Music Then & Now

     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.