New Album Release: Music Is My Life by Matt Warren
Matt Warren is one of the people who were there at ground zero for the Big Bang of the birth of house music in Chicago in the 1980’s. His legacy of two seminal hits Rock It and Bang The Box are still worth noting as part of the history of house music. The background of Chicago house music is steeped in the electronic dance music genre coupled with influences of world music; heavily relying on Latin flavors with a calypso strain as well. House music at its best takes the listener on a trip around the world.
With all the different twists and turns EDM has taken in the ensuing years, it is a welcome change to hear someone do music in the manner it’s supposed to be done. This fact is emphatically driven home with his updated version of Bang The Box. Though maybe the years have passed since the heady days of Warren’s dance releases the spirit of Chicago Traxx studios lives and breathes in the remake. This speaks directly to the sentiments expressed in the song Music is My Life. The producer/DJ is reflecting on years of travel and experiences that crop up in the form of rhythmic production touches that adds to the enjoyment of dancing ones cares away on a dark and sweaty club floor.
Raves were such an important element in keeping house music alive through the years. This new, or Nu-House, music is intended to be the soundtrack of the future Raves. Warren is also curating the next generation of EDM. His work here with Sharkeyes on this comeback album titled Music Is My Life (on the Wake Up! Music record label) is an exciting glimpse into where Nu-House can go in the future. The multi instrumental playing songster adds depth and a youthful exuberance to the tracks he is involved with here. Sometimes is a standout track on this release.
In another nod to the future Warren includes the closing track The Dark Storm as an open door for his son to display his own musical and compositional abilities. It is a family affair and this adds to the realness of this record. Overall this is a solid release. It cannot even be classified as a return to form. Matt Warren has produced great house music at high level since the 1980’s. This is another in a long line of releases that will get people dancing just as Rock It did when it was released. And that is all good.
