Anyone who has ever heard a DJ set from Detroit legend DJ Bone knows exactly what his three deck style is all about. Chopping, cutting, and turntablism are all a part of his high octane sound which rarely drops below 130 BPM.
The style of playing at a high tempo but still managing to keep it funky and soulful is something that most DJ’s struggle with, but DJ Bone is part of a rare breed who consistently delivers in this style, and his new album on Subject Detroit reminds us he is also an accomplished producer.
Right from the offset the album is full of character with the string pads of appropriately titled “It Begins” opening the LP. Quickly his DJ style can be heard in the structure of the track, preferring to do straight cuts rather than blends, many of the dramatic section changes sound like they have been done by hand rather than computer automated.
The looped melody of “Dreamers 9” picks things up to the raw energy that continues to flow throughout the release, with tracks like “Power Outage” and “The Chase” being in a similar loopy techno style.
There is a story being told and each of the tracks has its own individual flavour, broken up by deeper cuts such as “”All My Heart” and “Workings Of The Inner Circle“.
For those looking for a continuous piece of music then you won’t be disappointed, as no doubt it will it be a constant source of enjoyable home listening, but due to the dancefloor friendly style of the tracks many people might also look to use the release as a tool for DJ use.
Some of the standout cuts that might find their way into DJ sets are perhaps the electro track “Lectronimo“, plus the pounding groove and commanding vocals of “Sweat“, but even the soulful outro track called “R.I.P” could easily be used as a tool to DJ with.
Overall this is a great release that has a rough and ready sound in keeping with the charismatic style of the artist, and for those interested, you can pick up a copy HERE.
