Godfathers of Electronic

No electronic music blog would be complete without a tribute to one of the most legendary duos of electro of all time: Daft Punk. Although they haven't produced a full album since the album Human After All in 2008, there have been rumors circulating about an album release this next spring and even a possible tour. Daft Punk was my first electronic love after my brother introduced me to them i grade school. Their hits like Aerodynamic and One More Time have over 40 plays each on my iTunes, and I am not ashamed to admit it. Daft Punk is always a crowd pleaser at parties, because the French duo was one of the first big electronic artists, and therefore, remarkable. If the tour rumors are true, my wallet better be prepared because there is no telling how much money I will be willing to shell out to see Daft Punk.

Prettiest Lights

As I have said in my post about GRiZMATiK, one of the greatest things about electronic music is the fact that certain artists' music does not belong to any one genre or belongs to multiple genres. One artist has managed to create an entirely new genre for himself, with very few DJs even sounding remotely similar. Pretty Lights, or Derek Smith, is an electronic producer out of Colorado describes his own music as "glitchy hip-hop beats, buzzing synth lines, and vintage soul samples." Derek doesn't just produce music, he creates an experience for his audience, putting a stung emphasis on the production of his shows. If anyone has been to a Pretty Lights concert (including myself), we can tell you just how spectacular it is. Of course, you're there to hear his music and see him on stage mixing it, but you have to remember that his DJ name is "Pretty Lights." And what Pretty Lights they are. When I saw him at North Coast Music Festival, he had his usual light up "city" behind him, dazzling us with neon colors, lights, and visuals. Halfway through the show, he turned on the lasers and introduced a rainbow spectrum of light which was amazing to see in the Chicago night sky. Pretty Lights' record label, Pretty Lights music, is a testament to the previously mentioned "pay as you see fit" theory when it comes to downloading music, so all of his music is available for download on http://www.prettylightsmusic.com/
Please enjoy some of my favorite tracks and if you like them, feel free to download!

PS: Pretty Lights was the first (before Avicii and way before Flo Rida) to use the "good feeling" sample.

Clarity

This year, we have seen the release of many EDM albums and mix tapes. In my opinion, one stands out among the rest of them as probably the best album of 2012: Zedd's first ever album, Clarity.

Zedd is a 23 year old electro-house producer from Germany who was actually classically trained in music as a child. Under the wing of dub step superstar Skrillex, Zedd has become an electro-sensation in it seems like no time at all. He has collaborated with EDM greats like Tiesto and recently worked with pop sensations such as Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber. His album transcends electronic music, combining heart-breaking melodies with dirty beat drops. Clarity is an album to listen to from start to finish, as his transitions from song to song are so clean that you can't even tell that a new song has started. This album is great for EDM novices and experts alike. I've included a few tracks from the album and encourage you to listen and lose yourself in the sound as I tend to do when I am listening.

Here is also a link to a very interesting article from the New York Times about young electronic DJs with a spotlight on our friend, Zedd.

Oooo sparklez!

Lather, Rinse, and Repeat with today's hump day treat!

Dead-mow-five?

One of the biggest and most vocal electronic DJs out there today is Deadmau5, a Canadian house/trance producer known for performing in his iconic headdress, or mau5head, and releasing cleverly named albums. His latest album, <Album Title Goes Here>, features one song that I really can't stop listening to called "Fn Pig."

Truth is, I do enjoy Deadmau5's music, but I'm not entirely sure I enjoy his personality. Most DJs tend to stay out of the media spotlight and focus on their music where it seems Deadmau5 can't get enough of it. Earlier this year, in a Rolling Stone Magazine interview, the producer "confessed" that "we (EDM DJs) all press play." This, as you can imagine, created quite a scandal in the electronic world, and made a lot of other DJs and producers extremely angry. A lot of EDM haters praised Deadmau5 for finally telling "the truth" about the matter but a lot of EDM fans then hated Deadmau5. Here is the link to Deadmau5's blog, where you can read his post "United We Fail, We All Press Play." You can imagine that there was a fair amount of backlash from other DJs for Deadmau5 "outing" them. Here is the link to a very well written article by DJ A-Track, an extremely skilled producer, defending his talents and the practices of other DJs who don't just "press play." What do you think?

Groovy Digs Man

So most of the songs that I have given you have been from the same genre of electronic music, and therefore may sound similar to each other. I would like to introduce you to two of my favorite artists, Gramatik and GRiZ, or known together as GRiZMATiK (pictured below).

It is almost impossible to categorize their music into a specific music genre, but I would describe it as funky, dub, hip-hop, and glitch electronic. But you don't have to take my word for it, listen to some tracks and decide for yourself! The ambiguity of their music is one of my favorite parts about it, besides the fact that it is super fun to groove to. Respectively, I have put up my favorite Gramatik and GRiZ songs, and then I have also included their first collaborated track, Digital Liberation is Mad Freedom.

All of these songs are also available for free download from these following links because these DJs have a "pay as you see fit" policy, which I believe truly separates them from other artists. Since money is not the most important part, you know that these guys are truly producing music for the love of producing music. Time to get funky!

Gramatik-digitalfreedom.zip

GRiZ-madliberation.zip

Digital Freedom is Mad Liberation

Daily Banger

We all need a little something to get us through our Mon-daze. Enjoy this dope track from Showtek and  Bassjackers.