Musically Massive

David Last Vs. Zulu / David Last

  • AllMusic Rating
    8
  • User Ratings (0)
  • Your Rating

Musically Massive Review

by Rick Anderson

The story behind this album is almost laughably unlikely: club music producer David Last was on vacation in Australia, putting some dancehall beats together and looking for a vocalist. A colleague directed him to Chicago-based dancehall singer Zulu, and Last sent him a track via e-mail. Zulu voiced it and sent it back. The result was so good that they made an entire album that way, which the honchos at Berlin-based label Staubgold subsequently heard, thus completing a geographically enormous triangle along which enough data eventually flowed to create this finished product, a tremendously entertaining fusion of dubstep, reggaeton, dancehall, electro, and pop that hits a high energy level from the very beginning and never really flags. The title may be somewhat ironic: although the impact of this music is pretty massive, its construction is often quite minimal. Check out the bare-bones Roland 909 accompaniment to the bouncing "Exhibition Virtue," or the even more minimalist "Ever Ready." In fact, when the sound thickens up the impact tends to fade a bit, as on the enjoyable but somewhat more pedestrian "Necessary Evils." But before you can register disappointment with those tracks, you'll be lifted out of your seat again by such top-notch fare as the energetically chugging "Caresss" or the fun combination track "Put Me on Your Guest List." If you want a sneak preview of what dancehall reggae is likely to sound like ten years from now, this may be as good a guess as any.

Track Listing

Title/Composer Performer Time Stream
1 David Last / David Last Vs. Zulu feat: Zulu 03:41 SpotifyAmazon
2 David Last / David Last Vs. Zulu feat: Zulu 03:42 SpotifyAmazon
3 David Last / David Last Vs. Zulu feat: Zulu 05:43 SpotifyAmazon
4 David Last / David Last Vs. Zulu feat: Zulu 04:54 SpotifyAmazon
5 David Last / David Last Vs. Zulu feat: Zulu 03:03 SpotifyAmazon
6 David Last / David Last Vs. Zulu feat: Zulu 02:20 SpotifyAmazon
7 David Last / David Last Vs. Zulu feat: Zulu 03:26 SpotifyAmazon
8 David Last / David Last Vs. Zulu feat: Zulu 04:47 SpotifyAmazon
9 David Last / David Last Vs. Zulu feat: Zulu 03:42 SpotifyAmazon
10 David Last / David Last Vs. Zulu feat: Zulu 03:49 SpotifyAmazon
11 David Last / David Last Vs. Zulu feat: Zulu 05:52 SpotifyAmazon
12 David Last / David Last Vs. Zulu feat: Zulu 03:33 SpotifyAmazon
13 David Last / David Last Vs. Zulu feat: Zulu 03:49 SpotifyAmazon
14 David Last / David Last Vs. Zulu feat: Zulu 05:06 SpotifyAmazon
blue highlight denotes track pick