Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
Top music charts are a great way to find new music and see what is currently hot within the Electronic Music industry.
These top music charts are listed in print and online publications but what real purpose do they serve to the beginner DJ?
Tags: Find New Music, Music Charts
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Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
There’s been a question on my mind for the year or two that I can’t seem to get out of my head: is Electronic Music becoming popular?
I say this because when I flip on the radio, it seems like Pop and Hip Hop songs are increasingly using Electronic Music as their basis now.
But is this a good thing?
I never hold myself to any high standard or pretentiousness but in some ways, it’s sickening to hear how so many artists are using dirty Electro basslines, filter effects and 4/4 beats as their background music now.
The real stem of the problem is that it gives a false representation of the Electronic Music genres.
Every day I hear people exclaim “I love techno!” or “Electronica rocks!”. You know those old terms that even years ago were indicators that people really didn’t listen to a lot of Electronic Music?
These people lump all Electronic Music into one giant term.
Semantics aside, I think the question at hand popped up at last year’s Ultra Music Festival where Black Eye Peas took the main stage.
For whatever reason, I had to see this train wreck, at least for a minute.
What I saw was utter shit. Not only were play playing the most generic Electronic Music beats possible but people were actually falling all over themselves at how “awesome” the sound was.
To think, people listening to this generic bastardization of Electronic Music… at an Electronic Music festival!
So months go by and B.E.P released their album The E.N.D. It all went down hill from there.
Beside the fact that they were called out by Adam Freeland for stealing a part of his song, the entire album is this clash of cheesy Electronic Music effects that were used back in the 90s.
Fast forward months later and it seems that every Pop and Hip Hop song seems to have this same approach. This repetition of lyrics, gritty (but shitty) basslines, effects and remixes.
So what the hell is going on here? Has Electronic Music finally begun to be popular here in the states?
Over in the U.K. Electronic Music has been reaching Top 40 charts for quite some time but that’s a whole different story.
This new approach to these genres have stripped away the soul of what Electronic Music is just for a quick buck and a popular song.
Even radio DJ’s are getting in on it.
Nearly a decade ago there was a great station here in Florida which actually played a ton of Electronic Music. It wasn’t the deepest underground stuff but it still had its edge.
Now, after a considerable amount of time, we have 106.7 playing live mixes from a local club DJ. This would be fine and all but all he spins is the poppy Electronic tracks, you know, the “safe” ones that people that aren’t really into the style seem to go crazy for now.
Mix this with a constant barrage of air horns, spin backs and chatter about doing shots and we have ourselves one shitty mix.
So where does Electronic Music go from here?
I think we will see a surge in many artists using Electronic Music, wither it’s sampling or instruments, to make a lot of the popular music now.
It will never get to the point where a dark, speedy acid set makes it on radio play here so there’s something comforting knowing that there will always be an edgier side to Electronic Music.
I’m just not looking forward to hearing people go on and on about their bastardized Electronic Music.
Well, I guess that did come across as a bit snotty and pretentious but that’s because I love Electronic Music.
What about you?
Tags: Electronic Music
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Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
DJ’s have a tough job, they have to listen to music all day, dig through crate after crate and play for rabid crowds at intense parties. Read Eeeeet
Tags: music, Practice
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Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
Psytrance is my all-time favorite music genre. I’m not sure if it’s the fact that I have hippy parents or if it strikes a deep rooted longing to experience the abnormal.
Psytrance blends the progression of Trance with Psychedelic sounds to give you a wild trip – even when you’re not on drugs.
In this post, I’ve compiled years of personal favorites to what I feel is my quintessential list of Psytrance artists, these listed are what I consider the best of the best.
Here is my top 10 Psytrance artist list:
At the top of my list, and probably for many people that love Psytrance, is Simon Posford’s Hallucinogen.
Hallucinogen has become the classic sound of Psytrance and it’s no contest due to the phenomenal releases through the years.
Hallucinogen brings the most unique and powerful sound to the Psytrance genre. Since the release of Twisted in 1995, all other albums have been shadowed by the release.
Hallucinogen’s later album The Lone Deranger was a much anticipated follow up that did not disappoint.
To take his sound down to a chill level, Simon later release an In Dub remix of classic tracks backed by one of my favorite Psybient artists, Ott.
We can only hope that Simon can find time between Shpongle and Younger Brother to make a new Hallucinogen album.
Not to give Hallucinogen all the light on this list, Doof holds a special place on my list as one of the best artist the Psytrance genre has seen.
Doof’s raw sound crafts two amazing albums: Let’s Turn On and It’s About Time.
The squelching acid bass lines combined with mind blowing psychedelic sounds combine perfectly to create everything that Doof has to offer.
A heavy contender in the Psytrance community, Astral Projection has been around for ages.
Although it can be debated that Astral Projection has more of a GOA sound, their influence over Psytrance cannot be omitted.
With nearly a dozen releases, Astral Projection has cemented their place in the Psytrance genre with amazing releases one after another.
If you thought Astral Projection was the only one to make the list with a long history of producing Psytrance, Eat Static has basically been around since the beginning.
The release of Implant gained them a special place on this list. Implant is a classic Psytrance album that perfectly sums up the sound during the early nineties.
The warming analogue sounds of each sound crafts Eat Static’s albums into an unmissable experience.
Koxbox brings to us release after release of pounding Psytrance tracks.
No short of amazing, Koxbox is another classic example of Psytrance done right.
Put on any of Koxbox’s albums to hear why it made my top 10 Psytrance list.
Electric Universe makes this list for their combination of increasing perfection in each release and the dedication to their sound.
I’m a sucker for acid bass lines, Electric Universe takes the cake. That squelch from each sound coming from the 303 is such a great compliment to the psychedelic sound.
Man With No Name has become a legend with the Psytrance genre. If you were to talk to any Psytrance junkie, Man With No Name will definitely spill from their lips.
Man With No Name came into the scene with force and quietly walked away without leaving us with a sour taste in our mouths.
You can’t call yourself a true Psytrance fan if you don’t know the classic tune: Teleport.
Is it possible that Pleiadians is the greatest Psytrance artist to grace the genre? It quite possibly be so.
Crossing the line between GOA and Psytrance, Pleiadians is the quintessential example that labels do not dictate your sound.
Whatever you want to label Pleiadian’s music as, it’s one thing: perfection.
Just put Identified Flying Objects on and you’ll see why Pleiadians is held so close to everyone.
Out of all that is listed on my top 10 Psytrance list, Talamasca is the only one that I have both begun to grow old of but find their older albums more and more amazing.
The original releases of Talamasca breathed a new life into the Psytrance genre. Unfortunately, their later offerings have begun to dry up the old school sound.
That’s not to say they don’t deserve to be on my list, nostalgia alone keeps them ringing through my ears.
Last, but not certainly least, sits Tristan.
Tristan gave us a darker sound that no one was expecting. As Psytrance picked up with happy psychedelic sounds, Tristan dove into the darker side of our minds.
Perhaps a proto release of Dark Psytrance, Audiodrome has all the warm feeling of raw analogue sound but with a touch of anger.
There you have it, my top 10 favorite Psytrance tunes.
There are certainly dozens I would like to mention but that defeats the purpose of a top 10 list does it not?
Psytrance continues to progress and break off into different sounds.
Lately Dark Psytrance has been on my favorite list but with the emergence of new artists in the Psytrance community, I find myself coming back full circle to rediscover the genre I love.
What are your favorite Psytrance artists?
Tags: Psytrance, Top 10
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