The latest and greatest in Electronic Dance Music. In depth, thought-provoking prose, combined with the best music the electronic scene has to offer. Exclusive artist content, interviews and, of course, free downloads. I do it all "For The Wubz."
Essentially shaming every other comparably talentless 15 year-old in the world, this whippersnapper has officially accomplished something that, in my opinion, no other American producer has leading up to this moment in time. If you’ve been following RO at all recently, you’re sure to have noticed our obsession with a genre whose inception emanated from a region beyond the United States of America.
We are speaking in regard to “Future Bass.”
The artist in question? A 15 year-old prodigy by the name of $aturn.
His track? An incredibly spot on rendition of “Kiss Kiss” by Cashmere Cat, a Norwegian musician who has assuredly pushed the boundaries and championed the very same production method in which we identified above.
Clueless?
You’ve got Google at your fingertips…why speculate? Assimilate.
This is most certainly a pleasant change of pace for Lorin, a seasoned veteran when it comes it the “dirty dirty.”
Most (if not all) of my fond memories involving the music of Bassnectar revolve around one thing: grime. However, it was the filthy nature of his beats that attracted me towards his music to begin with. It only seems right that he is now switching it up a bit, attracting a larger audience and offering fans a wider spectrum of melodies, tones and instruments. After all, everyone likes variety, right?
Well, probably not. Face it, people suck and they HATE change.
Personally, I welcome it. That is, pending the artist in question continues to produce euphonic compositions. So far, I have not run into any disgruntled “Bass Heads”; I could very well see handfuls of his die-hards being a bit perturbed with his recent lighter, more melodic take on music production.
“Who cares?”
If there’s grass on the pitch let’s play.
Meaning, if it exists, why not listen? “You and Me” is nothing short of a top-quality jam. It may not sound like it’s coming from the same Bassnectar you thought you knew, but apparently, you never really knew him to begin with. What do you think about that?
Mr. Ashton’s new album titled “Noise Vs. Beauty” drops June 24th on Amorphous Music.
Sorry, I generally do my best to avoid reading the unfathomably ignorant comments streaming alongside SoundCloud tracks.
For this next song however, I could not help but read each one of them and revel in the collective excitement surrounding the concept of brand new music from one of the most legendary names in EDM – Nero.
The above excerpt, taken from a random fan’s joyous response to the release, just so happened to be my favorite of the lot…mainly because that fan’s sentiments are akin to my own.
Nero’s back bitches!
Landing on a coincidentally apt title for their new jam – producers Daniel Stephens, Joe Ray, and vocalist Alana Watson are finally back on the scene after a somewhat lengthy hiatus in production (I would have waited forever though, honestly).
While constantly contributing to and perusing around the massive EDM blog-o-sphere, I all too often find its writers over using clichéd buzz words like “epic” or “dirty.” However, in situations such as these, I feel helpless when I truly have no other way of describing Nero’s latest release, “Satisfy”.
It definitely is epic, but then again, of course it is.
We’re talking about The Trifecta here.
Nero.
Our contrived description of their productions as “epic” emanates directly from the talents Daniel and Joe possess as great musicians. The way this tandem of producers craft there art is unlike any other out there. Each and every song on Nero’s last album “Welcome Humanity” showcases the duo’s uncanny ability to progress a song, and make you bust a groove (or maybe even a nut).
This concept may seem a bit intangible at first, however, that’s because it is.
You cannot teach this stuff. It comes from years of experience, growing as both an overall musician and more specifically, an electronic dance music producer. It’s most certainly the way their tracks open, build, drop and decay that makes each song a entirely unique piece of artwork. Lyrics aside, each song will clearly and vividly unravel a story with the progression of its tone, mood, rate and instrumental arrangements.
With a brand new album soon on the way from Nero, “Satisfy” will just have to do for now.
Unfortunately, a good thing cannot last forever. We, as human beings, are perpetually doomed to fruitlessly attempt to claim a stake in this world in order leave our own unique, everlasting imprint on humanity after we are gone. However, our efforts will ALWAYS be in vain. I will never forget the image painted by Percy Bysshe Shelley, the famous English Romantic poet, in his famous work titled Ozymandias.
Mr. Shelley writes: (Play clip below to hear poem):
Ozymandias
“I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
The concept Percy is referring to in the above reading by Breaking Bad’s Michael Cranston (so badass btw) is such that, no matter what we do, we will always be forgotten. Much like how the relentless winds of the desert had eroded the seemingly omnipresent statue of the Egyptian king Ozymadias down to his ankles, the reader is supposed to find irony in the statement, “Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” Because, as we are told in the next line, “Nothing beside remains. Round the decay/ Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare/ The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
Despite the king’s best efforts to construct physical, tangible objects to stand in his memory, he could never fathom the extend of time in which they would eventually disappear by a slow and inevitable decay.
So, before this next group of talented musicians passes by in the sands of time, give a listen to their final remix of a song called “Different Stars.” After all, they will always live on in our memories. That is enough for me.
The duo had this to say about their final release:
“Hey ya’ll, I’m sure many of you have noticed we haven’t released any music or played out in a long time. As a group Biz and I have gone in different directions (while remaining friends) and have been unsure of the fate of the group for about a year now. This was one of the last tracks we worked on as The Killabits- a remix for a song we loved called “Different Stars”. Its a pretty meaningful song to us in a lot of ways (and is my fav piece of music we’ve ever written together) and over the time we’ve taken to think about where we wanted to go the opportunity came up to get this approved to be an official release. After deciding we no longer wanted to work on music as a group, we felt it would be a great way to close out our catalog and a perfect way to bring closure to something we put our lives into and cared deeply about for such a long time.
We want to thank all of you for supporting us, coming to our shows, and sharing our music with your friends. The memories will last us a lifetime and we are infinitely thankful for the experience. We know from some of the messages over the last year that to many of you our music was a big part of getting you into the dance scene and a big part of your lives and I can’t describe what it means to us to know how many people we reached with our music. We’ll be forever thankful.
It would really help us a lot if you could take the time to share this post to get this message and song spread to as many people as possible.”
Personally, for this Rager, this next jam has been an unabashed pleasure of mine over the past week.
Capturing an unbelievably catchy tune in a four and a half minute track seems entirely effortless for musicians Jantsen and DirtMonkey, two of the most promising up-and-coming American dubstep producers. Setting aside my unhealthy obsession with two other dub production masterminds (Spag Heddy and EH!DE), Boulder residents Patrick Megeath of Dirt Monkey and Jantsen Robertson additionally possess the rare ability to produce the filthiest, nastiest of beats while still managing to keep their chord progression unique and extremely melodic. I fear that as of late, simple qualities such as these are far too often ignored in an narrow-minded attempt to synthesize the ultimate “drop.”
Utilizing a classic rolling bass melody, which to me, sounds a lot like old-school Doctor P, and a unfathomably catchy reggae hook, this tandem of Colorado DJs have struck gold with “Ice Cream Sound.” Pay special attention to the way these two have incorporated the vocal chops as an instrument and how it elegantly intertwines with the original, “Slightly Stoopid-reminiscent” vocals.
These are never easy. Besides dealing with the inevitable bickering that occurs between the FTWubz crew members, I get a lot of shit from my sixty year old mother actually. She likes that super grimy shit, you know? The kind of music you get down and ultra dirty to. She’s really into free love these days. Look her up.
However, I’m probably going to get a frying pan upside the head for this next list…maybe the LAXX will save me.
5. LAXX – Step One [Never Say Die]
Going hard in the paint, err…I mean studio.
4. Various Artists – Prophication Remix EP [Mau5trap]
Giant remixes to an even bigger EP from last year.
When it comes to producing melodic dubstep, living in the shadow of an artist like Seven Lions is certainly no walk in the park. In order for an emerging artist to grab the attention of the electronic dance world, they must offer up a track that is truly a work of art, something rather special. Unfortunately, it is the inherent predisposition we all share as human beings that clouds our judgement when listening to new music. We are more willing to accept or enjoy a production from an artist in which we are already acquainted with (call it a bias if you will). We want their music to be good because we have already invested time in the artist(s) in question.
Fortunately for this next producer, he picked the right platform in which to springboard his euphonic genius onto our collective ears. It’s not even a contest any more, Monstercat =good music. It is as simple as that. Word up to our Canadian brethren pumping out wildly enjoyable EDM tunes day in and day out.
With the help of my feline friends, Stonebank brings us his first discernible release to date. “Eagle Eyes” (featuring vocals by EMEL) will warp the listener on a journey through a dense, dynamically shifting melodic dubstep landscape eloquently crafted by this up and coming producer hailing from, you guessed it, the UK.
For The Wubz 