The Designer’s Drugs

Medium: Album
Stimulus: Calvin Harris – Ready for the Weekend
Anno: 2009

Calvin Harris’ follow-up to I Created Disco retains much of the English rave-swagger which permeated that work. Yet while there’s little ambiguity as to Ready for the Weekend’s mission statement, its hip-shaking tracks show a growth and, on occasion, subtlety that merits a swim. While there is almost nothing here which hasn’t seen airtime on a million previous dance floors, Harris plays to his strength as a composer to make something which ought to be typically forgettable into a noteworthy piece of electro pop.

There is one moment on this album, however, that is utterly teeth-grating obnoxious. The effervescent title track bounces along on piano blips and bass bursts, and it’s quite pleasant at first. At the chorus, it is completely derailed by the wails of a disco diva, which come to dominate and destroy the remainder of the song. It’s just awful.

The rest of the album is much better. The work opens with its strongest track “The Rain.” This high-tempo dance march opens with gospel claps and a saxophone solo, and then it rushes into organs and bass stomp, with Harris’ teched-up vocals providing the groove. Almost everything in this song has a sense of swirl, from the basslines to the synths to the vocals, which lends the song a vital sense of quirk. The end result is party pop done right.

The body of work between these polar opposites is a squiggly array of electronica. “I’m Not Alone,” is a straight rave tune, whereas “Stars Come Out” has more sci-fi in its speed. Dizzee Rascal throws rhymes into the pulsing gears of “Dance Wiv Me,” and the two elements compliment each other rather well. Even a song as stupidly titled as “Yeah Yeah Yeah La La La” has enough funk in it to stay upright. The closing track “5iliconeator” is an uncharacteristically slow piece, with low piano chords anchoring a blinking synth canopy, creating an atmosphere that bears resemblance to a Radiohead soundscape.

As its title suggests, nothing comes off complicated in Ready for the Weekend. Then again, nothing is vacant. Calvin Harris knew what he wanted in an album, and he went in and got it. The result is easy to love.