The Daily Spin, December 2
Miami Horror | Illumination
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here. Additionally, you can check out a list of my favorite songs from each album right here.
Album: Illumination (2010)
Artist: Miami Horror
Link:
Nu-disco as a concept never quite gets the love that I think it deserves.
Similar to yesterday’s album, but with a bit more of an acoustic touch, Illuminations relies on glistening synth pop and funk-laden electronics to convey a quietly danceable attitude, one where it’s pretty impossible to genuinely miss.
A triple-feature from Neon Indian’s Alan Palomo serves as the cherry on top in this one - and though these collaborations (and the album) don’t always hit, with the synths sometimes throwing it a little too hard all at once. This is the tight line of synth-pop - making sure that the music doesn’t overrun the vocals, but ensuring that there’s enough sound there to not leave the vocals hanging out to dry.
It’s this difficult balance that Miami Horror does better than so many others - but even with that complement, they’re not free from missing, and that’s what keeps this from being a significantly more highly-regarded album in my eyes, because few albums get me dancing like this one.
Rating: 8.5/10
Best Tracks: Sometimes; Summersun; Moon Theory
Worst Tracks: Imagination