Requiem for Reality

So it's been like forever since I talked about music on this blog that no one reads. Recently I've gotten away from doing hip-hop/ rap/ RnB musics to do something a little more electronic.

I got myself a nice set of turntables and started doing some mixing here and there. I did a couple of mixes at my house and my nephew said that I should host it on youtube. Rather than do that I decided that I would post my stuff on sound cloud.

After my first house mix was posted I did my boys wedding reception and got some pretty good reviews. People wanting me to do similar venues. The waitresses there liked my work better than "the guy we hired for the bar". I was pretty amped about that, no lie. But the offers I got I wasn't really feeling. It's not that I don't like almost every genre of music. It's just that I don't really like playing country and classic rock all the time. Let's be honest here, I'm a hop-hopper at heart. A rapper before all else. I just like to mix what I like to listen to, and play what I want to play. Call me selfish, but I don't really care what the crowd is feeling like listening too. I feel out the crowd to detect the vibe, but mostly, I just play what I want to hear. That goes the same with the music I make. I make what I would like to listen to. If you just so happen to like it too then cool. No worries if you're not picking up what I'm putting down. At the end of the day I just hope I made something that I like.

So the music I've been making has been mostly dubstep. What I like best about this genre is the ability to make it sound different than anything else every time. You can even make it sound different than what yourself usually makes stuff sound like. Though most people would say that this is an offshoot (and it is) of DnB, I would like to think that this is what would happen if DnB and Hip-Hop had a music-baby. The beats are 140 (or 70) bpm or near there. The sound is heavily driven by the use of LFO's and bass. The drums and melody often times are an after thought. The term "dub" originally comes from the jamaican and island records called "dubplates". Dubplates were tracks that were pressed cheaply and passed around in that fashion (there's way more to read elsewhere about that and this is no history lesson). Over time though, dubstep became something more than just the use of the dubplate samples over these down tempo chilled beats. People started adding heavily acidized synths and more LFO's (3OSC and the like) to the tunes to produce a kind of metal sound. As such dubstep bore brostep. I don't particularly like the reference of brostep, but I suppose you can call it whatever you want to call it. I call it music. Like I said before, you like it, you don't like it, makes no difference to me.

Music isn't about whether or not people like it to me. Music is about attempting to convey an emotion or feeling over a medium. Like painters and canvass. When you look at a well done sculpture you can feel what it was the creator was feeling when they created it. Music is the same for me. Without words dubstep can make you feel angry, happy, sad, or in a party mood. It's a genuine genre.

Anyway I'm done with this rant. I have bigger and better things to talk about to no one...since no one is here or reading this ha!

So alright I told you that I was digging the electronic music on Wipeout right? Well lately I've been checking out more and more electronic music. I've discovered that besides Daft Punk I really enjoy the Chemical Brothers, and The Crystal Method.

So in this section of the blog I'm going to list some songs I definitely think you should check out...that is of course provided you are in to unsolicited advise from strange men on the internet about electronic music.

Monsoon - Africa (Desert Mix)

Summary: I don't know what you would call this song...um maybe drum and bass? Progressive? Techno? I still don't know the genres, but I have found that for whatever reason I really enjoy this mix. Good use of vocal samples, and sounds like they sampled drums from the dance scene in The Matrix Reloaded..which is cool all in itself.

The Crystal Method - Bad Stone

Summary: Great song! Really slow and laid back like I like my electronica, but with a nice chugging acidic baseline. Combined with a kind of haunting melody, makes for a superb track.

Chemical Brothers - The Pills won't help you now

Summary: It's raining and I'm actually listening to this right now. It's a pretty moving song, especially combined with the artists imagery. I have a different interpretation of the music,and anyone who knows anyone who has OD'ed before knows what I mean. However it's still very powerful.

Eric Prydz - Fabric Test

Summary: I don't know who this guy is..but he roxors my soxors lol. This song....it's kinda hypnotic like....so many elements. There is so much going on here, and this could definetly be a decent race song on wipeout HD.

So I have tons more, but that's it for now. Check em out, let me know what you think. Next week I'll be talking about Gnarls Barkley and perhaps some Daft Punk....I'll get back to Hip-Hop/Rap soon I promise.