A modern music trend
that is damaging young eardrums across the nation, and being questioned by
societies elders is "dub step." More generally though, electronic
music has become an ever more commonplace genre among peoples favorites. This
seems like a logical step as we advance in digital sound technology and
creating music becomes more openly available. I find this to be unfortunate.
While the mass-marketed electronic music being created today may sound well
produced, it lacks the melodic styles of its predecessors and some of its small
time contemporaries. This article is going to look at a few of these songs,
critique them and offer some suggestions of similar bands.
First, I think it
would be wise to look into the classification of "electronic music."
The term gets thrown around a lot and it isn't extremely well defined, so for
this article I did some research at Rolling
Stone to help pin some stuff down. The first classification of electronic
music is "EBM." The term EBM was coined in the eighties; it
denotes a certain type of danceable "electronic music". EBM beats are
typically 4/4, often with some minor syncopation to suggest a rock rhythm.
Heavy synths are usually prominent, and the vocals are often militaristic. This
style was widely considered to be the defining sound of "industrial"
in the 80s. In recent years, however, there has been somewhat of a schism
within the EBM scene, and it is now not uncommon to hear futurepop and synthpop
artists referred to as EBM artists. For this reason, many EBM fans have begun
to refer to this earlier style as old-school EBM.Electro Industrial (now
often called elektro, not to be confused with "electro") is
largely a catch-all category that fills the space between powernoise,
EBM, old-style industrial and gothic music. The main forerunner
for these acts is the legendary eighties Canadian band Skinny Puppy, who used a
variety of experimental production techniques to great success. Whereas
"EBM" was generally straightforward in structure and production,
elektro became known for its deep, layered sound.Typically this is a darker
form of EBM. However, this can often refer to acts that combine EBM with
another subgenre (for example Feindflug, who combine EBM with powernoise).
Aggrotech is an
evolution of EBM and electro that first surfaced in the mid-1990s, but has been
revitalized in recent years. Also refered to as terror EBM or TortureTech,
its sound is typified by somewhat harsh song structures, aggressive beats and
lyrics of a militant, pessimistic or explicit nature. Typically, the vocals are
distorted to sound hoarse, harsh and without tone. Artists also frequently use atonal
melodic structures.
The first artist I
want to look at is Dan Friel, his 2013 album Folklore
left me discernibly wanting. While his ability to solo on certain instruments
is undeniable he totally negates that fact with noise reminiscent of a steel
foundry, Many artists seem to capitalize on this "noise rock."
Another band which employs a lot of noise over what would otherwise be quality
tunes is Crystal Castles.
Their album from 2012 was one of their betters, but still their music doesn't
have a hook other than their employment of noise. This style has come a long
way from the genre's roots. I remember growing up and listening to electronic
bands like Kraftwerk and the Crystal Method. Those bands got me into music,
with their elaborate and deep musical styles. Listen to the song Autobahn and then the
song Ghosts N Stuff,
then decide for yourself which relies on musical conventions and which relies
on noise.
Most of today's Rap
and Hip Hop music use electronic beats in lieu of musicians playing the backup.
Most of these beats are mass produced by computer nerds and giant record
labels. Not surprisingly a lot of these beats sound the same and lack the feel
of the music that some of their predecessors. For example, listen to something
new; Kanye's Blood on the
Leaves, and then listen to Dr. Octagon's Earth People. While the
lyrics on either side are for anyone to criticize, the musical beats and the rhythm
of the songs are definitively different with an obvious victor. Dr. Octagon was
popular back in the 90s, his album Dr. Octagonecologyst
came out in 1996. His headliner on the turn tables was DJ Qbert, a world
renowned DJ and multi-time champion of the world DMC championships. Kanye has often claimed
in the past to make his own beats, but in fact it is a collaborative effort. Too
much pressure is put on the modern artist trying to make music that is entirely
their own. It is true that the power to create a whole opera is stowed inside
every mac and pc, but that doesn't mean that making music should be a solo
endeavor. The reason so many electronic groups were good back in the day was
because they were groups, not duos or single people. I believe that if we had
more collaboration in the music media world today then we would hear a lot
better music tomorrow.
