Future music invades the Grammys
February 14, 2012 by Amara D. Angelica
For me, the best part of the Grammys Sunday night wasn’t on the telecast. It was the three pre-awards to the amazing dubstep artist Skrillex: Best Dance Recording and Best Dance/Electronica Album (both for “Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites”) and Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical (for “Cinema” remix track from Electroman).
“Bass riffs that sound like fire-breathing dragons, vocal melodies that closely resemble Central African Mbenga Mbuti Pygmy music, and deftly placed vocal samples that typically propel huge rave crowds into a frenzy” is how Electronic Musician (March 2012) described Skrillex’s electrifying music. (To me, it suggests something alien created by a frenetic, superintelligent dancing robot.)
Here’s a sample:
Deadmau5 in Grammy telecast (credit: CBS)
So why is Skrillex’s music — and that of other awesome dance/electronica musicians and DJs like Deadmau5 (pronounced “dead mouse”), who performed at the Grammys and had three nominations) — such a hit right now?
I asked Yale Fox, a top DJ & nightlife psychologist who was recently awarded a 2011 TED Fellowship, for an insider’s explanation. ”This is ‘future music’ — the sounds literally sound like they’re from the future, or really what we think the future will sound like,” he told me in a Skype interview.
Fox ties it back to The Matrix. “Music and emotion go hand and hand, so even though this all happens at a more implicit, emotional level, it plays a part in the greater whole. The Matrix represents one of humanity’s fears: the technology that we create eventually destroys us.
“Hollywood sound designers speculated what the Sentinels in The Matrix would sound like, and they did a fantastic job, which made it believable. If you listen closely to Skrillex’s lead synth basslines, they also possess that terrifying feel.
“Predicting the future is a survival mechanism crafted by evolution for the simple idea that if we can predict the future, we can anticipate something bad that’s going to happen and prevent it.”
Related:
Remix-Lab talk on the relationship between music & the automotive industry
Skrillex
Comments (40)
by llouis
modernmusic uses so much techno anf dubstep and then want to be categorized as a rap or pop its stupid.people sad rapwould fade but it didnt.rock was the rebel and unliked music for years and said it woild fade but now theyre classics.music is not defined ..ur kids will be listenong to it ten years from now
by GorHall
The way forward :/)
Seismix & Cahb – Midnight Sun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei0jltU05qw&feature=youtube_gdata_player
by matt
I’d put the Hatsune Miku fanmade works in the same category as “future” electronic music. There’s actually quite a lot of vocaloids out there to choose from, that people have made.
http://youtu.be/MGt25mv4-2Q
http://vocaloid.wikia.com/wiki/Vocaloid_Wiki
by Shaun
Considering talkbox vocoding (basically skrillex’s sole contribution to music) is “futuristic” is like saying lil wayne’s guitar playing was revolutionary to hip hop. Pop music is like fingerpainting compared to musical portaits that many people out there, famous or not, electronic or otherwise, produce with genuine passion.
by Asaconstant
I wonder what brain eno would have to say about this.
I agree with peter to an,
Yeah this is absolute garbage music,
I’m of this generation and I find this music somewhat insulting.
But there is plenty of amazing music being made now days, you just need to know how to find it, you wont see it on tv and you wont hear it on the radio.
Here is one such resource, http://www.thewire.co.uk/
The 60′s are obsessively romanticized, alot of it was pretty pathetic really, if anything I think the 80′s was when things got really interesting.
by Gor Hall
Check these out
My eldest son Will is studying Music Technology and is keen to carve a career in the business.
He goes by the name of Seismix …
He has a collaborative track with Cahb, in an album currently No. 5 in UK dance charts, and a few compositions on YouTube.
Check them out & pass on the links if you enjoy listening !!!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/dancealbums No. 5 Album- Summer Selection – Track 29
http://www.junodownload.com/products/drum-bassarena-summer-selection-2011/1757283-02/
http://youtu.be/seEOcUXzOwo
http://youtu.be/vpFVUfqO6Lo
http://youtu.be/wT0L_iKosMs
Cheers,
Gor
by Comrade
Whenever I think of what the future of music may sound like, I always think the Tron Legacy or Deus Ex: Human Revolution soundtracks, not Skrillex or DeadMau5.
by adric
thanks for your info. im too attach on this kind of stuff that i made a website about the latest technology. this could help me improve, thank you my friend
by yes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2GSyQBdeEQ&feature=related
Porter Robinson – Unison (Knife Party Remix)
Intelligence amplification is the answer , a programming helper that shows you several possible known best next programming steps
geometrical structure is the interface and the code defines geometry….
by artemoo
brilliant piece. now lets listen to some proper music
by Joe
Up late and need a little coding music??
Skrillex 4 7|-|3 \/\/1|\|
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3gYpBAtw-s&list=FLqM-93CrqwtZ4U64amXSgNw&index=4&feature=plpp_video
by Hugh Nolan
Dear Peter,
you are a man who takes himself too seriously. I imagine you only eat in Michelin star restaurants, and perhaps cycle a very expensive bicycle. You lament the fall of the human condition and segregate yourself as part of an elite that knows better. You attempt to suffer the fools around you but sometimes can’t help but try and engage them, and lo, they never fail to disappoint. You have a very fine idea of how things should be, and things are not that way enough to keep you happy.
If you are maybe 18, that’s fine. If not, might wanna get that checked out bro.
by James
Peter: Seriously, get over yourself if you don’t like something thats cool but saying other people are mindless for not having your opinion is…mindless… I for one like dubstep. I also like classical, oldies, rock, metal a little bit of jazz maybe; the point is seriously lighten up, its music not something to bash others over.
by Jotto999
“Future music”? Does this person know what they are talking about?
by Carl
I am soooooo tired of hearing about dubstep. Future music = old news.
by Peter Simmons
Skrillex, you are NOT music. You are part of the recycling industry.
by Peter Simmons
The meaningless, frenetic, repetitive, boring, contentless musak for the moronic age. Suitable for those who chatter incessently on smartphones smarter than they are, the sheep for whom ‘new’ has to be best because it’s new. The sixties was crammed with musical talent, a golden age. What age is this? The age of the vacant lot. Mind-numbingly boring for anyone with a mind.
by Conrad Green
i’m 27 and I rock dubstep and other many newer genres such as glo fi (chillwave) AND chiptune….egtc etc etc….I do know that electronic originated in Europe then got really big in Japan before coming to the states.. I’m america and would appreciate that the categorizing of individuals and the parts of the world that they com e from to stop. I know many americans that dont fall into your idiotic category and if you add well then Americans think that all is new music + categorization of every other stereotype known to man based on nationality traits or racial traits that you witness on tv and from a few ppl = does not dignify the answer for the people as a whole ….Srsly fuckin stop it ><
by Editor
Hey, Conrad, I know almost nothing about current music, so don’t take me seriously, just messing around. Actually, I’m just getting started learning DJ tech. I have Live with plugs (including Stutter Edit, several NI and Spectrasonics instruments), Maschine, APC40, Jamman Stereo looper, Novation controller, Adobe Audition, Macbook Pro. I welcome all tips (editors@kurzweilai.net). – Amara
by Razor
If you’re a newcommer to making music on a computer and a Machead then Garageband has got to be worth checking out – it’s massive fun to use and is very easy on the beginner. It’s probably more for people who want to make more conventional sounding music, and more a for a bit of fun than something a pro would use.
If you try and jump in with Reason or Live or some of the other high end music production software that Dub-Step or Electronic Artists actually use – it can be so overwhelming that people give up. I’d say after garageband something like Fruity Loops (which is much miligned) is a good step up – if you’ve got an Ipad or even a iphone theres some great little music production apps – touchscreen and accelerometer are pretty cool as a control device. Good Luck!
by John Doe
This isn’t true future music.
Singularity based music was done best by Front Line Assembly.
Listen to their album Tactical Neural Implant (it even sounds like a Kurzweil book!) and you will hear the very sound of the future to come. One of my favourite albums of all time, so atmospheric and complex, and leagues ahead of the ADHD fuelled brostep that Skrillex pushes.
by The SHM
Now if we can only get Led Zeppelin in electro-step…
by Logic
I love this music, but I’m also a huge fan of classical, rock, pop, jazz, and just about anything else. To categorize this as “future music” (or even “the future OF music”) is silly. Yes, these styles will continue to evolve, and they will continue to have influence within other genres. But the other genres will continue and evolve as well. I think in the near future we’ll see new classical styles presented in epic fashion, as if a new Mozart were on the scene, and she’ll begin out-Mozart’ing Mozart.
Due to the empowering technologies, the future will bring infinite diversity. We’ve learned time and again that the more diverse we get, the more robust our evolution, due to the variety of ideas that then cross-pollenate our imaginations. So don’t expect any one genre to be our future. The future of music will be as varied as our imagination.
by Lukas K
Well put. ;0)
by phatz4ever
Electro -step is looking more and more like dubsteps succesor. I don’t think many dubstep fans would consider skirllexs most recent work as dubstep and more electro house with dup step influences. Listeing tk people like excision and dastik in the pre skrillex days had a completely different sound and composition the their current day music. I think particularly because dubstep isn’t something you can really dance to but constant beat of house music you can.
Also deadmau5 is house music you but he has one dubstep song.
by raducu427
Skrillex music remembers me of Aphex Twin in the late nineties, that terrifying feel was present, a lot darker still
by Editor
Yes, Skrillex credits Aphex Twin as an inspiration.
by tsw
this music is so wack.
by Michael
This is the kind of music they were saying would be the future of music back when electronic first came out. This kind of music is not just “dubstep.” The music you guys are talking about that originated in the UK in the late 90s early 00s which drives me mad every time I hear it. This is more of a fusion of many styles with some dubstep in there also.
by Jason
I’ve been a musician most of my life. I’ve played every instrument in the typical rock band configuration. I’ve also recorded numerous bands (no one famous, unfortunately) in pro studios.
In 2001 I wanted to learn out to dj/produce. My brother was an up and coming dj for the drum & bass scene and moved to Japan where he did pretty well for a while. So what he was spinning pretty much influenced what I wanted to get in to. I moved to NYC a few years later where I broke into the (dying) drum & bass scene there.
After a few years I started to produce my own stuff. Still in the drum & bass genre, but more into the darker subgenres – techstep, darkstep, darkcore, etc. I’ve always considered all the stuff I’ve been into over the past decade to be ‘future music’. Granted, no one really knows what music will be like in 10 or 20 years. But, know how much you can do with just one computer, seeing how kids nowadays are jamming on subway trains with just iPhones/iPads – it just makes sense that digital anything will be where it’s at.
The music listed in this post, for anyone that’s been in the scene for a while, is fairly obvious. And that’s ok. All derivatives of dubstep and yah, it’s what the kids are listening too nowadays. But there’s always going to be the stuff that lies beneath what’s accessible and to me, that’s what’s always going to be ahead of everything else, bubbling up years down the road in a way that’s more palatable to the masses.
Still, it does all come down to emotion and how you can ‘flick the switches’ in someone’s mind with frequencies and composition. I think that will stay true for a long time. At least as long as we have emotions.
by Mau5fan
I think you’re not giving dance/electronic enough credit. It’s not “future music” and it’s not just for “rave crowds whipping into a frenzy”. In fact, there’s more innovation in this genre than anywhere else, so I would more appropriately call it “the future OF music”. But the future has been here for a while and many have been listening, even in the US. Many people “over 30″ in the US just listen to crap radio stations blasting manufactured “hits” (quite boring, in my opinion). This music is simply “new to them” now that’s its more extensively entering the zeitgeist and their ears are not trained to appreciate the complexity of this very fertile, creative, and thoroughly enjoyable genre. And music isn’t dying, quite the opposite, it’s thriving– there’re more bands than ever before b/c they can use low cost distribution models to be heard. The variety is also much more diverse. The art of music is healthier than its ever been. It’s the music label industry that has lost money b/c they stayed too long on a sinking ship and didn’t adapt their distribution model b/c of short sighted greed.
by pwb
the idea that people in the uk would be “in for a whole new rave sensation” ignores the fact that dubstep COMES FROM THE UK, and has been popular in the mainstream here since at least 2006 when producers like Skream and Benga had mainstream chart hits with dubstep tracks… Skrillex, along with other producers like Nero, have added a more approachable, melodic element to the genre but their work is pretty derivative… so i don’t think that anyone in the uk will find much that’s “new” about a style of music that peaked here commercially about 2 or 3 years ago…
by Editor
Gianluca: Benvenuti nel futuro! :)
by Razor
Always amuses me when Americans start talking about “future music” – hard electronic music has been in the mainstream In the UK for decades. YouTube something like “Cubik” by 808 State – an 80s top ten hit – The Prodigy were having big hits as early as 1990 in the UK with a much harder sound than they have now check out “Charley Alley cat mix”. We’ve had Acid House, Rave, Drum n Bass and loads of other genres go from underground to mainstream.
America never got over “Disco Sucks”
by Editor
Razor: Hey, we yanks are always happy to amuse. But guess what, mate? The Skrillex European tour (http://www.skrillex.com/tour-dates/) just sold out in Liverpool last night, and is already sold out in almost every major city in merry old England! Wow, looks like you blokes are in for a whole new rave sensation! Enjoy! LOL
by Razor
Erm, Dubstep is from the Uk. We’ve had it for years. Now if only you guys knew about Shroom and Bass…
by Gianluca
For the first time I feel prompted to reply to a post on this site. I am a musician, and I think that when considering what the music of the future will sound like, you make the same mistake a lot of people make when they think what the singularity will be like. In a word (a word used on this post too): terrifying.
Music is made of frequencies that are more or less appealing according to their wave structure. There will always be ‘divine’ music frequencies around (think of Mozart, Bach etc), energizing ones (think of flamenco, gypsy music etc), disturbing ones (think of techno, whose synthesized sounds are pretty much noise, i.e unstructured waves).
The thing that I find disturbing is that you glamorize this noise as if the only good music out there came necessarily from synthesizing machines. The music industry is dying, and musicianship will go live again. There will be machines, but mostly there will be people with instruments in their hands using their brains to produce sound. In a word music will be more human, rather than trans-human. I don’t believe that we will all lose our innate taste for the sublime and give in to rave partying all night.
by Editor
Gianluca: hey dude, lighten up and party! It’s not noise — it’s maximum entropy! LOL
by Gianluca
Hi Angela,
I love the concept of singularity and the awe and promise of technological advancement. But I just have a BIG problem with singularitarians’ tastes in music! lol
by Peter Simmons
Right on! A sane voice amongst the jiggyjig obsessives. This is mindless noise for the mindless – whether they did it on drugs or are naturally mindless. And all we get is ‘hey dude lighten up and party!’ Oh dear, no discussion here then.