Sexor

Album Review

Quebec DJ and artist extraordinaire Tiga introduces Sexor with "Welcome to Planet Sexor" before moving into the retro-dance sound of "(Far From) Home" that sounds like a cross between a funky version of the Cars, Queen, and T. Rex. The bass nestles into a deep groove early and from there the song shines, almost being impossible to screw up. Add in a nice, subtle piano and it is hard not to appreciate this tune. Tiga then moves to a slightly faster, dance-oriented format on "You Gonna Want Me." Here the tune resembles any retro-pop or electro-pop outfit like Controller.Controller or Franz Ferdinand without the guitar hooks but with plenty of hi-hat being used. Meanwhile "High School/Jamaican Boa" sounds eerily like early Depeche Mode with Tiga keeping the energy high and the beat infectious. Rather than relying on hard, punishing, and rapid-fire beats often associated with dance music, Tiga falls in line with acts like Fatboy Slim and especially Chemical Brothers with the rap-meets-electro rock of "Louder Than a Bomb," the Public Enemy classic. A few of these songs miss the mark, particularly the quasi-soulful and sultry "Pleasure from the Bass," which relies on a repetitive bassline. But it's his choice of covers that shows how he can mold some tracks into his own realm, particularly the version of "Down in It" by Nine Inch Nails that has the same industrial tones but doesn't opt for the hostile, angry, or angst-riddled delivery Trent Reznor excels at. And he also gives "Burning Down the House" by Talking Heads a similar treatment. As for his own material, Tiga gets the most out of ordinary electro-pop songs like "The Ballad of Sexor." The first true "dance" song comes along in the form of the seven-minute "Good as Gold/Flexible Skills" that closely resembles the opening to Pink Floyd's "Run Like Hell," with a nice bass and a militaristic backbeat. And the closing "Brothers" keeps the intensity up with a no-nonsense tempo and a terribly strong backbeat that resembles a remix Tiga might do of a radio-friendly pop tune.