Guy Gerber and Diddy release ’11 11′ album for free
11 11 is a piece of work that was over three years in the making, a sacred union between Guy Gerber and Diddy that was born to stand out against EDM’s insipid sound. Arguably, it was their 2010 collaboration on the opening to Dirty Money’s Last Train To Paris album that set the ball rolling, but the intervening years have proved to be fruitful ones. Originally due out August 13, the pair’s long-awaited 11 11 album was pushed back to an August 20 release date and is now available for free download via Beatport.
However, an album is incomplete without its backstory. “I find it a bigger challenge to do something abstract, something underground,” Gerber recently told The Wall Street Journal. He described the album as “very deep and emotional as opposed to something in your face.” Talks of a collaboration began in 2009 when Combs reached out to Gerber, although their multi-year working relationship didn’t launch until a year later.
In a sense, 11 11 was an spontaneous effort. No vision or direction guided the pair; rather, Gerber’s mantra was simply to “Enjoy the joy of experimenting.” Shortly thereafter, reality sank in and patterns began to take shape.
Gerber’s uncertainty regarding fan reception of 11 11 is reflected in his hope that “some people come out of curiosity and find an unexpected result,” given the amount of shock element the album possesses. Firmly grounded in emotive deep house, the album’s dignity lies in its stance against the dull and overplayed and in its affinity for the more cryptic elements of electronic music.
Download: Beatport