Deadmau5 (pronounced “dead mouse” for all of those who don’t understand the gamer/hacker subculture language,) is a Canadian-born electronic and progressive music producer. He is twenty eight years old and has an extensive track listing which is hugely regarded around the world as some of the best of the electronic-minimalistic music scene.

Deadmau5’s newest album is titled For Lack of a Better Name and is the follow-up album to a previous album he released titled Random Album Title.

For Lack of a Better Name differs from previous albums that Deadmau5 has worked on, in that it focuses on a much broader range of musical styles rather than his usually highly concentrated manner of repetitive soul-smoothing and dark themed beats.

For Lack of a Better Name offers a variety of electronic styles from spacey minimalistic sounds that smooth out even more into serene piano melodies a la “Soma;” to ten minute long musical expanses of thumping bass lines following the lead of a starry, “classic techno” dance track in “Strobe.”

Deadmau5 collaborates with both MC Flipside in “Hi Friend,” and Pendulum’s Rob Swire in “Ghosts n’ Stuff;” two songs that have been previously released but now are refined with lyrics in For Lack of a Better Name. “Ghosts n’ Stuff” is easily the most memorable song from the album as it already is a great song without the added lyrical prowess of Rob Swire. It defines its own definition of hard techno but releases its intensity in a new fashion by going in a fresh direction.

However, not every track on the album is an enjoyable electronic rush of euphoria. About a third of the songs seem like they were made simply to entertain Deadmau5 himself. They certainly would be difficult to dance to. You can feel the beat, but they are so deep and often times harsh they can be thought un-enjoyable.
For example, the most experimental song on the album by far is “FML.” Starting off with an opening completely different than what Deadmau5 is known for, (certainly sure to turn-off some) the song starts on the wrong foot. Usually when a techno track starts off bad, it slowly gets more and more enjoyable. In the case of “FML” it just goes more and more downhill. The obscure opening is then drowned out by a ruthless thumping and a “little-too-driving” beat. The whole song sounds like a headache; like your being repeatedly hit in the face with a wet bag of doorknobs. But that’s the extent of poor quality as far as For Lack of a Better Name is concerned.

For Lack of a Better Name is the lightly-buttered baked potato of the musical dinner table. It’s not for everyone; exquisitely mild, yet still quite enticing for those with the correct appetite. There are certain parts of the baked potato that no one likes however, the skin and as far as discarded songs are concerned, the album only has one or two duds. The album is undoubtedly superb; an acquired musical taste for those who have the matured “electronic/minimalistic palette.”