Digitalism
Idealism
Release Date: Jun 19, 2007
Genre(s): Electronic
Record label: Astralwerks
Music Critic Score
How the Music Critic Score works
Buy Idealism from Amazon
Album Review: Idealism by Digitalism
Great, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 4/5
Hailing from Hamburg, Digitalism are an electronic dance duo who tap into their city's heritage of speed-fuelled rock'n'roll. Berlin may still be in thrall to minimal techno, but Digitalism pile on the ideas and and feed their synths through guitar pedals for maximum effect. Like the Chemical Brothers and Daft Punk before them, Jens Moelle and Ismail Tuefekci fuse rock with rave, and even cover the Cure's Fire in Cairo to prove the point.
Based on rating 8/10
As the electro indie rock movement was blowing up in 2007 with everyone from the Klaxons to Justice getting plenty of press, German duo Digitalism declared they had been working on the idea of an "electronica garage band" for a while now, unaware they'd soon be swallowed by a scene. Their debut album suggests they're telling the truth and further implies they are unaware of much post-Daft Punk dance music, although a series of 12"s with cutting-edge remixers has proven otherwise. The A-sides of those glorious 12s are all present on Idealism, an exciting, well-crafted debut that, like Daft Punk's Homework, is an instant thrill with plenty of reasons to return again and again.
Based on rating B
Digitalism has never recorded under false pretenses. It’s always been about sounding like the French house music that recklessly emphasizes funk and hip-hop. They have also never been shy about transcending the commonplace in a live setting, leaving much of what they did in the studio behind for a bigger, bolder sound. So, it should come as no surprise that on their sophomore LP the sounds are exponentially more voluminous, far beyond that of their previous studio output.
Opinion: Very Good
Electro duo serves up welcomed familiarity, received without contempt. Reef Younis 2011 There’s an eternal optimism to Digitalism. The sound of two friends, Jens and Isi, having the time of their lives, it takes a stubbornly miserable disposition to begrudge such bouncing positivity. Part of the much-celebrated electro class of 2006/07, their debut album Idealism enabled the duo to graduate with honours.
'Idealism'
is available now