Deadmau5 – Random Album Title

Festival-goers may have been a little freaked out this summer when faced with what appeared to be a deranged Mickey Mouse spinning tracks behind the decks. This giant red rodent was no illusion, but the trademark costume of Canadian producer Deadmau5, who regularly sports his giant scarlet Mau5head on stage. But beneath the “quirky” album title and gimmicky fancy-dress shines an album packed with twinkling brilliance, a subtle fusion of minimal house, trace and techno. Contradicting his name and appearance, the mau5 seems to shy away from anything cheesy, instead producing a smooth collection of slow-burning masterpieces. The deep swelling melody of Slip and Complications, with it’s strange life-support-machine-like beeping, tie in perfectly with the now well-known singles like Not Exactly and Faxing Berlin. The beauty of Random Album Title lies in its apparent simplicity, but the alluring, enveloping intensity that underpins each track means it’s not hard to believe that the man and his mask could be headlining those festival freak outs soon. [Emma Kilday]