Has anyone else noticed a huge difference between Nor Cal’s bass music and the rest of the world’s bass music? Nor Cal producers have this hyphy hip hop tear-out laser sound that is so distinctly theirs… and they really fucking love their wobbles. That said, Siren’s “Jingletown” (Muti) has a definitive Nor Cal vibe to it. He tries to capture the vibe of  ”Jingletown,” the ghetto neighborhood in the south part of Oakland in a meaty five course album.

The Good: I enjoyed the first track, “Summer Time in Oakland;” it is visual- the tune transports me to a hot sticky summer cruise through Oakland. Big ups to Siren for capturing a moment so eloquently.

The Bad: The rest of the album’s production to me sounds static. Nothing stands out stylistically, and the message Siren tries to convey gets lost somewhere in the cloud of mid-bass.

The Ugly: There are a lot of layers to his songs, but they are so heavy-handed that he loses the balance between melody and “fart bass” (you know, that synth Joker, Mimosa, and Nit Grit use). My biggest complaint is that Siren relies on this synth to carry the entire song. There should be a variety of different melodies, instruments, and hooks brought in, evolving the tune, making it complex and interesting rather than overwhelming and flat. I found that a lot of the songs were too compressed, and aurally inarticulate.

Really at the end of the day, it’s a matter of taste. I think a lot of people would like this album,  especially on the dance floor. Siren tore it up at the Eskmo show last week at The Do Lab’s King King event… but I’m pretty over this fart bass sound for the moment. The market is saturated with it; the industry is drowning in it. I can’t wait until the newer innovative sounds I hear creeping in, start gaining traction on the dance floors instead.

♥,
J

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