Steve Aoki, one of the highest paid EDM DJ's in the world, prepares to cake, or throw a sheet cake, at an audience member, during his show at Hakkasan nightclub inside the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, June 14, 2014 in Las Vegas. Fans attending Aoki's shows often ask to be "caked," with yelling, gesturing and even holding up signs. (Photo Courtesy of Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times/MCT)Steve Aoki was once a great warrior of the electronic dance music genre. Or he did a cool remix of a Kid Cudi song that was in that movie “Project X.” He did something…
Today, the EDM warrior released “Neon Future," the follow-up to Aoki’s debut release, “Wonderland," and it’s odd.
“Neon Future” proposes a future clad in neon, where all inhibition is released and the human capacity for party rocking is realized. This manifesto is expressly stated in the album’s opening track, "Transcendence," where Ray Kurzweil lays out the core tenants of the proposed utopia: “We’re going to have radical life expansion / not just radical life extension.” Right out of the gate, Aoki sets high expectations for what he intends the album to accomplish.
Unfortunately, very little of the actual album promotes this wondrous neon future. In fact, most of the album creates a scenario of strobe-light induced horror.
Following "Transcendence" is the title track of the album, "Neon Future." Given that the song's name follows the name of the album, it can be assumed this track is supposed to set the tone for the following songs. "Neon Future" plays on almost every single EDM trope in the genre — the bumping bass, the increasing intensity of layers being added on top of each other and the heavily edited lyrical chorus followed by a synth-induced bass drop. This is the neon future.
From here, the album continues to make party jams that are likely to serve as soundtracks for various fraternity and sorority recruitment videos in the neon near future.
This tone is most apparent in the third track, "Back to Earth" (feat. Fall Out Boy). More than any other song on the album, "Back to Earth" plays on the inspirational themes of the album. Reminiscent of Cobra Starship-era power-pop, Patrick Stumpf moans over heavy, almost dubstep-ish wub wubs that would make the most unlikely of souls twerk.
The biggest disappointment came from "Rage the Night Away" (feat. Waka Flocka Flame). The song starts strong with a solid tension building percussion-heavy rhythm, but Flocka Flame’s follow up is largely disappointing. Maybe the expectations are too high because, you know, it’s f--ing Waka Flocka Flame, but the production seemed to drown out Flame’s chorus and verses leading to a near nu-metal, Linkin Park sounding club track that feels really weird. The drop does go a ways in saving the song and it almost makes it feel like confetti or dollar bills could fall from the sky at any point — but that does not save the song.
This “almost getting it” is the overall trend of the album. It has its bass-booming strengths and definitely employs a cadre of Aoki’s famous friends, but it never makes that cosmic leap into the proposed future that the beginning of the album sets up.
Reach the reporter at zjenning@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @humanzane
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