One of the worst reviews I've seen on Discogs (& why you should not put producers in boxes)

dmgtz96

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
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Checked out Mat Zo's Damage Control on Discogs and found an... interesting review. Dated March 20th, 2014.

This album sums up everything what is wrong in current electronic music scene. Most of the tracks have some nice ideas but that's all. Like so many other producers, Mat Zo now refuses to produce tracks "for the floor", that means tracks with a DJ-friendly intro and or outro, tracks that are longer than 4 minutes or faster than 118bpm. It feels like he refuses to make House or at least something you can work with on a floor.

As user sayeh wrote, "EZ" and "Hurricane" are interesting tracks here, but why the hell are they so short? "Only For You" is good too, but way too slow, the tempo doesn't fit the style here. "Easy" has the right tempo and is not too short, but unfortunately it is annoying as the SHM stuff. "The Sky" is my personal favourite, it's the only track I can imagine to integrate into a set.

I don't care about the other, mostly downtempo, pseudo-Soul/Disco or Dubstep tracks, it is like Mat Zo wants to tell us, "hey, I can write true songs, too!", but unfortunately they are nothing really new or original and were better written in the 70s or at least by Daft Punk, or some Dubstep producers. In other words: If I want to listen to Dubstep, I buy a Dubstep album, same for Disco, Soul etc. If I want to listen to Mat Zo, I want something for the floor, some housy and some trancy melodies. Of course, there is nothing wrong with slower tracks. But hey, there used to be a whole chill/ambient subgenre in the Trance/Progressive scene, so why not put something like this on the album ("Superman Lost" is the sole exception here.)

I could not help but extremely disagree with what that review stated, and I vibed much better with the response to that review:
It's nearly triggering how much I disagree with this entire comment. Your opinion is heavily misguided, and any artist showcasing their ability to produce quality music in different genres deserves nothing but respect. Sad to see you feel this way about such a gem!

In my opinion:
  • DJs are not entitled to DJ-friendly tracks from electronic producers
  • An electronic producer can make tracks for any intention they want, with any duration they feel is correct
  • An electronic producer does not have to solely produce one specific style just because his/her fans want it. Electronic producers are welcome to experiment however they'd like
  • A comment like "If I want to listen to Dubstep, I buy a Dubstep album, same for Disco, Soul etc. If I want to listen to Mat Zo, I want something for the floor, some housy and some trancy melodies. " shows that you are expecting too much from producers, and your lack of flexibility is "what is wrong with the electronic music scene" (in the reviewer's own words)
Link to the review

Discuss!
 

SecondNature

Member
Oct 27, 2020
148 Posts
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USA
Website
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In my opinion:
  • DJs are not entitled to DJ-friendly tracks from electronic producers
  • An electronic producer can make tracks for any intention they want, with any duration they feel is correct
  • An electronic producer does not have to solely produce one specific style just because his/her fans want it. Electronic producers are welcome to experiment however they'd like
  • A comment like "If I want to listen to Dubstep, I buy a Dubstep album, same for Disco, Soul etc. If I want to listen to Mat Zo, I want something for the floor, some housy and some trancy melodies. " shows that you are expecting too much from producers, and your lack of flexibility is "what is wrong with the electronic music scene" (in the reviewer's own words)

Agreed. While it can be noted that producers have their signature sounds, it should never be a limiting factor for them in creating music. It's their choice to turn it into trance, house, rock, dnb, hip-hop, or whatever genre they want it to be. Genre is a boundary that can easily be taken off. Melody is a fluid thing and it can turn into whatever style you want it to be.
 
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Archon

Gagi
TranceFix Crew
Jun 27, 2020
4,104 Posts
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Just recently this happened with Gaia - Moons of Jupiter as well. Many were disappointed because they expected something else, but I found the entire concept so encouraging, simply because Armin did the opposite of what he was doing in the past few years -- he took risks and experimented! So when he did, I thought it was worthy of encouragement. But after all the feedback, I doubt he'll do it again.
 

Progrez

Elite Member
Jun 17, 2022
2,251 Posts
1,096 Thanked
Just recently this happened with Gaia - Moons of Jupiter as well. Many were disappointed because they expected something else, but I found the entire concept so encouraging, simply because Armin did the opposite of what he was doing in the past few years -- he took risks and experimented! So when he did, I thought it was worthy of encouragement. But after all the feedback, I doubt he'll do it again.
I don't see the reviews on here nor can I see them on reddit. I see a couple of negative feedbacks but that's regarding the mixing of the album.