This review covers the drum n bass track CLS & Wax – Why Don’t You.
This track was released in 2004 on the compilation album Weapons of Mass Creation.
One standout feature of this track is the chopped vocals that are sprinkled throughout. The few comprehensible line says the title. Some of the chopped vocals are also clearly time stretched to hit different notes. I thought this added a certain sound that works really well.
The synths added a nice amount of variety throughout the listening experience. While the string-like pads underneath is featured throughout, what really gives this track strength is the overall progression. Small things about the track constantly change throughout – particularly between the vocal portions. In fact, I would say this track is one of the few I’ve heard that relies heavily on flow for its strength. It works extremely well.
The added short string notes as well as the lower one at the end (Cello?) was a nice touch. While most of this track relies heavily on electronica elements, the strings added to this track very nicely.
Another thing to note is that this track definitely has a certain underlying personality that of fun and playfulness that makes it an enjoyable track to listen to.
While this track definitely masters subtleties, I thought this track lacked a bit of ambition to really take it over the top. This is not to say this is a poorly produced track or that this was exactly an easy to produce track (chopped vocals are an extremely time consuming thing to get right from scratch most of the time) by any stretch, but I thought that this track found what worked nicely and called it a day.
Overall, though, I think this was a very good track to listen to. The chopped vocals were great. The synths and pads were great. The overall flow was top quality. Wished there was a bit more ambition to the sound, but still a track that is definitely worth listening to. A recommended track for sure.
Score
7.5/10
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Google+.
