One word I would not ascribe to Puerto Rican-born house DJ Robbie Rivera is "tame." His musical style rarely panders to the mainstream, though he has been known to dip into an existing trend, and while his remixes are not as far out and random as others like Armand Van Helden, Rivera has done a great job providing a different listening experience. He's had a ton of singles, some memorable, and some not. He's also had quite a few of his productions top various dance charts. He's been doing all right for himself.
Pop House Abounds
Closer to the Sun embodies more of a mainstream feel than I am used to from Rivera. It is also fairly straightforward, despite running the gamut of possible house styles and blending them together along the way until it is hard to hear a huge distinction. Rivera uses a small and obscure group of singers and rappers on Closer to the Sun which help him to explore that aforementioned gamut. Those collaborations tend to dwell in the realm of "pop" house, tracks like "You'll Never Know" and "The Rain" being prime examples of this sound. Neither sounds heavy or distinctive enough to find a home in a club without a winning remix to really expand the "edgy chick" sound the singers sort of have going on. Both tracks are decent enough. Rivera takes his house in a funky little direction for the rap tracks ("Let Me Sip My Drink" and "Keep On Going") which makes them mostly interchangable. "Let Me Sip My Drink" peeks above the other slightly for a more engaging production but the guest rapper Fast Eddie has an awkward flow in parts that cheapens the experience. Rivera uses Jerique Allen for the obligatory soulful house tracks ("We Live For The Music," "Your Door") which are both classy and enjoyable fluff.
The Use Of Other Styles
Rivera also embraces trance sounds ("6AM"), Chicane-esque heavy bass guitar ("Departures," "You Got To Make It," lead single "Closer To The Sun") and spastic electro ("I'm A Badass," "Rock The Disco") to round out the album. Unlike his debut Do You Want More?, Closer to the Sun doesn't reinforce Rivera's talents. He has the ability to create fantastic and memorable dance tracks, but has failed to do so on this album. Remixes could change that, which is always the case, but just not based on the material alone.
Summary
Closer to the Sun is tame. Rivera doesn't attempt to knock anything out of the park, instead taking a safe, mainstream approach on his album. This makes for a cohesive album, but if there are any major standouts, I will be surprised. It's hard to imagine that this CD is from the same visionary who brought us the genre-defining masterpiece "Funk-a-tron." Other than that, it is a decent listen and I encourage people to give it a spin and form their own opinions.
Released November 2009 on Ultra.
Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.
