Review Summary: With the release of "Stuff I used to do", we can read between the lines his need to come back to himself away from the dance obsession. The album is a blast from the past, also reflecting to an artist too dumbed down for his own good.
"Stuff I used to do" is stuff deadmau5 used to do. By "used" we can take a perspective to an artist who has hollowed out a template he used to conceive as a fluid way to investigate what deadmau5 could do or be. For now, we know a mouse-headed dance artist from a very limited palette of sounds and grooves that only appeal to those who mind not such lack of variety or life in music.
There is partial truth in this, we can look at 2009 song "Bot" and discover a very promising narrative that has been hidden to a dance tune. Even in 2008 song "Faxing Berling" there are possibilities for establishing a story too tragic, perhaps too truthful, to be defined with anything else but the song and the title. We're hearing something only passion can do. The problem may be in the reality that for dance there is demand but no standard. By 2012 we know a song called "The Veldt", but something has gone amiss, that amazing ability to hide shades of dark in even a very uplifting track, with only lyrics offering that possibility to come into reality, that certain need to showcase undertones is waning away. In 2014 we have a *** you called "Infra Turbo Pigcart Racer", a tune to play Minecraft with your friends to.
Last year there was a sense of escapism in his latest album, " W:/2016ALBUM/", which was his attempt at redefining the identity of deadmau5 to include that psychological aspect that promotes melancholy, but the damage is done. Songs like "Let Go", "2448", and "Imaginary Friends" describe very well this decaying phenomenon of atmospheric detail that has been a trend for his style in the years. However, A blink of light, originality perhaps, was the song "Snowcone", something he has been struggling to discover from his act for a long time.
And here we are with a compilation of his old works from over ten years ago, his desire to reestablish his own craft can be heard already. That invoking aspect of his music has been missing for some time and he releases some of the oldest works known to him, showcasing his need to reshape his act. Presumably some drunken teenage girls will be sourly disappointed in the next live concert for witnessing a reemerging IDM artist take the stage where once stood a man with a gigantic mouse head bobbing to beats.
"Stuff I used to do" is very well thought transition-wise, showcasing some Halcyon441 interest in offering
challenging breakbeat, glitchy uncertainty leveled with, you guessed it, darkness. "screen door", is blatantly creepy, possibly to a point of exhaustion for some. "50 something cats", despite the name and DUDE CATS LOL- aspects, we follow this very Boards of Canada-like melancholic chord progression. There are a lot of fun, possibly catchy songs on this album, but the album is divided by "HaxPigMeow", better known to some as "Meowingtons enables hax", which works both to extend runtime but also separates the older deadmau5 from the newer one in a very abusive way.
Though "long walk off a short pier" brings us back and the album runs adequately to an ending.
Simply put, deadmau5 was in a very Aphex Twin-like approach to music in the earlier days, most evident from the song "try again". Trying again is indeed what Joel Zimmerman is going to pursue. Not only did we see this from the song "Snowcone" but also from his depression. With this release of works he himself presumably has used to reaffirm his ground as a serious artist, we can perhaps look forward to production we haven't seen from this man since ">4x4=12<". Perhaps since that specific album because that album was his rise to succession, but downfall from his ability to capture genuinity. With the release of "Stuff I used to do", we can read between the lines his need to come back to himself away from the dance obsession. The album is a blast from the past, also reflecting to an artist too dumbed down for his own good. I might repeat myself from my review of "W:/2016ALBUM/", but it's good to have a house artist who has an amazing ability to DESCRIBE with music and it's an amazing thing for this man to realize it for himself.
