The Transit EP is here as of January 22nd of the year 2016 and is a 5-track EDM banger and sophomore EP released by the West Coast EDM duo Gladiator, also stylized as gLAdiator, paying homage to their hometown of Los Angeles, California. This is the follow-up project to their first official EP Assembly Line released in 2014, both released under the Fool’s Gold label.
THE SKINNY: Instrumental intricacy with a high-paced energy as unpredictable as it is enchanting, especially on the opening track “Fairfax” with it’s distorted sound and good mix of anticipatory pauses that make the drop that much more satisfying. The following song”Brave” is a much different sound than “Fairfax” boasting great tempo and good use of subtle sounds and vocal features that gets stronger as the song progresses. A well-rounded track that I would expect to hear on Majestic Casual’s YouTube page whom like myself, has a good ear for great music. The only gripes I have is that “Brave” has no synergy with the songs before and after and the track sounds familiar to the baseline of ‘Fancy’ minus Iggy’s ‘curiously Southern’ accent.
The gLAdiator’s third song “Wait” goes in the direction of the 1st song: dark, distorted sounds with base-in-yo-face with Four Color Zack scratching up a storm on the turntable reminding me of RJD2’s set at the BK Bowl. The fourth song “Fable” is a a beautifully haunting track that begins a la Slick Rick’s “Children’s Story” over an entrancing piano that leads into Mark Johns’ soulful rendition of a bedtime story that would personally keep me up at night. The fifth and final track “Walls” blew me out of the water, an instant hit from it’s infectious rhythm to it’s amazing vocal accompaniment from singer Michael O. that reminds me of old Freestyle music I used to listen to on the radio in my younger years. It’s rhythm takes no shortcuts, it’s hard-hitting but groovy enough to keep the listener on their feet for the duration which is always a good quality for House producers.
THE WEIGH-IN: Individually these songs from gLAdiator have exceeded my expectations. They have star potential in these songs especially “Walls” which I ranked highest because of personal preference, but there are a handful of gems here to choose from. This duo are two gLAdiators to watch out for. You will hear “Brave” on many a playlist for this coming spring break AKA ‘second summer’ for House DJ’s and you’ll hear “Walls” through the walls of my house.
I would make a clever quip about Transit but I don’t have enough money on my Metro Card so I don’t think I could afford to.
– The Artist Formerly known as ‘Me’
|| GLADIATOR – TRANSIT
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