American-born disc jockey/producer Kaskade (Ryan Raddon) switches recording studios every time he releases an album in order to concentrate on making each new production different from his last one. But while the entirety of his latest album, Fire & Ice, was produced in his new studio in Santa Monica, Calif., Kaskade's latest effort uses a dual-disc format that results in a sound different from anything he has produced in the past.

Fire & Ice consists of two CDs, aptly named Fire and Ice. The San Francisco native wanted to express his sound in two different forms, so Fire and Ice have the same 10 songs, but each CD has a very different vibe. Fire is, for all intents and purposes, the classic Kaskade sound: upbeat house music with beautiful melodies and mellow but infectiously catchy drops. Ice is where Kaskade experiments a bit, starting with more chill, slower songs but later adventuring into far more dangerous drops.

Both CDs start with one of Kaskade's newest hit singles, "Eyes," featuring vocals from indie folk singer Mindy Glehill. The Fire version is the typical Kaskade hit, with beautiful piano layered over a simple but catchy electro-beat. The Ice version has a cold, metallic sound that never fully drops, but it is an enjoyable listen nonetheless.

My favorite song on the Fire CD is "Lessons in Love." The song has a bit of an ominous beginning, but it quickly picks up the pace with an uptempo beat and catchy vocals. My favorite part of the song is the drop, which Kaskade beautifully lines up with the vocal buildup. The Ice version is a bit too slow for my liking, but again, it's quite interesting to hear Kaskade's second take on the song.

Another fantastic song on Fire & Ice is the Fire version of "Lick It," which is a collaborative effort with dubstep artist extraordinaire Skrillex. It's a much faster pace than you'd expect from a typical Kaskade song (albeit a bit slower than you'd expect from Skrillex), but the two artists' styles combine beautifully into a funky cross between dubstep and a mellow house song. The two originally worked together when Skrillex asked Kaskade to remix his song "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites," which also provides a beautiful blend of the two artists' styles.

As you can probably tell, I prefer the Fire side of the album. One of Kaskade's best features is his ability to create club-worthy hits without relying solely on the thrashing bassline that so many artists use. This holds particularly true on the Fire album, in which any one of the songs is absolutely worthy of play on any DJ set. Kaskade masterfully tones down the beat and creates a sound that is soothing but will also have your feet tapping and head nodding in no time. Combined with contributions from artists such as Dada Life and Skrillex, as well as beautiful vocals from the likes of Skylar Grey and Mindy Glehill, Fire is a guaranteed hit.

Listening to the Ice CD is what I imagine it would be like to hear Beethoven playing the saxophone: it's not really what he's comfortable doing, but he's so talented that he would make it work. The slower, metallic versions of the songs are not at all Kaskade's forte, and he makes some questionable choices on the album. The dubstep drop on "Turn it Down"—my favorite song on the album overall, as the dry vocals mesh nicely with the slower version of the song—seems quite forced, but on the whole, Kaskade somehow gets it to work. The Ice version of "Llove" is also one of my favorites, but where the drop should be, Kaskade instead gets rid of the baseline entirely and lets the melodic, high-pitched vocals take over.

Overall, the CD is one of Kaskade's best efforts, and it is absolutely worth a listen (and the $9.99 it costs on iTunes). Fire is a work of art from a famous American DJ, and Ice, while not as great as the hotter version, is absolutely worth a listen nonetheless.