deadmau5

2010 will go down as a landmark year for Niagara Fall's Joel Zimmerman. His alter ego (Deadmau5) has become the face (read: mask) of club culture, bringing down the house at Coachella, the MTV Video Music Awards and virtually on DJ Hero. Attempting to keep the wheel moving, Zimmerman has capped off the year with third full-length 4X4=12. Responding to critics who have labelled his previous efforts characterless and similar sounding, Zimmerman has employed vocalists Sofi and Greta Svabo Bach to chirp over his high-energy, low concept beats. Sadly, these songs arrive D.O.A., leaving the rest of the album hopeless. "Some Chords," "A City in Florida" and the Wolfgang Gartner collab, "Animal Rights," seem custom-made for Deadmau5's growing live show, swelling, pulsating and ebbing in all the right (aka predictable) places. But 4X4=12 is a monumental bore, which should serve as Zimmerman's first career speed bump. Plus, four times four equals 16.