elecTONIC

Lesser Loved Electro

// October 5th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

This week we’re featuring a post about dubstep by guest blogger Erin Bjornsson!

While we’re all fond of the traditional electro, house, breakbeat, etc, there is a lesser known (and quite frankly, lesser liked) form of electronic music referred to as dubstep. “Dub” often refers to two things, the first dub deriving from reggae and hip-hop roots in the Caribbean. The second “dub”, more commonly referred to as dubstep, is a form of electronic music with influences from various forms of electronic music, like trance, D&B, and breakbeat, and influences from reggae and hip-hop.

This new wave of dubstep stems from the early 2000s in the underground club scene of London and is characterized by syncopated rhythms, repetitive bridges, and an incredibly awesome deep bass drop followed by a heavily distorted wobble (my favorite!!). Today, dubstep frequents basement and warehouse parties; body movement is guaranteed, though practice of any distinguishable dance style is questionable.

While dubstep can be difficult to listen to on its own, it’s an easy crowd pleaser at events where one can feel the bass through their entire body. Dubstep is gaining popularity in the more mainstream electro crowd, as seen here at Coachella 2009, where Crookers throws in a few dub tunes.

VIDEO LINK –> “Crookers Crazy Drop @ Coachella 09″
The track at the beginning of this vid is “Down” by Dubstep frontman DZ. Almost any dubstep mix you will ever here includes something from this guy.

VIDEO LINK –> “CROOKERS @COACHELLA 09 – DUBSTEP”
Skip to 40 seconds, that’s where it gets interesting. It doesn’t matter if you love it or not, when you’re there, those drops are memorable. That weekend (and the sets in this tent) changed my view of electronic dance music, and how ever many thousands of people are in there had the ultimate bass-in-your-face moment.

As far as a lot of dubstep goes, it’s bland, but finding sick artists like DZ, Skream, and Nero are as easy as typing “dubstep” into youtube.

-Erin

Techno? Wait, what?

// September 29th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

I Love Techno 2009 is one of the world’s biggest dance music festivals. Just a quick glance at the roster (Deadmau5, Boys Noize, Zombie Nation, Tiga, Fake Blood, and Bloody Beetroots, to name a few of the very many) shows us all why we should move to Belgium. (Quick note: A few of these people are going to be at either LovEvolution or Subsonic Halloween Spookfest, so it’s not that bad.)

One thing this festival is known for doing is releasing a genre-pushing mix by one of the headliners a month in advance (2007′s mix by Dave Clarke is my favorite). This year, however, really stretches the boundaries. It’s mixed by?

Crookers.

Yes, Crookers, the guys who brought us that Day ‘n’ Nite remix, the guys who make electro versions of rap tracks and hip-hop remixes of electronica tracks. Definitely a shock when the opening tracks of a self-proclaimed techno mix album are banging fidget house tunes. It does veer back into familiar territory eventually (Osborne’s The Count), but the CD as a whole goes places you’d never expect.

Just take a gander at the Crookers remix of Fever Ray (Track 4) and see if you’d call this techno. [I don't even know what to call it, other than awesome.]