''Davos'' is the debut studio album of Danielle "Danz" Johnson and released under the moniker

Computer Magic Danielle "Danz" Johnson (born February 20, 1989), known professionally as Danz CM and formerly Computer Magic, is an American musician and producer based in New York City. She is a singer, songwriter, composer, music producer, DJ, and the founder ...

. It was released on October 16, 2015 on her label Channel 9 Records and on

P-Vine P-Vine Records is an independent record label based in Tokyo, Japan. History It was started in 1976 by Blues Interactions, a firm founded in 1975 by Yasufumi Higurashi and Akira Kochi, as a record label focused on black music. The label name c ...

and Tugboat in Japan.

Background and recording

Johnson wrote all songs on ''Davos'', except "All Day" which is credited to her, Brian Hancock III, Brian Robertson. The album has been recorded at Atomic Heart Studios (New York, NY), except "All Day" at 10K Islands Studios (Florida, MI), and "Hudson" at Channel 9 Studios (New York City, NY), Rubber Tracks Studios (New York, NY), Xander Singh's Studios (Los Angeles, CA). Most of the album's tracks were produced, mixed and engineered by Claudius Mittendorfer. Steve Fallone is credited with mastering at Sterling Sound (New York, NY), and Chad Kamenshine with the artwork. Chris Egan III, Ignacio Rivas Bixio, John Hancock III played percussion and

Tim Wheeler Timothy James Arthur Wheeler (born 4 January 1977) is a Northern Irish singer, songwriter, and musician for the alternative rock band Ash. He has written nearly all of Ash's notable works, such as " Oh Yeah", " Shining Light", " Girl from Mars ...

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

, Brian Robertson, Andrew Wilder played guitar. On the album there were used instruments such as

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popul ...

Omnichord The Omnichord is an electronic musical instrument introduced in 1981 by the Suzuki Musical Instrument Corporation. It typically features a touch plate known as "Sonic Strings", preset rhythms, auto-bass line functionality, and buttons for ma ...

, live drums and guitar.

Promotion and release

The title ''Davos'' is a homage to a now-decrepit ski resort where Johnson grew up in upstate New York, where her father worked and still resides, although the ski resort closed when Johnson was 3 years old. Before the album's release,

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

mentioned ''Davos'' in a This Week article. 3 music videos were released to promote this album: "Be Fair" (filmed in

Trona Pinnacles The Trona Pinnacles are an unusual geological feature in the California Desert National Conservation Area. The landscape consists of more than 500 tufa spires (porous rock formed as a deposit when springs interact with other bodies of water), som ...

), "Hudson", and "Fuzz".

Reception

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

premiered the first single "Be Fair" and described it as "one lusty synthpop hook after another". They also premiered the single "Fuzz" and described it as "pulsating, funky '80s synth lines hold down the low end beneath clean, bright melodies that complement her vocals throughout the chorus". According to the

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

site The Electricity Club, songs like "Fuzz" and "Give Me Just a Minute" "recalled the early adventures of

Ladytron Ladytron are a largely British electronic band formed in Liverpool in 1999. The group consists of Helen Marnie (lead vocals, synthesizers), Mira Aroyo (vocals, synthesizers), Daniel Hunt (synthesizers, guitar, vocals), and Reuben Wu (synthesize ...

, while "Hudson" hinted more at the leanings of

Dubstar Dubstar are an English indie-dance duo,Note: An American indie hip hop artist has released some tracks and video via the Internet under the name "Dubstar", but is not connected to the band in any way. performing songs with hints of Britpop, dre ...

Track listing

Personnel

* Danielle Johnson - vocals (all tracks), songwriting (all tracks), production (track 6) * Claudius Mittendorfer - production (tracks 1-5, 7, 9-12), mixing (tracks 1-7, 9-12), engineering (tracks 1-5, 7, 9-12) * Brian Robertson - guitar, production (track 8), mixing (track 8), engineering (track 8) * Brian Hancock III - percussion, production (track 8), mixing (track 8), engineering (track 8) * Jason Finkel - production (track 6), engineering (track 6) * Xander Singh - production (track 6), engineering (track 6) * Tim Wheeler - guitar * Andrew Wilder - guitar * Chris Egan III - percussion * Ignacio Rivas Bixio - percussion * Steve Fallone - mastering at Sterling Sound in New York, NY * Chad Kamenshine - artwork

References

{{Authority control 2015 albums Danz CM albums