Legend Recognize Legend

by Lazerbeak

Before this album was released, Lazerbeak, best known as the producer par excellence of the Doomtree collective, warned his fans that it wasn't going to be what they were expecting.  I appreciated the warning, as I was originally anticipating a strong instrumental album with some dirty beats and chirpy sped-up vocal samples.  Instead, he gifted us with Legend Recognize Legend.

The first time I listened to it, I kind of hated it.  I thought he was doing the same thing that RJD2 did with his Third Hand album, which I couldn't stand (although maybe I should give it another try).  The second time, I started to get it a little better.  Now, it's become one of my favourite albums of 2010.

See, Lazer has bucked all expectations and put out a pop album which is heavy on the synthesizers, and which features his own singing.  It's a pretty weird concoction.  The songs are airy and light, although they occasionally feel a little emo.  There are plenty of guest performers playing live instruments, and the lovely Dessa appears on one track.

The album is short - 10 songs in 34 minutes - and is really meant to be listened to as a single piece.  The songs match up with each other perfectly, and the album just floats along on its good intentions.

I bought this on cd, and it came with a dvd which features a video for each song.  Some are straight up trippy (the video for Dream Team just shows multi-coloured jellyfish floating around), while others are more conventional in their approach.

This is a very cool project.  Congratulations to Lazerbeak for doing his own thing, no matter how non-commercial it may seem.