Dirty Vegas

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Dirty Vegas

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Like most people I heard about Dirty Vegas through the Mitsubishi Eclipse commercial which featured the electronic dance hit, Days Go By. And while that song is really quite enjoyable, radio killed it after excess airplay. That's the main reason why I bought the album; to hear what else Dirty Vegas had to offer. What I heard, however, sort of surprised me. Now I'm not saying that I was disappointed... NO WAY!... it just shocked me to find a lot of acoustic and folk influences in addition to the dancy funk vibes expected. I actually feel that "Ghosts" is his most impressive song on here just because of its showcasing of both worlds with an acoustically folkish beginning that breaks through to infectious tech-pop. "7AM" and "The Brazilian" actually carry the hardest techno/trance beats with consistant flows that will turn your room into an all-night dance party while "Throwing Stones" has more of a progressive house sound that's quite addicting. I must explain, though, how this album is not entirely a dance album but rather trance-pop with the aforementioned acoustic guitars and folkish-pop singing. His voice even resemles that of David Gray...(at least to me...) My absolute favorite song, however, would have to "Simple Things Part 2" which samples some vocals from Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall pt. 2". I also really enjoy the acoustic version of "Days Go By" which is a break from the overplayed mainstream version.

Overall I feel that Dirty Vegas's debut album definitely has potential it just falls short when it comes to originality. I still recommend this album but when it comes to dance music there are much better things to choose from, such as Leftfield's LEFTISM, Kylie Minogue's FEVER and The Crystal Method's VEGAS. Don't let that disgruntle you, though, because this really is a good album. It's just not the best in its genre.

DV may have a brilliant name, and as it happens a solid album here, but they also stumbled on something quite new: a mixture of dance and synth, mixed with music essentially accoustic and driven by song-writing. Ministry of Sound meets Crowded House. This, coupled with the compelling beats and soundworld of the teriffic nightclub-like Days Go By, represents a missed opportunity. The combination of the above, plus more resembling the processes behind Days Go By, would probably propel DV to greater heights. As it is, there is an unwelcome feeling of caution, a fear of letting rip.

3's a deceptive score, but 4 was a tad high. Days Go By, Lost Not Found and Throwing Shapes are the pick, i.e. the more innovative ventures which would get any crowd going, with the dreamy and seductively sparse Candles being a delight. But I was left wishing there'd been more adventure and fliration with gung-ho beats and synths, rather than revert repeatedly to anglo-Crowded House. The two styles are both fine, but Days Go By next to, for example, Ghosts, is just bizarre. Diversity is a wonderful thing (ala Radiohead etc) but in this case it represents half-effort in either category rather than mastering both.