I really like both Hip Hop and Electronica so that and So Far So Good by Wick-it the Instigator are two of my all time favorite mixes

Ash got me into VibeSquad last night and they fucking rock, so that's some more for anyone here.

 

Okay, super quick run down:

Electronic Music is music that's produced by electronic instruments - all music is either electronic or live, some bands blend both to great effect.

In Electronic Music, you can further break it down into two categories - steady beat and broken beat. A steady beat is one that goes 1-2-3-4 over and over again, or 3/4 or something like that. A kick drum will hit on every quarter note - or something that represents the same musical idea as a kick drum - it's like doom-doom-doom-doom (one bar) doom-doom-doom-doom (two bars) etc etc. A broken beat is one that does not follow the steady rhythm. People liken steady beats to the beating of your heart on various substances on various genres, but that's just for the lulz.

In terms of steady beat and broken beat, everything is cut into beats-per-minute by genre, usually.

So if it were 128 beats per minute - 2 beats for every steady average resting-heart rate, it'd be trance/techno/house music. So it's like untz-untz-untz-untz for techno, with maybe some tish-tish-tish-tish every other beat for house, and musical styles with "trances" which carry nothing but a strong rhythm for trance and all of this is a hypersupersimplification so don't bite my head off, people who know do know exactly what I mean.

If it went slower - to 'midtempo', which is around 100 bpm, it'd be called "dub" - there are tons of "dub" remixes of trance tracks which are released on the various dynasties (Anjuna, Armada, etc etc) - where the beat is slowed down: DO NOT CONFUSE THIS WITH DUBSTEP, they are entirely different.

So if you sped it up to around 160 or so, you'll have traditional trance - psytrance, Goa Trance, where the trance melodies are influenced mostly by middle eastern and Indian influences and, coincidentally feels within your heart beat range if you eat a large dose of mushrooms or something (your heart isn't actually beating that fast or something).

You get the point - steady beat is cool, dancy, and everyone from Daft Punk to Richie Hawtin, to Avicii, to Swedish House, generally people in the mainstream section of "EDM" or Electronic Music or whatever would play within the space of steady beats. It's very easy to listen to and I love it, sometimes, usually, whatever.

The "broken beat" is a much larger segment because it doesn't require anything of the kick drum. So it could be like Untz-tish-tish-tish-untz in one bar, or something, where the tish-untz at the end shares the last beat. or something. Whatever, you get the point.

So like, you go back to tempo.

If it's a "slow" beat, so between 90-100 bpm, it'd be a hip hop, trip hop, dancehall (after some of the more Caribbean influenced type of dance music) style beat. Think of yourself sort of staggering your motions just a little bit off of "natural".

128 bpm, steady 4/4 is the staple of most house music, trance, techno, etc.

But if it was a "faster" beat - over 128 around 130-135, and the same thing as hip hop and the like, it'd be called "breakbeat".

Double the speed of hip hop and you'll have Drum and Bass - so like, 160-180 beats per minute.

okay, so here's where it gets kind of complicated.

Okay, let's say you have a breakbeat, around 140 bpm.

It's gonna be hit on every 16-note, and you get something you called "quantization", basically your computer making sure that it's in time or whatever....

Boom-chicka-Boom-chicka-Boom-chicka-Boom-chicka-Boom-chicka, with like, a tish-tish-tish-tish-tish-tish-tish-tish, between every boom and chicka (and the middle section).

Boom-tish-chicka-tish, etc etc etc - this all fits in one bar or whatever...

And you rearrange it so it's got a more jazz or early blues rock and roll kind of, well, rolling feeling to it, so it's more like, dragged out on the "booms", so the boom sort of "eats" the beginning of the tish-chicka.

It'd be two-step - the most "apparent" boom would be on the first and third bar:

Boom-tssss-Boom-tsssss, with all the crazy shit going on "inside" the two-piece rhythm of the song.

So it basically sounds like really fast hip hop or rnb, or whatever.

So if you cut this in half time, you'll have dubstep - and rearrange the breakbeat samples so you'll have something like

Boom-tss-Boom-Boom :: Boom-tss-Boom-Boom

With the internals being stronger near the end of the bar, so it sounds like your breakbeat is on ketamine or really fucking drunk.

And then you have the various subgenres that me and Ash like to link to, which are mostly

Broken Beat - the BPM is variant, and people like Gramatik or Pretty Lights or the Glitch Mob derive their bpm and sound-types MOSTLY from hip hop (100 bpm or so), with dubstep influences, so it's like, a quicker, unsteady feeling (which is super dancy if you're into that type of dance), met with all types of other genres of music like blues, funk, jazz, etc.

So most of the music we like is that last bit.

edit: huge huge post on Swedish House Mafia incoming when someone fillers for me or something

 

Filler post! D:

 

This is the Swedish House Mafia super post.

First of all, rest in peace. Also, I'm looking forward to their reunion tour in like, 3 years. Swedish House Mafia presents One More Time or something. xD

They formed in 2008, rocking the house, everywhere, usually literally, because if nothing else, their sound tech is absolutely amazing.

But it's not "nothing else", because each one of them was an amazingly successful DJ in their own right. The trio of Axwell, Angello and Ingrosso (probably in order of popularity when they formed), each had roots in progressive (building rhythms, strong drum hits) house, as well as Chicago House in Steve Angello's case. Probably my favorite thing they play is Steve Angello's KNAS, which has been produced for a long time, and unveiled at their last tour, which is minimalist house influenced by that style largely.

Their biggest singles were One (which is better without the vocals, in my opinion), Miami 2 Ibiza (featuring Tinie Tempah and all the silliness we associate with him), Save the World (which you've probably heard by this point), Antidote (with Knife Party), Greyhound and Don't You Worry Child.

But those are just their smash hits. Now, how about a straight list of their awesome stuff over the years and stuff.

1. Leave The World Behind
2. In the Air
3. Kidsos
4. Walk With Me
5. Tivoli
6. Show Me Love
7. Meich vs. Clocks
8. How Soon is Now
9. In My Mind
10. Diamond Life
11. Tell Me Why
12. Teenage Crime
13. We Come, We Rave, We Love

Have fun with that guys :3

 

I changed my mind about Above and Beyond.

They're fucking amazing. Especially live. Best show in all of Electric Zoo Friday - even better than Gramatik, this time, which should not be a Thing.

#treadlightly