Critiques CD: Joker | The Vision

Joker’s anticipated debut album takes experimental dubstep and polishes its surface to a brilliantly sophisticated pop gloss. From bone-crushing dubstep to hard-hitting hip-hop and deliciously light, evocative electro cheese, the young British producer manages to mix the grimy and the glamorous seamlessly. The album’s title track has an epic vocal pop sensibility that marries perfectly with Joker’s whirring electro dubstep, while the instrumental “Level 6” is pure pop funkiness and a song like “Slaughter House” is high on vocal melodrama and melody built on a sparse foundation. The Vision is a sight for sore ears and is well worth repeated listens.