Fire & Ice
Kaskade
This boy has come so far from where he began. Originally a near-unknown House purist with a few singles on Om Records and a dedicated niche following, Kaskade’s name now credits remixes done for a zillion mainstream artists and announces his residency at the Marquee Nightclub in Vegas on billboards all over Hollywood. On his seventh studio album, Kaskade displays Sunlounger’s same bipolar presentation, expressing all 10 tracks across 2 discs as both a banging club rub (the “fire”) and a chillout downtempo track (the “ice”). Pushing the definition of progressive House in all directions, Fire & Ice employs hollowed-out guitar strums, delicate strings, jagged keyboards, playful bass notes and skinny, pleading synths to create a contrasting sound as dichotomous as its title. Kaskade has shed his favoritism of any particular vocalist and features a different vocal or musical collaboration on each track, including folksinger Mindy Gledhill, Swedish duo Rebecca & Fiona, alt rock band Neon Trees, newly crowned dance royalty Skrillex, pop’s new princess Skylar Grey, and Kaskade’s own side projects Late Night Alumni and Haley. It’s a mixed bag, for sure, but what else would you expect from such a title?
