Chase & Status - No More Idols (First Impressions)

At the end of last month, Chase & Status released their latest album, No More Idols. Yesterday I bought the album, and here are my first impressions.

As expected, it's quite a diverse album, taking influences from dubstep, drum and bass and hip-hop to name a few. The album features the cream of British talent, with Tempa T, Tinie Tempah, Plan B, Dizzee Rascal and Liam Bailey all contributing their vocals to this album.

The main problem I have with this album is that I have already heard (and in some cases own) a lot of the tracklist. Hypest Hype was a free download at the end of last year, End Credits was the soundtrack to Harry Brown (which I promptly grabbed from iTunes), Let You Go was released as a single last summer, and Blind Faith has been played so much on the radio.

If I gave my views on those tracks they would be dated, and in some cases I have already reviewed them. So, I shall take a look at some of my favourite tracks from the album that I hadn't already heard.

The second track on the album, Fire In Your Eyes is one of my top tracks upon the first listen. The guitars remind me of Distance, or even Pendulum. If truth be told I've been neglecting dubstep lately, but a track like this is enough to get me back on track.



Flashing Lights is the next track I will talk about. This has a liquid feel that I've always loved from Chase and Status, a catchy sample with a clean beat - I really cannot get enough of this kind of music.




Finally, Fool Yourself. This track features Plan B, who has just blown up this year, he's now a household name and for good reason. His latest album The Defamation of Strickland Banks is fantastic, and showed a whole new side to his talents. When I first heard Fool Yourself I wasn't too sure, I really like the start, but I wasn't expecting the track to develop the way in which it does. I have picked this as a favourite though as I can see it growing on me in the same way that End Credits and Pieces.






These are my first impressions, and I'm sure my opinions will develop as I listen to the album more, so I will write a full album review in a few weeks.

Free Download: Plan B - Love Goes Down (Doctor P Remix)

I bring you good new this morning as Plan B has made the Doctor P Remix of his hit Love Goes Down available for free download on Soundcloud. I've embedded the player so you can download below.

Plan B - Love Goes Down - Doctor P remix by time4planb

Plan B - Love Goes Down (Danny Byrd remix)

You may remember that last week here on The Disc Jockey Blog I shared and reviewed the video for Love Goes Down - Plan B's latest release from his album, The Defamation of Strickland Banks. I also shared the Doctor P remix, which I thought was very good.

Well, a different remix, this time from Danny Byrd, has surfaced on Plan B's YouTube channel. This takes a very different approach to Doctor P and is more melodic, and a bit of a feel good tune. I've been a fan of Danny Byrd for a while, but he has shot to mainstream fame through Ill Behaviour - A bootleg on Wildchild's Renegade Master.

He's really found success with the melodic drum and bass tracks, and it's working very well. This remix of Love Goes Down is very radio friendly and I can see it getting a lot of plays on Radio 1.

Plan B - Love Goes Down (Official Video) & Doctor P Remix

The official video for Plan B's Love Goes Down is available to watch now on YouTube.

Plan B's album The Defamation of Strickland Banks is on the face of it, very different to his previous work. It's a more soulful album, with a bit of jazz, but it does contain some rap elements. I bought the album on the week of it's release, and it's a firm favourite with me.

If you watch all of the videos to come from the album, you will see it's trying to tell a story. I'm finding this really interesting to follow as it's like piecing a jigsaw together. Every release from this album is prompting a remix from the who's who of electronic music: Recluse was remixed by both Nero and Netsky, Stay Too Long was remixed by Pendulum, and Love Goes Down is no different, as remix duties go to Doctor P.

More drumstep than dubstep, this is a strong song on it's own. As with a lot of Plan B remixes, the sample is used sparingly to create a more original track. I really like the riff and would happily play it out in a set.