Note: free music is available below the following breathless rant.
We all saw deadmau5 perform at the 9:30 Club this past Wednesday. Not only was our collective evening marred by problems both in and outside of the club, but the mau5 simply did not live up to our hopes and expectations. The openers were Will Eastman and Pleasurekraft, and I was only able to catch the latter. He wasn't very good, a bit too deep and underwhelming for my tastes probably because he wasn't playing very loudly, but he did serve to warm up the crowd toward the end of his set. Then Joel took the stage beckoning the crowd to a deafening roar with his signature unhealthily floppy hands. What followed his entrance was basically an exercise in idol worship. The mau5 mounted his large, expensive cube, put on his hat, pressed "play" and then proceeded to get his rocks off by watching the crowd and dancing to his own music while drinking beer. Now this is not to say I didn't rave my ass off, because I most certainly did. However, when I pay 40 dollars in US currency to go to a concert, I expect a little more than the exact studio versions of the songs I've come to know and love.
Ever since I got into electronic music I had to defend the act of going to artists' concerts just because no one could ever understand what it was they were even doing up there, other than playing the music, that would justify spending one's hard-earned money to see an artist live. When I saw Justice's "A Cross The Universe" tour so many years ago they played through most of their debut album "Cross," in addition to some of their remix selection. But the glaring difference between that performance and deadmau5' was that Justice re-edited every single track and even remixed some in order to make them more dancefloor friendly, in the process creating a notable and fucking phenomenal live experience with their MUSIC and studio/live expertise, not by simply introducing an insane light show into the equation.
And so I charge deadmau5, a technical sorcerer whose productions are absolutely peerless, with the task of creating a live show that isn't downright shameful. In the studio before the tour or on the fly, you must do something because at this point I am unimpressed and frankly cannot believe that you can look at yourself in the mirror; you're not even trying up there, dude. I understand that you're not a DJ and don't appreciate or respect the art of DJing, you've made that clear before, but I do insist that you use your apparent technical skill to go into the studio and produce a live show that you can be proud of and that your (musically educated) fans will love.
But this is only upsetting because I love deadmau5' music and have such respect for his work, as much as I despise the arrogant prick known as Joel Zimmerman. Or maybe it's the fact that today when I commented on a Facebook status update of his about the Thursday 9:30 show saying as much as I have above Joel read the comment and deleted it after it had received multiple likes, confirming that this asshole of a mouse cannot take criticism, constructive or scathing. Whatta bitch.
Anyway, in honor of this dead mau5 (R.I.P.) I'll start things off with one of his songs. I had never heard this before Wednesday and when the melody came climbing out of the distorted chaos erupting from the speakers it sounded ominous and alien; I simply lost my marbles. One of the mau5' more danceable tracks.
I don't know anything about Bassjackers except that they're Dutch and that I like it when they make music. They tend to keep their dirty Dutch sounds in a lower register than most, or at least Afrojack, and their drums KNOCK. See "Stronger ft. Bizzey (Original Mix)" for a less hardcore, french-house inspired track.
Bassjackers & Ralvero - Bang Like A (Original Mix)
This one's from GRUM, a producer I've been watching ever since his remix of Armand Van Helden's "You Don't Know Me" was the only version of the song I could get my hands on after scouring the internet for hours. "Can't Shake This Feeling" is a groovy, electro house song complete with obscure, pitched-up vocals and a fatass bassline.
You'll find that I occasionally pepper my posts with hip-hop, and that starts now. This joint from Fat Joe is just right, but this isn't Joe's doing, not by a long shot. He raps well enough, but the real genius here is in the production by duo Cool & Dre. When these boys do "soulful" they do it right.
Bit Funk turns the verses of Bussa Buss' "Hustler's Anthem" into a veritable House Anthem with his funky synth treatment. Plus the only Rappa Turnt Sanga makes an appearance on the hook.
Hustler's Anthem 09 - Busta Rhymes ft. T-Pain (Bit Funk Remix)
Finally, the funkiest banger of an electro house song I've heard out of prog-house duo Spencer & Hill yet.
Spencer & Hill - Housebeat
Finally, the funkiest banger of an electro house song I've heard out of prog-house duo Spencer & Hill yet.
Spencer & Hill - Housebeat
Sir Real
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