Phonat - Learn to Recycle
This song is particularly cool because it starts off with a hip-hop beat, transitions into house, and then drum & bass! It does this with all the same synths and samples, showing how these genres need not be kept separate. Give it a listen! It's awesome.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
International Sounds
Ambiguous title! This article is about the relationship between where music is written and the way it sounds and the subgenre the artist adopts.
Most of you reading this blog aren't terribly familiar with drum & bass. Some might know a bit of dubstep, generally the angry wobbling kind, but I'll bet all of you have heard a lot of hip-hop and rap. We're North American! Hip-hop and rap are very much American genres, at least in origin and mainstream acceptance. Chicago house and Detroit techno are also American musical styles, but obviously a bit dated in this decade.
By contrast, hip-hop is not one of France's better musical creations. French electro, on the other hand, is huge! If you haven't heard of Justice, they're basically the most influential electro duo of all time. Following Justice is Danger, Breakbot, the entire Ed Banger record label, DatA, Toxic Avenger, Yuksek, and many more. And Justice's (arguably) biggest influence is Daft Punk, without whom modern house and electro would possibly not exist. Daft Punk isn't usually electro, but French house music is also excellent.
Germany has techno in a big way. Artists like Modeselektor, Fukkk Offf, Boys Noize, Booka Shade, and more define that sound. Mainland Europe in general has the garbage trance music so many people love! I'll give an opinion on that later.
The UK! British music is my favourite of all (that is my favourite song). They invented UK garage, drum & bass, dubstep, grime, and more. I'd live in the UK just for concerts and the radio. Many, if not most of my favourite artists are British.
Here's where it gets interesting. There are American dubstep artists like Starkey, British hip-hop producers like Hudson Mohawke, German drum & bass artists like Phace, and so on. The cool thing about them is that they bring their own sort of national sound to the music! Starkey's got a raw, in his words "street" sound for his music, drawing from rap and hip-hop. Hudson Mohawke brings the British experimental electronic sound to his brand of hip-hop. Phace's neurofunk drum & bass bears techno influences. What you get is genre and style blending, which creates some fantastic music!
The reason I bring this up is to keep in mind where music comes from while you listen to it. You'll be able to spot trends in artists when you notice this, and broaden your listening horizons! If nothing else, this article is a comment on geographical trends in music. Take from it what you will! Also, it doesn't just apply to these countries, these sort of trends exist everywhere music is produced. Which is everywhere.
Most of you reading this blog aren't terribly familiar with drum & bass. Some might know a bit of dubstep, generally the angry wobbling kind, but I'll bet all of you have heard a lot of hip-hop and rap. We're North American! Hip-hop and rap are very much American genres, at least in origin and mainstream acceptance. Chicago house and Detroit techno are also American musical styles, but obviously a bit dated in this decade.
By contrast, hip-hop is not one of France's better musical creations. French electro, on the other hand, is huge! If you haven't heard of Justice, they're basically the most influential electro duo of all time. Following Justice is Danger, Breakbot, the entire Ed Banger record label, DatA, Toxic Avenger, Yuksek, and many more. And Justice's (arguably) biggest influence is Daft Punk, without whom modern house and electro would possibly not exist. Daft Punk isn't usually electro, but French house music is also excellent.
Germany has techno in a big way. Artists like Modeselektor, Fukkk Offf, Boys Noize, Booka Shade, and more define that sound. Mainland Europe in general has the garbage trance music so many people love! I'll give an opinion on that later.
The UK! British music is my favourite of all (that is my favourite song). They invented UK garage, drum & bass, dubstep, grime, and more. I'd live in the UK just for concerts and the radio. Many, if not most of my favourite artists are British.
Here's where it gets interesting. There are American dubstep artists like Starkey, British hip-hop producers like Hudson Mohawke, German drum & bass artists like Phace, and so on. The cool thing about them is that they bring their own sort of national sound to the music! Starkey's got a raw, in his words "street" sound for his music, drawing from rap and hip-hop. Hudson Mohawke brings the British experimental electronic sound to his brand of hip-hop. Phace's neurofunk drum & bass bears techno influences. What you get is genre and style blending, which creates some fantastic music!
The reason I bring this up is to keep in mind where music comes from while you listen to it. You'll be able to spot trends in artists when you notice this, and broaden your listening horizons! If nothing else, this article is a comment on geographical trends in music. Take from it what you will! Also, it doesn't just apply to these countries, these sort of trends exist everywhere music is produced. Which is everywhere.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Essential House!
That's right, my third Essential subgenre is here. Check out Essential House! Next week: electro. Get excited!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Song of the Week: Round 4!
Michael Jackson - Butterflies (A-Sides MJ Tribute)
This is one of my favourite drum & bass songs of all time. After Michael's death, A-Sides remixed this track into a liquid drum & bass anthem, at least in my eyes. Amazing track, have a listen!
Some of you might ask, "Why do you have a song of the week? You post lots of songs every week!" Well, I do it because the song of the week is generally better than all the other songs I post, in my eyes. It's generally a 5-star track from my library, and if you listen to no other songs from the blog in a week, then at least listen to this one. So Listen!
This is one of my favourite drum & bass songs of all time. After Michael's death, A-Sides remixed this track into a liquid drum & bass anthem, at least in my eyes. Amazing track, have a listen!
Some of you might ask, "Why do you have a song of the week? You post lots of songs every week!" Well, I do it because the song of the week is generally better than all the other songs I post, in my eyes. It's generally a 5-star track from my library, and if you listen to no other songs from the blog in a week, then at least listen to this one. So Listen!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Headphones, Earphones, Earbuds...Headbuds?
Everyone has them! There are more people walking around with something in or on their ears than without. I don’t think that is a bad thing! I can’t go anywhere without listening to music, the city is too...quiet. But anyhow!
This article is about the various kinds of head-mounted audio equipment. Each has its own characteristics...unless you buy a pair for thousands of dollars, in which case they’re pretty much perfect.
First off, earphones! If I mis-define them, don’t blame me. Just follow my description. What I call earphones are the things that rest in your ear, instead of sticking them down the ear, like the iPod standard earphones. These are about the worst you can get. They bleed (read: let out for other people to hear) sound horribly, and compound that with a general lack of bass, and tinny treble. You could spend more for a halfway decent pair, but that will only serve to lessen the imperfection. I’d call this the worst way to listen to music, aside from built-in laptop speakers. No good.
What I call earbuds are the ones you stick into your ear. I’ve got a pair of Sennheiser buds that have served me well! Until the left ear conked out. Not sure what to do about that. Anyhow, this design is characterized by letting out just about 0 arbitrary sound units (don’t look that up), weak bass, no sub-bass, and solid mids and trebles. I’d use these for listening to pretty much anything other than dubstep and drum & bass. They fit in your pocket, and that’s the main draw, plus they work well in the library for not pissing people off.
On-ear headphones! My Grado phones have been well-used. I’m using them right now! I find that open on-ear headphones offer the best overall sound quality. Only in a quiet environment! They let out as much sound as they let in, so don’t use these at the library. My $140 headphones, not much at all in this market, have excellent bass, decent sub-bass, and great treble/mids. If you’re an “audiophile”, you can’t go wrong with these. Closed-ear headphones tend to let less sound out, at the cost of muffled bass, unless you really shell out. One secret bonus of the open headphones is the fact that I will hear an oncoming car or ambulance, probably with time to front-flip over it.
Last but not least, the over-ear headphones. These ones are not meant to touch your ear, or not much, but instead they rest against the sides of your head around the ear. People will generally use these in the studio for music production, and I use my Audio Technica pair in the library, for containing the sound. They’re generally closed-ear, which can mean a generally more muffled or muted sound, but the open-ear ones are just about the best ear-gear you can get. For thousands of dollars.
There you have it! Listening to music in or on your ears is better than speakers of any kind because it immerses you. It fills your world with the sound, and with music in stereo, you’ll really feel the effect. Do some research, have a look at some of the links in the article, and listen to music!
This article is about the various kinds of head-mounted audio equipment. Each has its own characteristics...unless you buy a pair for thousands of dollars, in which case they’re pretty much perfect.
First off, earphones! If I mis-define them, don’t blame me. Just follow my description. What I call earphones are the things that rest in your ear, instead of sticking them down the ear, like the iPod standard earphones. These are about the worst you can get. They bleed (read: let out for other people to hear) sound horribly, and compound that with a general lack of bass, and tinny treble. You could spend more for a halfway decent pair, but that will only serve to lessen the imperfection. I’d call this the worst way to listen to music, aside from built-in laptop speakers. No good.
What I call earbuds are the ones you stick into your ear. I’ve got a pair of Sennheiser buds that have served me well! Until the left ear conked out. Not sure what to do about that. Anyhow, this design is characterized by letting out just about 0 arbitrary sound units (don’t look that up), weak bass, no sub-bass, and solid mids and trebles. I’d use these for listening to pretty much anything other than dubstep and drum & bass. They fit in your pocket, and that’s the main draw, plus they work well in the library for not pissing people off.
On-ear headphones! My Grado phones have been well-used. I’m using them right now! I find that open on-ear headphones offer the best overall sound quality. Only in a quiet environment! They let out as much sound as they let in, so don’t use these at the library. My $140 headphones, not much at all in this market, have excellent bass, decent sub-bass, and great treble/mids. If you’re an “audiophile”, you can’t go wrong with these. Closed-ear headphones tend to let less sound out, at the cost of muffled bass, unless you really shell out. One secret bonus of the open headphones is the fact that I will hear an oncoming car or ambulance, probably with time to front-flip over it.
Last but not least, the over-ear headphones. These ones are not meant to touch your ear, or not much, but instead they rest against the sides of your head around the ear. People will generally use these in the studio for music production, and I use my Audio Technica pair in the library, for containing the sound. They’re generally closed-ear, which can mean a generally more muffled or muted sound, but the open-ear ones are just about the best ear-gear you can get. For thousands of dollars.
There you have it! Listening to music in or on your ears is better than speakers of any kind because it immerses you. It fills your world with the sound, and with music in stereo, you’ll really feel the effect. Do some research, have a look at some of the links in the article, and listen to music!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
I Have Returned!
So, I'm done exams! And done recovering from exams. I'm actually a bit excited for next term's courses, and by extension probably insane. But anyhow! I've still been collecting music as I study, and I've got a few solid tracks you all ought to hear. I'd recommend any of these. My serious posting resumes with tomorrow's post! Get excited, I've got some thoughts and opinions to share. At any rate, here are some tunes:
Artist - Song Name (Genre)
Cassius - I <3 U SO (Electronic)
Broken Bells - The High Road (Indie Electronic)
CAKE - Opera Singer (Alternative Rock)
Starkey - Playing With Fire (Dubstep)
Shy FX - Raver (Drum & Bass)
Brookes Brothers - Last Night (Drum & Bass)
SciFi Stu - No Swag Needed (Hip-Hop)
One Self - Bluebird (Hip-Hop)
Hot Chip - Take It In (Osborne Remix) (Chillout Electronic)
Have a listen! The last one is really smooth, hits the spot like few other songs. I might rate it 5-star! But they're all good. Study well, and enjoy!
Artist - Song Name (Genre)
Cassius - I <3 U SO (Electronic)
Broken Bells - The High Road (Indie Electronic)
CAKE - Opera Singer (Alternative Rock)
Starkey - Playing With Fire (Dubstep)
Shy FX - Raver (Drum & Bass)
Brookes Brothers - Last Night (Drum & Bass)
SciFi Stu - No Swag Needed (Hip-Hop)
One Self - Bluebird (Hip-Hop)
Hot Chip - Take It In (Osborne Remix) (Chillout Electronic)
Have a listen! The last one is really smooth, hits the spot like few other songs. I might rate it 5-star! But they're all good. Study well, and enjoy!
Moved!
Sooo, here's my new location! It might not be all the glamour and glory of the old one, but I'll work on it. Here's a link to the old content!
Tumblr Rhythm & Bass
Tumblr Rhythm & Bass
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