The EDM trend is neither cutting-edge nor ripe for ironic reappropriation and therefore may not be of great interest to Guardian readers. Steve Aoki remains worthy of note, however, having a claim to be the EDM-est of them all. His interests include flinging custard pies at his pie-eyed crowd and riding them in inflatable dinghies, and he’s also about to launch a YouTube series on how to enhance humanity through technological augmentation. That explains the album outro, voiced by Aubrey de Grey, the English gerontologist whose aim is to end ageing. Guest appearances by Fall Out Boy and gangster rapper Waka Flocka Flame on two of the album’s standout tracks, the Daft Punk reworking Back to Earth and trap-influenced Rage the Night Away, are more conventional. There’s a collaborator for pretty much every song but beyond the brash dayglo there’s stylistic variety and a sense of melody. To criticise this album on its own terms, you would say that many of those styles are feeling a bit dated. Which is probably why Aoki has announced his next project will be a collection of deep house, something altogether more soothing.
