I wrote this for the Rave Family Group here on FB, but it seems like nobody really gave it any attention. Seeing as how my new home is up here in the PNW, I figured at least someone up here might appreciate this. Heres the first installment in a series Ill be writing to educate new fans of electronic music on the history of the genre as well as clear up a couple misconceptions. Seeing as how its the first episode, its more introduction than anything. Still, hope you enjoy :) --- EDM. House. Drum n Bass. Dubstep. Trap. Funk. Hardstyle. Trance. Lo-Fi. Breaks. Jungle. Disco. The list goes on and on and on and on. Over the past few years, it seems as though the electronic music world has risen from its own ashes to enjoy a popularity it has never seen before. Despite insightful documentaries like Better Living Through Circuitry, it can often be difficult for people to figure out how garage-shaking and (by todays standards) four-to-the-floor rhythms born in Chicago have evolved to be as diverse as they are today. Surely theres something for everyone in todays cavalcade of electronic music, but newcomers often find themselves overwhelmed and confused. Where do you start? Which online “magazine” offers the most information? Turns out thats a trick question as there are literally TONS of them and each has something different to offer the whole. It would be strongly recommended that those of you who are curious start adding feeds from guys like EDMBiz, Rave Faced, EDM Tunes, In The Mix, Dancing Astronaut, and DJMag. Luckily, youve already taken a huge step forward by putting yourself in Rave Family Group. Im sure if you broke up all of the people from all over the world that come here on a daily/weekly/monthly/occasional basis into the genres and subgenres that they listen to, youd have an almost-complete (if not COMPLETELY complete) representation of what comes together to make electronic music what it was, what it is, and what it will be in the future. From those who visit out of boredom, to the occasional fans, to the die-hards, to the people who DJ/produce themselves. “Who am I,” you might be asking yourself? Im just a fan, man, but Im a RABID fan. My name is Mark (I go by the name Old School at shows) and electronic music has been a part of my life since I first heard “Keep Hope Alive” by The Crystal Method back in middle school. You know how theres those songs that literally transport you back to a moment in your life? Well, picture me in my awkward and prepubescent state, playing Goldeneye at a friends house. He has the TV volume down and the soundsystem up. I FINALLY get my damn hands on that Golden Gun and, almost like it was one of lifes perfect moments, I hear the speakers deliver pure musical nectar. That chugging synth lead. Those energetic drum loops. That breakdown that may have only served its purpose to remind listeners to check if they still had a pulse and how fast it was racing. I had finally found my musical adrenaline. Shortly after that, I fell face-first down the rabbit hole. Funky Breaks became a part of my life. If they had made a Chemical Brothers tin lunchbox, I would have rocked it to school every day like a rail-thin model in Milan. I silently prayed that I would find a “Fatboy Slim is My Homeboy” t-shirt at the mall and I would LIVE in that shirt. Sadly, I never did, but what I discovered was that there was this feeling I received when listening to electronic music that couldnt be reproduced by any other genre. I lived, breathed, and ate electronic music, even if only silently and completely in my head because who on EARTH could be as crazy as me to be so obsessed with one genre of music? You could take your Backstreet Boys, your Metallica, your Garth Brooks, and Wu-Tang because I knew the absolute truth: Everybody Needs a 303. Tl;dr, Im a rabid fan. A rabid, rabid fan. It is my intent to have these episodics expose more and more elements of what hides deep in the catacombs of electronic music with one singular goal: to help each and every member of my massively-extended rave family find that one particular genre, artist, or song that resonates with every fiber of your being. Theyre not kidding when they say music can be a drug and I believe that, with the right combination of elements, you can find that one particular style of electronic music that gets you high like nothing else. SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADIEU... EPISODE I: EDM Short for Electronic Dance Music, heres what the ever-accurate (and infallible...pfft) Wikipedia has to say about EDM: “[EDM] is a set of percussive electronic music genres produced primarily for dance-based environments, such as nightclubs...In 2010, the acronym “EDM” was adopted by the American music industry and music press as a buzzword to describe the increasingly commercial US electronic dance music scene...EDM is not a genre in its own. Younger dance music fans and more mainstream/new listeners to the dance music genre use EDM as a genre in itself simply because they do not know how to decipher the spectrum of dance sub genres.” WTF! You mean to tell me EDM isnt a genre at ALL?! Sadly, yes. Its nothing more than a buzzword. You see, electronic music wasnt catchy enough. It didnt encapsulate that feeling of being in a crowd of neon children listening to Tiesto recreate a Club Life podcast right before your very eyes and ears while you were accosted with lazers, pounding subwoofers, and lights (OH GOD, THE LIGHTS!). Thats why the powers-that-be got together and coined the term EDM, also partly with the intent to make it sound like something entirely new, and VIOLA! A genre whose roots can technically be traced all the way back to the early 1900s suddenly has new life and a massive profit center to be tapped into by every major label PERIOD. I dont mean for this to sound like Im not a fan (matter of fact, its quite the opposite), but I hope that you can take this into account and remember that when YOU become that person that your friends look to for the latest and greatest that EDM is nothing more than an idea. In reality, its ELECTRONIC MUSIC in all its fascinating subgenres and sub-subgenres that youll be digging deep into, whether it be while crate-digging at Amoeba in Los Angeles or amassing digitally (and hopefully legally) through folks like Beatport and iTunes. So I leave you with a small homework project. HOMEWORK?! Nah, its fun stuff. I want you to get three apps for your phone. Theyre all available on iOS or Android and theyre both invaluable resources, especially if you go to shows often. The first is SoundHound (FREE). Many track-recognition apps like this have come and gone over the years, but SoundHound has managed to do something none of the others have: strike a partnership with Beatport (the mecca of online music purchases for electronic music). That means you could be in the middle of a mind-blowing set with [insert DJ name here], hear some track that resonates down to your CORE, and all it takes is you holding up your phone for a few seconds to figure out not only who performed the track, but what remix it is, any lyrics attached to it, and a direct link to buy it, if available. On a humorous note, the lyrics to Tchamis Remix of “Wizard” by Martin Garrix is “Drop Drop Drop Drop Drop.” Thats not even something I could make up. The second app is Spotify (FREE to download, $9.99/mo to use on mobile but free on PC). While Pandora is best-known for pioneering the create-your-own station idea, Spotify simply does it better. It offers better sound quality to mobile users, a SUPER large library of electronic music and remixes, the ability to create your own playlist track-by-track vice using a thumbs-up/thumbs-down metric as well as listen to complete albums front-to-back, artist-generated playlists, and the ability to download tracks for offline listening. Those who wont need/use mobile access need not pay; the PC version that I tested was 100% free to use. Mobile users, on the other hand, will need to pay $9.99/month to use the service on their phones. Trust me, its well worth the price. Theres a reason why Swedish megastars Cazzette have kept an exclusive deal with Spotify over the past couple years that has worked out immensely well for them. Finally, theres Soundcloud (FREE). Not to be confused with SoundHound, Soundcloud is an ESSENTIAL resource to up-and-coming DJs/producers when it comes to getting their sound out for others. Tyson Beckford (aka TyDi) has been using Soundcloud extensively during the production of his latest album to give teasers, bootlegs, and “ideas” that had been floating through his head at the time and all it took for the fans to hear them were access to Soundcloud. Additionally, live sets from major festivals like Coachella, EDC, Creamfields, Defqon.1, and Tomorrowland are often available on Soundcloud just a few days after the festival ends. The only negative is that since ANYONE can upload to Soundcloud, quality is not always top-notch and there may be 20 iterations of one track. Aside from that, I would safely say that you would be more than fine sticking with Soundcloud if you werent able to spend the 10 bucks a month that Spotify requires. Well guys, I think thats enough of an introduction for now. Stay tuned for next weeks installment when we actually start digging into the sub-genres that make up electronic music. Expect to see recommended artists, live sets (if applicable), and relevant links along with them. Today, I leave you with a music video for your enjoyment: https://youtube/watch?v=m7CYzc1naaw
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 03:08:45 +0000