Throwing Snow's new single marks a pretty interesting take on what dubstep has become. Its a lush chords and jazz shuffle sound calibrated and refined. And yet the track is undeniably a part of the post-dubstep music scene.
Its encouraging that this kind of music has developed a sound and aesthetic that can be identified as such even when many of the traditional elements are not there.
IDM artist Squarepusher has just announced he will be recording for the french filter house record label Ed Banger. This is a strange move from Squarepusher considering hes almost never recorded outside of his home at Warp Records. Warp is home to such landmark producers as Aphex Twin, LFO (no not that LFO), Flying Lotus and Brian Eno.
Whereas Warp has long been highly regarded for its genre defying musical feats of imagination, Ed Banger has experienced somewhat of a backlash because of its concentration on the stagnant culture surrounding electro-house.
70s kitsch recast as 2010 floor banger. No generation clash here. The giddy remix is a seamless declaration of purpose for Teengirl Fantasy, USA's newest dance-pop export. Weiss and Takahashi—two Brooklyn kids who go to Oberlin college—don't rely heavily on distorted bass or beefy drums to update the sample source for a modern dance floor.
They take the original track and pitch down the vocals, slowly revealing it as the song steadily builds. The track is sincere and emotive and if cheaters never win, Teengirl Fantasy should be just fine.
The two artists are formidable sex symbols, each working to define their singular identities against the backdrop of an unforgiving modern landscape. They are both fans of chameleon-like transformations of characer (with Bowie recording as David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust ect, and Dear sporting monikers from False, Jabberjaw, and Audion to plain old Matthew Dear.)
However their similarities are more than superficial. Beyond their innocent boy meets debauchee via sexual androgyny image construction, the two artists have more than a few things in common. Each sing in arresting baritone, slowly and disaffectedly as if nothing and everything are at stake. And through their relentlessly modern, otherworldly dance music they leverage the weight of their problems against the weight of the beat. Both artists implore their listeners to dance the night away, to dance thier problems away.
Bowie, born in the South London borough of Brixton, grew up in the post WWII era when the area was decimated by Nazi bombing raids. With urban decay as his backdrop, Bowie went on to produce countless hits of flashy swagger cracked by self-aware insecurity. One of his greatest hits remains "Fame", a startling example of how the modern incarnation of fame is a process of decay in and of itself - ruthlessly taring apart its subject, much in the same way that hyper-modern cities had torn themselves apart.
The new millennium from Matthew Dear's perspective is equally daunting. His music is the jittery godson of the Detroit Techno music scene - an artistic movement that draws inspiration from the cultural detritus that has settled in Detroit since the manufacturing giants that had built the city into an economic powerhouse left it to rot. Dear's music has the same air of self-assured apprehension that made Bowie's music so affecting and enduringly relevant in our postmodern world.
Anyways, the man has a new album out which i implore you all to buy. Stream the whole thing below
Everyone and their mother thinks they can write an epic song. From the thunderous buildups of electro workouts to the relentless thump of dubstep, it seems like people are leveraging drum rolls and sound effects against musicianship and quality production.
Its like reaching for new heights while losing your footing. And finding this out about musicians triggers the same lukewarm disappointment kids get when they realize that no, adults do not, in fact, have their nose.
Not everyone can write an epic tune. Epics are not democratic, they are forces of nature. Virgil wrote epics. Not Rusco. Not Wolfmother. Not Deadmou5. And in the end its the music that suffers when we replace substance with drama. Its important for music to have emotional resonance, but it must possess those qualities based on its own merits and on its own terms, not via some worn out silence-->buildup--> drop convention that stopped being important the exact moment Benny Benassi became a has-been.
On that note, its refreshing to hear soulful garage jams like "Coconuts" by London producer Jack Dixon. The drums pulse without pummeling, the bass booms without bleeding. None of the melodrama that characterizes mid-range hyper-compressed wobblestep dares lay a finger on the genuine subtly that this track sports.
Its got a certain summer night swagger. The drums bounce loosely as the bass hits like a humid breeze, and its all a very classy affair. This tune is proof that you don't have to be in the eye of the storm to get your feet wet.
Around the two minute mark the bass drops out and a clipped vocal eases into the mix. The treble's turned up and the dry funk of AM radio's heyday serves as a nice breather. And then (here's the important part guys) the beat pops back into place. Perfect. To the point. Like summer night rain it kinda just happens, and we feel all the better for it.
Instrumental music begs categorization. Casual listeners demand something to cling on to so as to bring music’s elusive artists to the fore. To make music intelligible in spite of its enigmatic origins.
Like many emerging beat makers, Milyoo’s identity is largely unknown, leaving his music prey to critics eager to tag it as part of this scene or that.
The guys at FACT are sure Milyoo’s bedroom-beats are the kin of motor city’s greatest. But this track has less to do with Dilla than it does with much of the UK Bass music they regularly report on. Deep sub bass tones frame the bottom of the mix. A low-strung, quivering note suggests something cavernous. But hailing from Kentucky, Milyoo’s drums are pure Americana. They split the difference between hip-hop and prog rock.
Somehow though, the same skittering bongo patterns that drive Funky find there way into the mix without imposing their usual burst of energy on the mellow track. “Damage” is chill without being bogged down by the all of the usual signifiers. It’s nostalgic without predicating its success on swashes of fuzz. Laid back without being beach-y. Put simply, its smooth. Milyoo sounds like he’s chopping up a YES song instead of mining typical Motown stomping grounds. Encouraging stuff, someone to watch.
Whereas most dubstep reveals itself to be total trash the moment you step foot outside the club, the UK's Mount Kimbie's music is nuanced enough to make sense on your headphones without making your ears bleed. Taking cues from alternative rock and bedroom pop, the producers' brand of loop-heavy electronic music shows us what we wish Four Tet would sound like these days.
Chopped up vocals and guitar loops sound like a PC playing open mic night and the smokey local pub. Mount Kimbie's Maybes of last year only hinted at this new direction.
Head over to FACT to check out the whole album. Not to be missed
Tracklist:
01 Tunnelvision
02 Would Know
03 Before I Move Off
04 Blind Night Errand
05 Adriatic
06 Ruby
07 Carbonated
08 Ode to Bear
09 Field
10 Mayor
11 Between Time
This kid is nice with the cuts. Maxmillion Dunbar uses disco and soul samples like keys on a piano, hopping between them effortlessly. His tracks could easily be peak-time floor bangers but he keeps things slow. Far more interesting than most of the lazy disco edits floating around...
Throwing Snow's new single marks a pretty interesting take on what dubstep has become. Its a lush chords and jazz shuffle sound calibrated and refined. And yet the track is undeniably a part of the post-dubstep music scene.
