Does anyone know what was Tiga doing the last few years? I am starting to think that he was in deep coma for the last couple of years and some months ago he miraculously came out of it and decided to record an album. Due to this coma obviously he forgot how good music was made and really didn't care as a deal had to be fulfilled and thus "Ciao" was recorded.
Although many define Tiga as a typical electroclash musician "Ciao" is more of an expedition in the realms of house music, mainly acid and electro. You have your usual coherence between the tracks, creating a set-alike list. I assume this is the main reason why "Ciao" sounds like an-hour long song, changing rhythm, pace and , of course, lyrics from time to time. The spirit of house music throughout the album is so strong that some of the songs are almost indistinguishable from one another. Originality was definitely not present while recording "Ciao" and the new ideas were at least several years old, everything ending up as a belated celebration of acid house. "Ciao" is strikingly boring, old-fashioned and disturbingly distasteful, it sounds as if Tiga was so bored that he decided to fill up some spare time composing a few house tracks.
As far as hobbies are concerned it is admirable to make music for fun with the sole condition it remains only on your computer. The moral from the story is that you should never leave the work that wins your bread for the last moment as it probably happened with Tiga, who decided to see for himself how would people appreciate his hobby. Let's say that better house albums have been released in the short history of this genre and Tiga has only discovered that the daylight comes from the sun. I wish I could say there were a few gems to be discovered, but the more I listen to "Ciao" the more I realize they are left outside.
"Sexor" (his previous album) may not be the creme de la creme of electronic music, but it was at least eclectic, ranging from electroclash dance songs to house ballads. "Ciao" on the other hand sounds as a farewell album after many years of recording and producing plenty of material, and Tiga was finally dry on new ideas. Unfortunately this is not the case as this is his sophomore effort and it is way too soon for him to be tired of the music bizz. If music is just an aside hobby for Tiga I advise him to stop releasing his spare-time-fillers and come to terms with his career as a musician. If not, please, do not release anything new until you are pretty sure it's worth showing it to the world.
Songs to hear: "Beep Beep Beep", "Shoes", "Sex O'clock" and "Speak, Memory"
Personal rating: 4 out of 10
