Top 10 EDM Songs Released This Month (May 2014)

Do you like music? Nice, so do I.

That’s why instead of hitting up happy hour for some dirty flirtinis, I spent my entire Friday afternoon ferociously debating which new EDM tracks are the most trill. And by ‘most trill’, I mean the 10 songs released this month that simply cannot be denied – for any reason, other than if you peed your pants.

Then again, peeing your pants is cool.

So uhh…yah. You should listen to all of these songs.

10. Wielding their street sweeping beat, SNAILS is shooting “SLUGZ.”

9. Kill The Zo, ’nuff said.

8. Once you go Thomas Jack, you never go back.

7. There’s Goldfish, there’s Koi, and then there’s this song.

6. It’s an Audien “Revolution.” We’re just living in it.

5. No, no “Ice Cream Sound.” Not until you eat your vegetables.

4. Remaining static will be a problem for die-hard fans of The Knocks. We present, “Move Me.”

3. Porter Robinson unveils another revolutionary chapter in his pièce de résistance, the “Sad Machine.”

2. Complete satiation thanks to the trio that is Nero.

1. Welcome insomnia. You won’t stop listening to this…not even for sleep.

Two More EDM Songs (Minus The ‘D’) [Free Download]

If the title left you scratching your beautiful little head, we’re sorry.

 

 

Please let me explain.

After stumbling upon both of these tracks in the very same day, I thought it proper to share them with you. The particular quality or motif that both of these songs share is a very simple concept to understand, however its role may be vitally important to the music industry as a whole. As stated in the title, both of these jams are EDM (Electronic Dance Music) without the ‘D’ or, more simply, Electronic Music.

Yeah, I get it. “EM,” as it shall be called, is most assuredly not a new concept in popular music. Hipsters have been doing it since they started making corduroy pants and fixed gear velocipedes (quintessentially indie way of saying “bicycles”)…and that’s a long time.

Trust me.

However, both of these tracks by artists AFK and Matchbox Orchestra incorporate particular qualities of Electronic Music that are more closely related to those heard in Electronic Dance Music. More often these days we are beginning to witness these electronic sounds pop up in any and every other genre of already established popular music. Instead of boring you with the details of what I mean exactly, I figured it might be more fun if you just listened. Try and tease out these concepts yourself. See if you can understand exactly what we are talking about.

Both “I forget” by Matchbox Orchestra featuring CubeKin and AFK’s remix of “Bride Side” by Protohype and Ras feature a more minimalistic “electronic” approach than most EDM productions. I say this because both artists are EDM producers by trade.

If anything, the two songs sound more like regular old rock jams than anything. In my opinion, this method serves to make the individual breakdowns all the more dulcet and indicative of the emotion the vocalist is trying to convey in their lyrics. Instead of being stagnantly satiated with overwhelming electronic arrangements, they are saved for a time when the song truly NEEDS it.

Good luck getting either of these tunes out of your heads.

1. Protohype – Bright Side ft. Ras (AFK Remix ft. DKS)

2. Matchbox Orchestra – I Forget ft. CubeKin

Bassnectar Loves Change, And You Should Too (NEW)

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.

Watch for it.

Monstercat 017 – Ascension Ascends the Label Even Further

Over the past two years, I have watched this next label transform from the likes of a promising, transgenre EDM collective (with loads of potential) into the fierce jungle feline you see before you today.

Monstercat is most certainly where it’s at when discussing labels that have set the tone for the next few years of electronic dance music releases.

How, you ask?

Well, that next part is a bit tricky.

To begin, this Vancouver-based music label has elucidated talents from some of the most unheard of, eclectic groups of musicians in all of dance music. Not only have they championed said undiscovered artists onto the scene, but these new talents have proceeded to swell their fair share of waves in this vastly expanding ocean we affectionately refer to as the “EDM-o-sphere.” A quick glance at the “current roster” on the official Monstercat web page will reveal a staggering number of widely popular producers you may not have necessarily associated with MCat.

7 Minutes Dead, Astronaut, Au5, Braken, Case & Point, Direct, DotEXE, Dzeko & Torres, Droptek, Falcon Funk, Favright, Fractal, Haywyre, Hellburg, Insan3lik3, Krewella, Lets Be Friends, Mr Fijiwiji, Noisestorm, PIXL, Pegboard Nerds, Project 46, Rameses B, Razihel, Rogue, Soulero, Splitbreed, Stephen Walking, Throttle, Tristam, Tut Tut Child, Varien and Vicetone.

(Just to name a few of my favorites.)

However, words will only get me so far. You need to HEAR what I mean.

Without hesitation, the fat cats over at MC have released their 17th compilation LP to date. So far, “Monstercat 017 – Ascension” has garnered attention from every corner of the EDM world, making this their most supported album to date! With a four-hour laundry list of tracks, fantastic production quality throughout, and loads of prodigal EDM producers on top of it all, Monstercat presents to you a release that will only serve to exacerbate their stranglehold on the EDM industry.

Keep it up boys and girls.

Artist Spotlight | KASBO [Future Beauty]

Coming from one of the biggest dubstep (and overall heavy, bass driven music) fanatics – it was rather difficult to make the transition to a more downtempo, hip-hop influenced type of production method. With friends who just wouldn’t stop playing artists like Flume, Cashmere Cat and 123mrk – I was prepped to groove straight into a style of music that I was previously too closed-minded to ever give a chance.

Today, a smattering of electronic dance music producers possess their own unique approach when it comes to creating a downtempo, hip-hop or trap-influenced track. And, based on their own individual idiosyncratic takes on the genre, the method will garner a name. Productions such as these and the ones that follow from this next producer, Kasbo, have been labeled as: Future Bass, Garage, Love-Trap, 2-step, Chill-Trap, Chillout, Crunkwave, Flume-Step (ironically), Midtempo, Trap-Step, Moombahtrap, Future Garage, Deep House, Future, Ambient, IDM and way too many others.

For the sake of my own sanity, I will usually refer to it as Future Bass…unless I’m trying to keep ya’ on your toes. Stagnation can be so, well boring really.

If you don’t like it, sue me (please don’t, I have no money).

Kasbo, an 18 year-old EDM producer based out of Gothenburg, Sweden (go figure), has certainly caught the attention of the bold, beautiful, bulbed-brethren here at FTWubz HQ (I’m so modest). Filling out the frequencies with heavily melodic and lush productions, this young up-and-comer looks to have a bright future in this game we call the EDM industry.

I am sure you’ll agree after listening to the four elegantly composed pieces below.

LINKZ:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kasbo/219160718225442

https://twitter.com/Kasbomusic

https://www.youtube.com/user/KasboOfficial

 

A Farewell To Jams | The Killabits

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.”

Without further ado, here you go.

Mat Zo and Kill The Noise Present: Kill The Zo

Well eat my foot and call me Sally!

Honestly, I never thought these next three words would ever be uttered in sequence, let alone be actualized into a serious collaboration between two of my favorite, yet, in their own regard, entirely different EDM producers.

Kill

The

Zo

That’s right. You heard me correctly.

In what may be one of the strangest electronic dance music alliances I have ever seen, Matan Zohar, aka Mat Zo and Jake Stanczak of Kill The Noise have officially joined forces and dropped their premier release as a single entity. Appropriately titled “Part 1,” this next five minute, enigmatic composition is soon to be the talk of the electronic dance music community (and not solely because of who produced it).

How do I know this?

Tossing aside the obvious notion that these two producers’ prior endeavors and resulting fame will greatly aid in the success of this menagerie of strange bedfellows, it’s the track’s jaw-dropping uniqueness that speaks the loudest toward its merit. There’s simply no point in classifying it. Just open your ears to the future.

Now, I’m not saying this is what every EDM musician will be on after they hear it, but, you bet your ass we will be hearing a bevy of follow-up releases from these two.

Taking you around the world in a freshly constructed, incredibly complex, multi-cultural, electronic dance music flying machine, I warmly welcome to the scene, Kill The Zo.

http://killthezo.com/

10 Tracks Your Mom Can Get Down To On Mother’s Day [In No Particular Order]

Ok, now stop.

Before you click “Pay and Proceed” on that Edible Arrangements bouquet you were just about to purchase, why not reconsider?

What would you say if I told you that you could give your mom something totally wicked this mothers day? Not only would this gift be over-the-top incredible and possibly the most notable gift anyone has bestowed upon the person who squeezed the gifter in question out of her vagina, but, it would also be free of charge.

I know what your thinking…

And yes. I’d love it if you’d hook me up with your mothers.

And yes. Below I have provided the gift in which I was discussing above.

You can thank me later.

10. John Denver – Take Me Home, Country Roads (Pretty Lights Remix)

Take me home, John Denver. And you too, Pretty Lights.

 

9. Kill Paris feat. Marty Rod & Alma – Falling In Love Again (Kill Paris & Bee’s Knees Keytar Mix)

The love machine known as Kill Paris fits any Mother’s Day celebration. Just make sure it’s the right kind of love.

 

8. Soulero – Burning Down (Nymus Remix)

Picturesque. Play this one while strolling through the park with mother on your daily walk.

 

7. Coyote Kisses – This Is How You Know

A delicate hymn proper for that car ride over to church. Thanks Coyote Kisses.

 

6. Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (Big Sandz Remix)

Marvin Gaye + Big Sandz = A Kiss From Your Mother

 

5. The M Machine – Tiny Anthem (Shinichi Osawa Remix)

A tiny anthem your mom can sing you to sleep. The perfect lullaby.

 

4. Skrux and Felxprod feat. Complexion – Find You (Skrux VIP)

Who said maternal figures can’t like dub?

 

3. Ellie Goulding – Hanging On (I SEE MONSTAS Remix)

Ellie Goulding has the heart of an angel. Like your mom. HA.

 

2. Grizmatik – Digital Liberation Is Mad Freedom

Tell mom to save this track for behind closed doors. Nobody wants to see that.

 

1. Sigma – Nobody To Love

Got nobody to love on Mother’s Day? Sigma’s got you covered.

Top 10 Songs of April 2014

We don’t have a lot of time so let’s keep this short…

 

What did I tell you?

10. If Death Cab for Cutie made Trance, this would be it.

9. Holy Urchin.

8. “This doesn’t sound at all like Daft Punk…how dare you Dillon?” Said every comment on this track.

7. Downtempo, modded vocals, straight Future kill.

6. One of my new favorite artists. Trap produced well, go figure.

5. What a great remix. Ever heard love oozing through your speakers?

4. Audien, just stop it. You nasty thing, you.

3. I was missing this Australian, Future Bass trailblazing phenom.

2. The ladies will love this one. Better find one…

1. Unfiltered perfection by Mr. Fijiwiji.