Diplo Albums (3)
'Decent Work for Decent Pay: Selected Works, Vol. 1'
Release Date 1/26/2009
Tracks 20
Label Big Dada
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Diplo's best remixes collected onto a CD would have lit up sales sheets back in 2006 or 2007, when dance music's most hotly tipped producer was unveiling brilliant new remixes practically every month, with a list of clients including M.I.A., CSS, Kanye West, Peter Björn and John, Bloc Party, and Spank Rock. Two years later those tracks may still sound good, but the balloon looks a little deflated, despite the airing of a new self-production: "Way More Brazil," which includes his usual blend of uptempo Baltimore club music, digital claps from the rap world, and storms of Brazilian percussion. Best of the tracks on Decent Work for Decent Pay: Selected Works, Vol. 1 are remixes of M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes," with Bun B and Rich Boy lightening the mood of the original, and Peter Björn and John's "Young Folks," where the indie anthem swings and grinds in a clap-heavy remix more reminiscent of Oakland than Stockholm. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Although the immense artistic success of DJ Shadow and Tricky in the mid-'90s should have sparked a creative powder keg among independent-minded hip-hop producers, most of those who followed were either uninspired or rather over-inspired (i.e., slavish). Diplo, a Philadelphian by way of Mississippi and Florida, does much better than most with his debut record for Britain's Big Dada, although he also shows he's learned the lessons of the past rather too well. Florida is definitely an ambitious album, one that finds him not just attempting to take over Shadow's considerable mantle, but trying to be all things to a variety of dance genres -- rap, trip-hop, even dancehall. "Big Lost" and "Sarah" are the Shadow vehicles, both featuring rugged breakbeats layered underneath a mélange of violins and organ (on the former) and a guitar flameout with evocative Peanuts-style piano accompaniment (on the latter). Diplo then conjures a warped pop arrangement as a vehicle for former Tricky ingénue Martina Topley-Bird on the fourth track, but begins stretching out soon afterward with features for dancehall production phenom Vybz Kartel and Freestyle Fellowship's P.E.A.C.E. Near the end, Diplo's production finesse reaches epic proportions with the nearly nine-minute "Summer's Gonna Hurt You," a moody set piece of seasonal pop. DJ Shadow wouldn't allow a few of these all-too-traceable samples onto a record of his, but overall Diplo does his job very well. After all, it's dead easy to sample obscure records, but very difficult to make them sound evocative. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
