One of my greatest passions over the past five years has been EDM (Electronic Dance Music, for the nubs). Many, many artists fall into this category, therefore, I like (and love) a gigantic range of DJs. This week I'm gonna fill your ears with anything from big beat, to drum n bass at it's finest, to trance, to mainstream. And even stuff you know, but you may not know you know it. (But don't worry, we'll get there.)
It's hard to define how exactly EDM wormed it's way into my life to stay. I'm trying to pinpoint where it became love and not just something pretty nifty, or a vague hobby... when did it begin to take up a considerable amount of space in my heart and on my hard drive? I know where my interest was piqued, and I can remember the very first trance song I ever heard. Complete like a flashbulb memory, which now if you will give me a few moments of your time, I'll take you on this musical discovery journey with me.
When I was 23 years old and freshly separated (on the way to divorce), my first roommate that I had ever had was a wonderful little chick named Deena.* She was my very good high school friend, and after bumping into her at my 5 year high school reunion and inviting her to live with me, she was on a mission to get me socialized; out of an oppressive marriage, I wasn't exposed to a lot of music or culture that anyone my age probably should have been at some point of another. One night we were driving alone the highway, and she starts talking to me about all the raves she'd gone to, all the things she'd done, and how the music blew her mind on several occasions. She named DJs, clubs, & events I had never heard of before... and now they're all like home to me, in my mind. Nostalgia. Ahhh.
We're cruising along late at night, on our way home from somewhere. (I remember we were coming home because the song ended about when we pulled up to the house.) We're in her tiny silver Ford Echo, and I'm co pilot which means I'm also the car DJ. I am looking through her vast CD mixes, mostly home made burned stuff, and I think this all started because I said "Who is DJ Icey?"
She chooses a song off the CD that to this day I can still listen to with complete love & happiness. I don't care how corny the song sounds... it left a lasting impression and was possibly the first stepping stone on the electronic path.
I'm greeted immediately with bass I love hearing and piercing electronic squeals of some sort. I'm not upset about it. DJ Icey takes a permanent place in my burned CDs and mp3s from then until this day. I think I should probably tell Deena what an impression she left on me with that... I don't think she knows.
But, moving right along, we solidify.
I liked it, but I didn't yet love it. An entire genre can't be defined with just one song. I think my appreciation for this song is only rooted a couple years later, when my friend Matthew* (along with his new girlfriend Bettie*) start really delving deep into the whole rave community thing. Matthew surprised me by suddenly being so into it... but it was wonderful to get this new outside influence; he's sending me tracks like this:
AK1200's Drowning
(Bonus: definitely worth noting, The Cleveland Lounge mix)
I feel like there's a gap in this period of time... a stale or static area where I didn't move forward with any of my interest in EDM. Once I hit "the Chemical Brothers era" in my EDM timeline, it was all headfirst into whatever i could find. I had my friend Bettie telling me all the solid House tracks, and introducing me to the Sneaker Pimps as "after party" music, with the stand-out tracks from that fateful night being Walk The Rain and Johnny. (hello, soothing downbeat trip hop.) Not only did I kinda get a small girl-crush on the beautiful Bettie that night, but i also had another new crush: Dance music.
It's hard to describe how EDM of any kind makes you feel to someone who hasn't ever done any substances that would enhance said experience. Now, that's not to say you can't enjoy electronic music without the aid of methylenedioxymethamphetamine, but in all honestly, who are we kidding? The music is engineered to trip your mind out when you're on it. Builds, climaxes, turns, and beats are manufactured and slaved over in a precise manner, in order to give their listener a sensation - a physical feeling! - when they hear it. Think about that. You'll feel this song, in some form or another. How you experience it is up to your own chemistry though, I make no broad claims as to what anything does to other people, only to myself.
There's a vague possibility this could be boring, so I'm going to wrap up the trip down Memory Lane with final thoughts on my Introduction to EDM Week.
Here's a few things to note and keep in mind if you're going to come along this week.
This is a genre in which you're not limited to one sound. Within "electronic music," we have trance, downtempo, techno, breaks, drum & bass, jungle... there's one for you, I would guarantee it. I'm going to try my best to span a few different sounds this week, but I tend to stick to the intelligent end of things. (You will never see an entry about happy hardcore in here, it's simply NOT my style. Chipmunk vocals singing over 300 bpm tracks just doesn't do anything soulful for me.)
I'm a Drum & Bass person. And I normally explain this with a really great analogy: "It's the heavy metal of electronic music." It's heavy, hard-hitting, vibey, tough, and thick. (To me, it's the most interesting of the genres, but that's again probably personal taste coming through.) In comparison to snobby metal heads, the people who like drum & bass are all normally smart, they're all sharp-tongued, and all very elitist. Especially if you're talking to someone who spins D&B. Any metal-head musicians who spunk over Slayer, Dream Theater and Mastadon, for example, would get their sensibilities upset if someone in a Creed shirt walked into "their" show. Kandi kid type ravers don't generally display their neon nightmare rainbow glowsticking asses at drum & bass events. Because even if you love those drum & bass DJs, you know they will HATE you if you wear that neon pink skirt and 50+ kandi bracelets up to your elbows to their show... they look down their nose at all the other sub-genres, for the most part.
Which, if you know me, means it's kind of the perfect genre for me anyway. But I digress.
Trance? If you're a female or gay, you like this. (No seriously, all gay men love trance. Test that theory, you'll see I'm right. Do it, you won't.)
Breakbeats? Oh, that's the mother of Drum & Bass.
You know that that theme song to House, M.D. that you love so much? That's trip hop, a song by Massive Attack... One of the children of Downtempo.
Are you confused yet? Because I know I was... Don't fret, I'm here to halp.
I'm going to give you a tool that either you are familiar with already because it's an Internet Staple and you're awesome, or you're about to click this link and get lost on this site for at least a couple hours; our god of magical flow charts: Ishkur's Guide To Electronic Music.
Screen cap added for visual interest stimulation - trust me when I say you will ADORE screwing around on this site. Bookmark it posthaste.
(One of my favorite descriptions for a genre is Ishkur's intense, scathing rant about Robert Miles in the "Dream" genre of Trance - I still laugh when I read it to this day; god it's so true!), but he gives you several audio clip examples when you click on them as well (see bottom right of screencap - The Chemical Brothers song is playing you a sample, and you have 5 other examples if that one doesn't do it for you). I was surprised to find Bjork under the Downtempo category as an example of "downbeat" back in the day when I was first referred to the site. You know exactly what he's talking about because as you're hearing it, he's describing it's history and birth. Ishkur has a talent for recalling history and details, as well as the vast vernacular one would need to describe what you're hearing and why it differs from something else. It's not only fun, but it's incredibly educational and helpful to someone who really doesn't GET those little quirks that define everyone's niche.
If you feel like this isn't going to suit you because you've never heard an EDM song you've liked.... well, maybe this week, you will. I sincerely hope I can introduce you to something you've never heard before that you truly love, and maybe it'll set your ball rolling (excuse the pun?) like it did for me when I heard Deena's DJ Icey song back in 2003.
All I'm trying to say is, keep an open mind. You might learn something from me... I had wonderful guides along the way.
Thanks go to all these people for all these things:
Deena,* she started this avalanche with the first echo.
Scott, one of my contributors to this blog (when he feels the rare itch to write about something, haha) who introduced me to trip hop in general, and the Chemical Brothers. (I am forever indebted to Scott for a TON of incredible music in my life.) Scott is also to thank for the wonderous inception of Ishkur's Guide into my life back when he introduced me to tons of EDM and I didn't understand how to "categorize" anything.
Matthew*, he helped throw the first dance party at my house, and is sorely missed to this day in my life.
Tiner,* mutual friend of Matthew & Bettie, she gave me my first light show while we listened to DJ DB (and taught me how to look for my sanity). She is my ultimate Dance Party perpetrator. Oh, and I love to huggle her to pieces.
Bettie,* she was truly my "den mother" here. She took me to event after event. Showed me the glory of taking 4-6 hours to ready for an event. She integrated me into this scene. She knew people. People knew her and loved her. She held my hand and was my ultimate rave buddy. She watched out for me everywhere we went, and for all intents and purposes, she might be solely responsible for the fact that I got into any kind of EDM as much as I did. I have her to thank for Breakbeat Science, which in turn directed me straight towards drum & bass. (It's possible she was a little disappointed that I didn't stay into House music, but I think she forgives me for turning to drum & bass, since we're special BFFs and all.)
Will Guise also gets my personal thanks. Even if we have our tiffs and show downs, all I know is that I was lucky enough to fall into the hands of an incredibly capable drum & bass DJ as a friend and mentor of sorts. Will used to do sets several times a week online, trying new mixes and such, and he shared countless tracks and albums with me. All that really taught me a metric ass ton about proper drum & bass, and is really the ultimate reason why I scoff at ALL OF YOU. Guise is the cunty-smart DJ friend and I shall forever be grateful he made fun of me for pretty much everything I liked (and like now), because without him AND Bettie both around, I might possibly be listening to something really god awful. I'm glad I was taught well before bad habits ensued.
I love all of you for everything you've done for me on this one. Becoming part of this community has been a pretty huge part of my life and a lot of incredible memories were made thanks to these people and the music they showed me with true passion. It is now my passion, as well.
Starscape 2008, sunrise over the Chesapeake Bay. One of the best nights I've ever had prefaced this photo. <3
...this is what runs my click track heart.
* Names changed to protect the innocent during possible future political campaigns.
Don't forget to click the title of the blog. You might miss an inside joke...
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