aaamusic | On 24, May 2011

Renowned amongst fans of electronic dance music, Paul Edge’s 23 marks the return of the DJ to the music world after a two year absence.  For those unaware of his work, he has managed two of life’s greatest accomplishments, covering a Metallica song and appearing on CSI: Las Vegas.  Ok maybe not two of life’s greatest accomplishments, but still pretty damn good.  His latest LP stays true to his previous psychedelic dance sound, offering up a repetitive yet hypnotic mixture of music.

It’s hard to appreciate the work of Paul Edge when you’re sat about the house pondering why Chelsea sacked your beloved manager earlier, but 23 is the type of album that would make an the perfect soundtrack for a night out.  On its own, 23 doesn’t offer that much of interest in all honesty.  It’s repetitive, too fast paced and with no lyrics it’s definitely not the sort of LP you’re going to keep on rotation in your CD player.  Paul describes the album as a live mix and there is no better way of summing up his record than this.

Having enlisted the help of techno king Dave Clarke, the album manages to edge towards the bigger electro-dance sound, offering louder, faster & bigger sound crashes than many of Paul’s rival contemporaries.

To give the album a fair review I would have to take my laptop downtown, hook it up to a speaker system and see how it fits with a night out.  As this isn’t possible, I can only offer my assurances that 23 isn’t a departure from Paul’s earlier work and it simply sounds like a modern, rhythmic electro-dance album.

Author: Tom Crowther