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Following the release of Felix Cartal’s Popular Music, we here at Bopper Nation are donating a review for those who care to bury their heads in our thoughts on this release. We are also offering a couple selected tracks off the album and including and exclusive Q & A with the man behind the curtain, our favourite Dirty Maestro from the Canadian Provinces, Felix Cartal.

-Enjoy

Review:

Woa! All previous expectations of this artist have been mutated and shattered with this release. From the early assumptions inspired by the album’s first leak, ‘Drone,’ to the bending of the ‘Solo Travelers’ way. And although the theme is ‘Popular Music’ Cartal completely disregards anything that popular music is meant to be. Obviously he ain’t rapping about bitches n hoes or using celebrity gossip/drama to boost his image, but if ‘Popular Music’ by definition is a well-rounded album with a ’song for everyone’ then Cartal wins!

There are many components that make this release Epic beyond the hype of the word. For starters, this album can be played from the first track to finish without having to hit the skip button. In fact it’s encouraged. Unlike a lot of Dance record releases or many releases in general this isn’t a random compilation of works by Felix Cartal, it is a well thought-out, engineered, themed, journey through Cartal’s version of ‘Popular Music,’ touching on multiple styles and illustrating Felix’s versatility as an artist.

Right from the gates of the first track,  ‘Popular Music’ our journey is set, giving all listeners a glimpse of what this release will be, from start to finish. Combining a well structured system of catchy vocals and heavy synthesizers, ‘Popular Music’ the track,  foreshadows the album’s style and pattern as a whole. A well mixed, not stirred, blend of musical ingenuity that is Felix Cartal’s Popular Music.

On versatility and building a well-rounded album, tracks such as Berlin, World Class Driver, Drone and Grinch all satisfy the heavy and dirty, while tracks such as ‘I believe In’ & ‘Why Wait’ satisfy our ‘all arounders’ and give in, if only just little, to the poppy crowd, without at all selling the soul..or the dreaded ’selling out.’

The album was full of many surprises and based on assumptions from the first leak ‘Drone,’ it was HARD to imagine that there could be anything else on the album that would exceed it and it was only fair to assume the album would be full of songs that simply build off the dirty style. However, after one listening of Popular Music as a whole, I can no longer think of ‘Drone’ as the high point of Felix Cartal’s latest album, nor can I even find ONE track that sums it all up…except maybe the track ‘Popular Music’ as mentioned earlier. *Only because it serves as a great foundation for the album in it’s entirety and also it foreshadows and represents the albums style as a whole. Giving in to the dirty dirty, get it poppy, blend those vocals with the maestro’s heavy synths and Wa La, ‘Popular Music.’ But don’t get me wrong, ‘Drone’  is still a great track, but without a doubt there are too many great tracks on this powerful album for any one track to stand out above em all.

The second big surprise from this release was a talent we at Bopper Nation didn’t even think existed. Besides the obvious, an album showcasing Felix Cartal’s ability to produce great music; there was an impressive  and astonishingly unexpected twist, The ‘Solo Traveler’s’ ability to collaborate with the right people. And not just collaborate with those people, but do it well…extremely well.

For instance, in the track ‘I Believe In’ ft. Beta Bow, the vocals compliment Cartal’s heavy synths harmoniously and the way the artist trails his words is almost Radioheadeque and I nervously make this statement..since Radiohead is GOD and we all know what happened when someone tried to compare the Beatles to GOD….apples and oranges though, listen to this track, it’s Radioheadesque. That being said, Cartal may still retains his infamous status as the  “Solo Traveler,” but he has proven with his most recent release that unlike many solitary artist, he knows how to play well with others…extremely well.

Quick Q & A:
-Bopper Nation and the Extremely Good Looking and Extremely Modest Felix Cartal

BN:
I found the album to be well-rounded, digging into multiple styles of ‘popular music,’ but still retaining to the dirty dirty many Cartal fans have come to know and love…that being said,
What were some of the difficulties in piecing these tracks together?

Cartal:
One of the main difficulties for me was trying to use some new structures to keep the album varied. Most dance tracks are quite formulaic, with mix-in mix-outs, but I felt it was important to work outside this formula to keep the album listenable as a whole. Most of the vocal tunes follow a verse-chorus-bridge structure and it was refreshing to have a medium to write songs in this nature.

BN:
On working with others (bending of the ‘Solo Traveler’s Ways’:
Most independent artist run into difficulties while collaborating with other artist, any moments that stand out in the process of recording these tracks worth noting.

Cartal:
Well all the tracks we did online, I was never actually in the studio with the other artists. So the hardest part was communicating the forms to some of the artists and making changes to certain parts to achieve my original idea. The positive side to this though was it opened up the vocalists’ interpretations of the instrumentals into ways I may have not originally heard. The next album I would love to get in the studio with the artists and be part of the lyrical/harmony process.

BN:
Awesome, Can you offer any tips for other artist looking to bring in outside talent? What provoked you to bring in these artist, did they just happen to be handy? Close friends, did they contact you or did you contact them?

Cartal:
A bit of both, a few artists I’d really looked up to when growing up and others were friends of friends.

BN:
In your own words, what was the overall goal/aim in structuring this album.
-Were you looking to make a release that was composed of ‘a song for everyone’ because that is the feel we got while listening to these tracks.

Cartal:
I think I wanted a mix of variety with continuity. I tried to make each track have its own identity without making any of them seem out of place from each other. The ’song for everyone’ comment makes sense, I wanted some of the music to be playable by DJ’s, and other ones to be listenable by people who may not want to go to clubs all the time. Finding the balance between the two was the biggest challenge in making the album for me.

BN:
The Cliche Q, we just have to drop…What is your favorite track off the album and why?
-Is there any one tune that just blows you away?

Cartal:
I Believe In with Beta Bow turned out to be one of my favourites… I’ve always loved a track with a good shuffle beat and have been toying with doing one for awhile with no success. I feel like it finally fell into place on this one, and Guenther’s vocals really helped hit it home for me.

BN:
One of the main concepts we were looking at while reviewing this album was how huge of a SHOCKWAVE Drone delivered and now listening to the album in its entirety, Drone still is a great song, but its not ‘thee’ track of Popular Music.
-How did the massive response to Drone affect your feelings towards the albums release as you were still in the lab working on the album?

Cartal:
If anything it made me excited that people were digging the first preview off the record. I don’t feel like there is one ‘main track’ off the record either.

BN:
Anything you would like to say to your fans out there, words of wisdom, Keep it Good Looking and Modest.

Cartal:
Thank you for all the support on the record so far, it’s been overwhelming!

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Thank You for being such a great sport and look forward to seeing you this Friday at the Avalon in La La Land!

Felix Cartal | Beta Bow |Gunther | Jaguar Love | Johnny Whitney | The Faint | Todd Fink | Dim Mak |