Back catalogue: Dancehall/Ragga

Review: Read all About it! Diplo and Switch ready Major Lazer to take over the universe! Grammy-nominated producer Diplo and partner Switch bring full-length Major Lazer album to the masses!

V2COOP presents Major Lazer's 'Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do' (Limited picture disc - 1'000 copies worldwide)

Major Lazer is a Jamaican commando who lost his arm in the secret Zombie War of 1984. The US military rescued him and repurposed experimental lazers as prosthetic limbs. Since then Major Lazer has been a hired renegade soldier for a rogue government operating in secrecy underneath the watch of MI5 and the CIA. His cover is that of a dancehall night club owner from Trinidad and he enlisted the help of long-time allies and uber-producers, Diplo and Switch, to produce his first LP. His true mission is to protect the world from the dark forces of evil that live just under the surface of a civilized society. He fights vampires and various monsters, parties hard, and has a rocket-powered skateboard.
As part of a plan to subdue the forces of evil with a batch of futuristic dancehall bangers, the three encamped at Tuff Gong Studios in Jamaica to record the Major Lazer record. The product of this collaboration is 'Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do', a collection of tracks that draws from the rich dancehall tradition of Jamaica, the futuristic dance-floor-killing aesthetic of Diplo and Switch, and contributions from some of the biggest names in dancehall today.
Featuring talents such as VBYZ Kartel, Ms Thing, Mr. Vegas and Santigold, the record runs global pop culture through the filter of Major Lazer's particular brand of 80s-inspired digital dancehall, at once an homage to a bygone era and a look to the future of dance music.

Diplo (Philadelphia-based DJ and producer Wesley Pentz) incorporates such disparate influences as Miami Bass and Baile Funk into the high-tech eclecticism of his productions. Known for his forward-thinking productions for MIA, Bonde Do Role and many others, and for the solo LP of cinematic, sample-based hip-hop entitled Florida he recorded for the Ninja Tune imprint. Diplo is also the founder and owner of Mad Decent records, which has put out records by DJ Blaqstarr and Bonde do Role.

Switch (the pseudonym of British producer and DJ Dave Taylor) is the owner of one of the most progressive and respected underground dance music labels around, Dubsided. His work as producer is revered by critics, emulated by his fellow DJs, and sweated hard by dance floors on both sides of the Atlantic. Switch also permanently endeared himself to the bespectacled music cognoscenti with his contribution to Santigold's critically acclaimed self-titled debut.

Review: Given the status of Diplo, not to mention the ubiquity of the ragga-electro anthem "Pon Da Floor" (which was, after all, bitten by Beyonce), it's fair to say that this second Major Lazer full length is big news. A cursory glance at the guestlist (Vybz Kartel, Bruno Mars, Wyclef Jean, Peaches, Shaggy, Laidback Luke, Ms Dynamite) confirms the producer's intentions: to make a hit EDM album. If that was their aim, then Free The Universe is impressive. Flitting between dancehall-inspired electro-house rinse-outs, pop-ragga and 21st century EDM-reggae, it delivers the sort of radio-friendly cuts that should gain wide appeal.

Review: Read all About it! Diplo and Switch ready Major Lazer to take over the universe! Grammy-nominated producer Diplo and partner Switch bring full-length Major Lazer album to the masses!

V2COOP presents Major Lazer's 'Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do' (Limited picture disc - 1'000 copies worldwide)

Major Lazer is a Jamaican commando who lost his arm in the secret Zombie War of 1984. The US military rescued him and repurposed experimental lazers as prosthetic limbs. Since then Major Lazer has been a hired renegade soldier for a rogue government operating in secrecy underneath the watch of MI5 and the CIA. His cover is that of a dancehall night club owner from Trinidad and he enlisted the help of long-time allies and uber-producers, Diplo and Switch, to produce his first LP. His true mission is to protect the world from the dark forces of evil that live just under the surface of a civilized society. He fights vampires and various monsters, parties hard, and has a rocket-powered skateboard.
As part of a plan to subdue the forces of evil with a batch of futuristic dancehall bangers, the three encamped at Tuff Gong Studios in Jamaica to record the Major Lazer record. The product of this collaboration is 'Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do', a collection of tracks that draws from the rich dancehall tradition of Jamaica, the futuristic dance-floor-killing aesthetic of Diplo and Switch, and contributions from some of the biggest names in dancehall today.
Featuring talents such as VBYZ Kartel, Ms Thing, Mr. Vegas and Santigold, the record runs global pop culture through the filter of Major Lazer's particular brand of 80s-inspired digital dancehall, at once an homage to a bygone era and a look to the future of dance music.

Diplo (Philadelphia-based DJ and producer Wesley Pentz) incorporates such disparate influences as Miami Bass and Baile Funk into the high-tech eclecticism of his productions. Known for his forward-thinking productions for MIA, Bonde Do Role and many others, and for the solo LP of cinematic, sample-based hip-hop entitled Florida he recorded for the Ninja Tune imprint. Diplo is also the founder and owner of Mad Decent records, which has put out records by DJ Blaqstarr and Bonde do Role.

Switch (the pseudonym of British producer and DJ Dave Taylor) is the owner of one of the most progressive and respected underground dance music labels around, Dubsided. His work as producer is revered by critics, emulated by his fellow DJs, and sweated hard by dance floors on both sides of the Atlantic. Switch also permanently endeared himself to the bespectacled music cognoscenti with his contribution to Santigold's critically acclaimed self-titled debut.

Review: Some two years on from their last outing, Diplo's Major Lazer outfit return with their third full-length. In many ways, the departure of founder member Dave 'Switch' Taylor a few years back has seen the project divert from its' roots as a tribute to dancehall culture (with, of course, a breakneck contemporary electro-house twist). So while the guest-heavy Peace Is A Mission is rooted in Jamaican culture, it's Diplo's scattergun, party-hearty production style that shines through. There are plenty of dancefloor bangers, of course - the punishing drums of "Blaze Up The Fire", intense "Roll The Bless" and autotune-heavy bounce of "Light It Up" - but these share CD space with tracks that variously doff a cap to R&B, trap and radio-friendly pop.