Your Electronic Dance Music Primer
Posted 04/03/2012 08:18AM by Dylan Newell as Article
EDM (electronic dance music) has become a rising phenomenon in the music world recently, even making its way into pop, rap, and metal music. EDM spans out to various subgenres including dubstep, house, electro, moombahton, and drum and bass. Since it is becoming so widely known, here's a short primer showcasing new electronic songs, upcoming releases, and older songs. Check out the videos, check out the linked songs, and find something you like.
Rusko is one of the producers that has been pioneering dubstep since the beginning. Classic tracks like ”Cockney Thug” and ”Woo Boost” got me interested in dubstep and wanting more basslines like his. Currently, Rusko has been working with Cypress Hill and prepping for a collaborative five song EP release in April titled Cypress X Rusko (you can check out the first track “Roll It, Light It” here). Rusko also has a solo release, Songs, released March 27th. It’s a pretty solid release. I would highly recommend checking it out. Here’s the leading single “Somebody To Love” (and a bonus remix from fellow dubstep pioneer Skream).
Dillon Francis started off making dubstep in his early days as a producer, but he caught on to a rising genre called moombahton. He’s had some great remixes including his remix of Todda T’s “Take It Back” and his remix of Chase & Status’ “Hitz”. Dillon just released a four song EP on Skrillex’s own OWSLA Records called Something Something Awesome which features the two songs below “Dill The Noise”, a collaborative effort with producers Kill The Noise, and “Now Hear This”.
501 is another huge producer right now who has been making dubstep music since 2008. He has the experience and skills to produce some of the best tracks in the genre. His past releases have included gems like ”Black & Blue”, ”8 Bit Dreamer”, and ”Unknown Enemy”. He just released two tracks “Headrush (ft. Belle Humble)” and “Falling Skies” which you can hear below. If you dig it, he just released a free hour mix through dubstep label Never Say Die.
18 year old producer Eptic has also been shaking up the dubstep scene recently with the release of his new EP Like A Boss. The EP even hit #1 on the top 100 dubstep releases on Beatport, the electronic equivalent of iTunes. Check out “Like A Boss” and “Death Ray” below, and you can also pick up a free hour long mix from him.
Next up, we have Canadian duo Zeds Dead, and if you aren’t familiar with them, you need to jump on it. These guys have their own signature sound that is dark and heavy, as shown in their remixes of The Roots’ “Dear God 2.0” and Sabi’s “Wild Heart”. They recently put out their own Adrenaline EP and a new mixtape with rapper Omar LinX titled Victor (free here). Below are a song from each release title track “Adrenaline” from the EP and “No Prayers” from the mixtape.
I’m going to round out the article with a few newer tracks that I’ve been digging that are all pretty different styles. First is a remix from producer Infuze of MNDR’s “#1 In Heaven”. It starts out pretty poppy, but it gets pretty filthy once the drop hits. The high/low bass sound reminds me of Flux Pavilion and Doctor P’s style, but it still remains a laid back, head-nodder throughout the song.
Next up is a remix from Starkey of Little Jinder’s “Keep On Dreaming”. With a pretty unique sound that isn’t exactly dubstep, it still makes you want to nod your head along. The overall production is decent, switching up styles the entire song, and it achieves banger status pretty easily.
Vaski is becoming one of my favorite producers for his very different, harder style of dubstep. Check out his remix of rapper A$AP Rocky’s “Peso” below. If you haven’t heard the original, it’s a good rap track, but this isn’t a rap article…so peep it here. This remix keep some of the original raps, but Vaski comes in with a huge, heavy drop and some deep wobbs.
Benny Benassi is a huge name in electronic music, but I honestly dig the remixes of his track more than his original songs. Check out this remix of his track “Love Is Gonna Save Us” from Stephan Jacobs below. It starts out with a chopped up synth line with chopped up female vocals, but the drop hits and blows you away. It’s a very deep, low bass line, but the simplicity of it keeps the song interesting.
Heard of Borgore yet? The rapper/gorestep producer from Israel who signed to Sumerian Records last year? Check out one of his newer tracks below remixing Dev’s “Kiss My Lips”. It starts out with original vocals from Dev along with, but as soon as the bass line starts to come in, you know the drop is about to get filthy. The second drop is even better, you almost want to mosh to this track. Hoping I get to check his live show out in April.
Rounding out this article is an older track from Subscape that I’ve always enjoyed called “Nothing’s Wrong”. The chill vibes and deep bass are enough to make your head nod along and completely zone into the music.
Producers featured in this article (if you like what you heard, go give them a like on facebook):
Rusko
Dillon Francis
501
Eptic
Zeds Dead
Infuze
Starkey
Vaski
Stephan Jacobs
Borgore
Subscape
Comments
Atascadero, CA
cool.. can always use some dubstep recs.. i know everyone hates skrillex cuz of his popularity but there's nothing that really compares to his sound.
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Reno, NV
Ain't gonna happen. Sorry buddy. Just ain't gonna ever happen.
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Sunshine Coast, Australia
There is so much good electronic music around at the moment. Quality songwriting mixed with top shelf production - groups like SBTRKT, M83, Polica, Jonti, Toro Y Moi and Little Dragon are some of my top hits at the moment. There's a bunch of really good Australian dub groups getting around at the moment, electronic reggae outfits like Tijuana Cartel and Dubmarine. I like it.
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Columbus, OH
Nice list, Dylan. I've heard of a few of these and need to check out the rest. I still dig Skrillex's remix of "Cinema" as my favorite of the Benassi remixes.
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Illinois
i tried to stay away from skrillex. all his songs sound the same, if you know good dub you know that producers like to experiment with different sounds and he uses the same presets for every song i swear.
i heard this on some mixes from Ultra 2012 in miami. an added skrillex bonus for you skrill-heads (featuring damien marley):
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