Booka Shade - 'Eve' Review - Big Enough for the Deep End #1

Big Enough for the Deep End is a new monthly feature on LostinSound focusing on recent releases in the deep house genre. For November 2013, we focus on Booka Shade’s new album Eve.

Live minimal/tech/deep house legends Booka Shade’s newest album Eve is, to be quite frank, a massive achievement in the overall spectrum of electronic music. The fact that Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier are both so well-versed in their genre helps. This is their fifth album since their 2004 debut, and they continue to gain traction as new and underground forms of EDM become more and more popular. The opening track of Eve, “Many Rivers” is unique in the fact that instead of starting with a four-on-the-floor beat like most house songs, a jazzy saxophone solo is used instead. The kick doesn’t come in until around a minute in to the song. Overall, “Rivers” is one of the more interesting tracks on Eve, along with the debut single “Love, Inc.” On tracks, “Leema,” “Maifeld,” and “Perfect Time,” Booka Shade hits us with more of that classic pound while building complex melodies through half-time, and a compelling contrast between the buzzing lows and mechanical highs. “Time’s on my Side” includes some amazing effects on the acoustic guitar and a has an almost manic dreaminess to it. “Crossing Borders” is another noteworthy track, featuring vocals from Fritz Kalkbrenner (Paul Kalkbrenner’s brother, for those of you who are deep-house connoisseurs). Many minimal percussive sounds were used throughout this album, as well as vintage drum machines. The goal of the album is obvious throughout, Booka Shade wanted to create an all-purpose album for whatever you are doing at any given moment. In other words, Eve is more than just a deep house album. It’s not just meant for dancing; it’s also good for burning the midnight oil working on a project, laying around the house on a stormy day, etc. That is the beauty of an album like Eve.

Despite the overall good qualities of the album, the album feels kind of slow and mediocre for the last few tracks after “Love Drug.” A better way to finish up this album would have been to have a 8 to 10 minute ambient deep track, such as Moby did with “Dogs” on Innocents. Instead, we are given “Jeselo,” which feels like one of the weaker points of the album. Unfortunately, all the groundbreaking awesome tracks come within the first half of Eve, leaving us wondering whether it would have been better if Eve was just an EP instead of a full length album. Yet, rest assured, Eve gets the job done for the most part.