way of describing his cornucopia of dubstep, other electronica, R&B, hip-hop, funk, jazz and ambient music processed through a videogame at the slowest possible speed.
It probably all makes sense to Joker, but his “Vision” is disparate at the expense of continuity. He proceeds from the dark cinematics of the instrumental “Intro” to the ticking rhythm, reverberating riffs and irregular beat of “Slaughter House” to the aggressive rub of a slo-mo “Tron” that might hypnotize listeners against their will.
Then suddenly guest vocalist Jessie Ware is singing away on the title track, tethered to a clunky buzz.
“The Vision” zigs and zags to the end: Instrumental cuts such as the cocktail-electro fantasy “Milky Way” and the ambiently jazzy “The Magic Causeway” are sharply contrasted by speed-rapping guest vocalists on the soul-steeped “Back in the Days” and the addle-paced “Lost.” And lyrically (when there are lyrics), expect little more enlightenment than these well-delivered, but empty-headed, lines from guest singer Jay Wilcox on “Electric Sea”: “Sometimes I don’t feel like talking/So I put my headphones on and keep on walking.”
As for Joker’s color scheme, “On My Mind” is a clumsy tribute to Prince, the Purple One himself.
Purple music or not, these fitfully entertaining cuts don’t fit together and ultimately blur Joker’s overall “Vision.”
Rating: 3 stars (out of five)
© 2011, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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