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Songs [Rusko] [CD] [1 disc]

Rusko
1 disc

1. Intro: Year 3000
2. Somebody to Love
3. Pressure
4. Skanker
5. Love No More
6. Opium
7. Dirty Sexy
8. Be Free
9. Thunder
10. Roll da Beats [Old Skool Edition]
11. Mek More Green
12. Asda Car Park
13. Whistle Crew
14. M357
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Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): MAD 158CD
Credits

Producer
Engineer
In 2012, with his second album for Mad Decent, Christopher Mercer, aka Rusko, intended to push the envelope on a genre that was increasingly becoming commonplace. When boiled down to its bare essence, Songs is a dubstep album with the wobbly bass bombs to prove it, but Rusko tackles 14 tracks with 14 vocalists and takes on all sorts of styles, including Top 40 pop, '90s house, grime, jungle, ragga, and even lovers rock reggae. Amidst all the territory covered, there's an underlying thread of dubstep -- which is predictable, since O.M.G.! is often credited as the album that introduced the genre to the mainstream with its Britney Spears collaboration "Hold On" -- but his decision to call this his "anti-brostep" album doesn't seem so far-fetched once you realize how effectively he can mix a wealth of musical styles into 2-step. It's just as natural to hear the sub-bass drops in a Rihanna pop song like "Dirty Sexy" as it is in the Sly & Robbie-esque "Skanker." All of the music is well executed, and the Leeds College of Music grad shows that he is a rabid music enthusiast who knows his history, and isn't afraid to have some fun bringing it to the surface. This is the perfect type of album for people who think dubstep is too singular and great proof that there are still possibilities for expansion in the genre. ~ Jason Lymangrover
Critic Reviews

Rolling Stone (p.66) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[With] effervescent house, pop, R&B, dancehall, even two-step garage -- a style that preceded dubstep -- with vocals ready to pop like champagne bubbles."
Magnet (p.57) - "SONGS is a taut collection of tunes that pulls from dancing days gone by as much as it pushes the genre toward the future; it's a vibrant, dubbed-out dance album..."
Billboard (p.36) - "'Whistle Crew' brings it all together: speedy keys, R&B vocals, reggae MC and a mooing cow noise for good measure. This is guilt-free bass bliss for a post-genre age."
Q (Magazine) (p.105) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "On 'Skanker' roots'n'culture reggae chat and sensi-inspired sonics give a barking dubstep groove added depth....Superb."