Skrillex and Aphex??

[sleestack]

i think the intro to Lyff Acid is actually the most interesting part

[Circuitt]

Skrillex and Aphex in the same sentence is considered a grammatical error.

[xanax]

it sounds very very afx/squarepushery to me... btw i've heard a while ago from a close source at rephlex that afx has enough material to put out 10 albums, i'm not at liberty to say why they haven't been released but let's just say there is a good reason why some stuff is trickling out under various aliases.. however that doesn't confirm by any means the ID behind steinvord, which i just learned about through this thread.. i am very curious to find out though!

[thaiqr]

No soundy like Skrillex.
But a lot of stuff that Skrillex did, namely as (twibz, twix, twiz, or something) doesn't sound like Skrillex either. He's rather versatile, actually.

I should take this as an opportunity to explain why a lot of more serious Electronic listeners don't like Skrillex (this is just something that's been on my mind), as I went through an I hate Skrillex phase.

Dubstep is rad. Some people disagree. Some people agree tremendously. It's interesting. It's fun. Wobble bass is badass. It's not, however, the new punk. Honestly, a dubstep song is generally categorized by the wobble bass. Talk about beats and low frequencies and all that jazz all you want. I agree that there's more to Dubstep than wobble bass, but that's what I and the general population most commonly associates with Dubstep.

Who's your favorite Dubstep producer? Master P? Big Chocolate? Or are you a bit more old school? Plasticman? Maybe Skream? I think it's fair to consider these all Dubstep artists.

What do you like about Dubstep? I think it's fun. I dig Drum/Bass so I dig the Drum/Bass style beats. I like the reggae influence, besides the obvious. And the Wobble Bass. ****ing genius. It's like the new SuperSaw as far as ridiculously cutting edge usage of synthesizers. There's so much we all love about Dubstep. And it's so fun to introduce a friend to dubstep. Not to be a dirty hipster, but underground stuff is ****ing cool. Why not buy into the whole "I feel special because not everyone has heard this eargasm"?

Then Skrillex comes along. Skrillex probably had the biggest hand in bringing Dubstep to the mainstream. We can probably attribute that to Deadmau5 and Mau5trap. Suddenly, everyone was talking about dubstep. Everyone. Everyone dug Skrillex. Hot Topic started carrying his EP. That's about as mainstream as it gets. Then. Instead of carrying Skrillex merch, they start selling apparel that reads "Dubstep <3" or "Wub Wub Wub" or "Dirty, Filthy, Grimy, Dubstep". They were marketing it like they marketed punk back in the nineties and early 2000s. Except Dubstep is just a genre. Now Youtube is plagued with all of these creatorless FL Studio Dubstep "Remixes" that exist solely for drops. Don't get me wrong. I have no problem with remixes. Woo. Dubstep remix. I dig. But it's like. It's not even music any more. It's become just a delivery method for drops. And who brought all of this along? Skrillex.

Skrillex isn't a bad musician. In fact, some of the shit he does is catchy and perhaps dynamic. He's talented. Is he qualified to represent all of Dubstep as a whole? No. No one is. Is he the most qualified? Absolutely not. There are at least a dozen Producers I can think of that I think deserved the marketing Skrillex was fortunate enough to get from Mau5trap. Dozens. I don't think Skrillex is Brostep. I think he's a talented musician. He plays the laptop like a sonofabitch. Did he bring on the sudden onslaught of mainstream electronic idiocracy? Absolutely. Was he the key factor in turning Dubstep into a fad or fashion trend? Perhaps, perhaps not. He definitely played a key role in getting it to where it is today. But there is definitely some positive. Ignoring the fact that he is Skrillex, and just labeling him as a Dubstep producer, this is the most mainstream any Dubstep producer has come. Do you think Nero would have their album in record stores if it weren't for the success of Skrillex? Absolutely not. There is a sudden onslaught of fans who are ready to look for more than Skrillex and there is an onslaught of producers who are ready to fit the bill.

[Cupwise]

skrillex has become the justin bieber of electronic music.

everywhere you go, on youtube, forums, anywhere, the comments on any GOOD music would always be about bieber. now, any time you see a mention of GOOD electronic music, someone has to come and puke up the word skrillex. then the whole conversation is about skrillex, as if he invented electronic music altogether.

this is why people hate skrillex. sure, you can make an honest comparison between him and aphex, but at the end of the day, there really isn't any. skrillex just happened to be in the right place at the right time. that place is america, and that time is right at the exact moment that the flood gates of "electronic music finally becoming 'acceptable' for the youth to listen to" were opened.

my theory, and i'm think i'm correct, is that the record industry in america was too afraid of electronic music to 'allow' it to really catch on. sure, mtv played 'block rockin beats', some tracks by prodigy, and other occasional electronic music in the 90s, but they never got behind the movement full-on, like they had with hip-hop in the earlier 90s/late 80s. do i sound like a conspiracy theorist? maybe, but you can't tell me that there aren't probably a few gatekeeper types in USA who have a lot of power over what gets played. record labels have a lot of control over say, a rock band, because they must pay for studio time, producers, etc. they don't have that kind of hold over an electronic musician.

i think they held off as long as possible on allowing electronic music to be 'cool' in america for that reason. it was inevitable that it would hit the streets eventually though. didn't anyone else think it was weird that stuff like chem bros, aphex, squarepusher, orb, pretty much most great electronic music was happening in europe/england for a couple of decades and that scene never happened here?

so in my opinion, skrillex just got lucky to be the one making the edgy beats when that flood gate opened. now he will be heralded as the inventor of electronic music by all the kids in usa. the end.

also, skrillex does have skill, but overall i think it's a bit of an insult (to richard) to mention him with aphex.

[xanax]

exactly thank you cupwise... obviously skrillex has nothing to do with steinvord, afx or rephlex records for that matter, that was evidently a bad joke

i will go even further...dubstep? wobble bass?? underground???? i wouldn't be surprised if auto manufacturers have started including dubstep arrangements in their car commercials (the definite sign that a genre hit the fan )

[Branmong]

Nothing is/has/will ever said which is in anyway interesting about Skrillex. There really is no need to discuss him at all. I'd rather think about mould.

Its actually causing me some physical pain that he's being associated with Richard James in any way.

[blinky909]

Originally Posted by djugel

whoever it is its okay.. an ok track..

not great
not good

just ok.

file this under "nothing new, could have been released in 1999"

[moneyforsluts]

i think they held off as long as possible on allowing electronic music to be 'cool' in america for that reason. it was inevitable that it would hit the streets eventually though. didn't anyone else think it was weird that stuff like chem bros, aphex, squarepusher, orb, pretty much most great electronic music was happening in europe/england for a couple of decades and that scene never happened here?

I think you're completely ignoring the 90's. Rave hit here (although we missed the really "underground" stuff, but we got the fallout afterwords). Daft Punk had videos played here. I heard the songs on the radio and bought homework when I was too young to know even know what "techno" or "dance music" was.

The thing that got skrillex into the mainstream was the same thing that almost got Justice or Steve Aoki there, blogs and indie music. Skrillex's sound was unique enough to not be written off as "techno" and had an angsty edge that made it really appeal to the younger generation left behind after the fall of emo/hardcore/hipster metal/etc.

[Cupwise]

no, i'm not completely ignoring the 90s. i was there. i only recently got into 'electronic' music in the past 5-6 years. i grew up in the 90s in usa, listening to 'alternative' rock music, like many others. yeah, i mentioned that you did see random glimpses of electronic music here and there, but none of the big promoters got behind it as they did with say, hip hop/rap.

on the other hand, i would be willing to bet 1000 dollars, that if i turned on mtv (haven't looked at it intentionally in the past ~10years), there would be dubstep-lite in the background during the teeny bopper 'reality' shows featuring teenage girls bitching at each other, getting pregnant, whatever else mtv is also promoting these days. i would bet my balls they are using generic dubstep as background music for these things. this just gives it more reinforcement, an air of acceptability. they didn't do this with anything like aphex, squarepusher, etc back in the 90s. funny considering those names are always brought up when talking about electronic music..

i'm not ignoring the 90s because i was there, and if i knew about aphex twin back then, i think i would have liked it. i love it now so why didn't i then? i don't care if mtv played windowlicker or come to daddy vids. that's not the same as what i'm talking about (mass promoting a genre/style/sound/lifestyle, which is the game mtv plays).

and yes, i am picking a bit on mtv. well, i think they are the biggest influence on what kids like, but obviously it's not just mtv. they are a good indicator of what the industry wants to sell though. mtv starts using dubstep as bumper music, movie trailers start using it (in a ****ing kung fu movie set in ancient china even.... ... .......), tv shows, etc.

if anything you could have accused me of ignoring the internet. well, i consider the internet to be part of what changed the game enough, causing the 'flood gate' i mentioned to raise. the internet took away a little control from the labels, making electronic music's inevitable rise to popularity in the US that much more imminent. on the other hand still, i've seen an interview with a main dude over at beatport (where skrillex came up), and this main dude said that most music they sell over there, was the result of a SEARCH. not browsing.

what's that tell you? it tells me that kids aren't just looking for new things they may like, finding skrillex, then skrillex blows up. they were told that skrillex (or whatever else) was good, then went and searched for it specifically. maybe where blogs come into play, a bit, but i hardly believe most of his momentum to have come from them. so yes that means that somewhere, somewhere out there, a mass message was given to people to go check out skrillex. then they went to beatport and searched for him, and found him and bought him. it takes money, clout, rank, etc to be able to inform/sway that many people. so yeah, i still believe that whoever was behind that was part of the 'industry', in one shape or form. rock music has probably ceased being as lucrative as it once may have been, finally to the point that now they are trying to see what they can get from 'electronic music'.

back in the 90s, male kids in the USA thought of electronic music as 'that gay european music'. now i don't mean gay as an insult to gay people, and i don't mean to say that I myself thought of it that way, but lots of males in america did. NOW they think those squeeks, growls, burbles, and programmed drum beats which are basically the same as they were then, are AWESOME. because someone told them to think that.

[sleestack]

electronic music always had to have vocals in america. Americans need vocals for some reason. Srillex is different i think cause there isn't any main vocal

[Cupwise]

Originally Posted by sleestack

electronic music always had to have vocals in america. Americans need vocals for some reason. Srillex is different i think cause there isn't any main vocal

i guess that's a good point. when i've talked about 'electronic music', i was referring to pure electronic music, no vocals. i mean, really you could call hip hop electronic music with vocals. even pink floyd called their stuff electronic music, so the lines are pretty blurry, but at the same time we know what we mean.

another point i'll make to bolster my argument that people need to be told by some higher authority that something is 'ok' before they allow themselves to like it, is to use Fallout 3/New Vegas as an example. how many kids would have allowed themselves to like a frank sinatra song if they heard it in the air, before new vegas? or any of the other classic stuff that has been re-contextualized (in a clever way) with those games? few. i've personally seen kids who claim to like that stuff though, since hearing it in the games. go to youtube and lookup sinatra's blue moon and glance at the comments and see kids bragging about how they were told by a game that it's ok to like this.

yes i think it's ok to find new things anywhere, but probably most of those same kids would frown on that same music had they not had it presented to them by an authority on 'cool'- a big name video game. mtv is like that authority on crack. i don't hate skrillex or anything, nor am i some music snob, i just think it's a joke when someone tries to act like dubstep's explosion of popularity all happened by virtue of its quality, and was all a word of mouth, ground roots kind of thing. no. gatekeepers needed something else to make money from, so they got word out that dubstep is teh coolz0rz.

[sleestack]

im sure your argument is valid. i just can't relate to it. Ive always sought out music of all forms. I read magazines. talked to people at records shops. I simply can't relate. but i do see other people conform rather than seek their own path

[moneyforsluts]

maybe where blogs come into play, a bit, but i hardly believe most of his momentum to have come from them. so yes that means that somewhere, somewhere out there, a mass message was given to people to go check out skrillex

I guess since I was in the thick of this when he blew up it's tough for me to see a conspiracy. He sent out his Skrillex EP, (not his "label" or "managment" or anything, it was just him, emailing it out) and bloggers saw how different it was and saw the appeal. He had no one "pushing" him back when he was booked in my city back when he would paly for a hundred bucks and a hotel room, he wasn't on MTV in the background, they didn't have his album in Hot Topic, he wasn't on Mau5trap, but he sold out a bigger show than the Chemical Brothers. He just really appeals to some people, no conspiracy necessary. People can call the people "stupid" for liking him and not AFX or Squarepusher, but that seems pretentious and elitist. Just be glad that people liking him has a good impact for dance music as a whole.

[Cupwise]

i just find this pretty hard to buy, because especially with the advent of laptops +software which is readily available, anyone on the planet is now a possible contender. sure, skrillex is more skilled than the vast majority of people who try their hand at making electronic music, but the field is so totally saturated with tracks made by people... how could skrillex be THAT much better than literally everything else on the internet, that he just shot up to massive nationwide/worldwide fame just because of that? i mean, have you noticed how almost everything he makes sounds.. kind of the same?

so your story is that 'he emailed his ep out to some people and they loved it!', just like his story is 'i made it on some blown speakers'. as if he put no effort into it. it just seems like a literal statistical impossibility to me, for anyone, with any type of music, to get noticed like that, with minimal effort or backing. i don't care HOW good their tracks are. especially when 99% of the people on the internet have their own soundclouds, myspaces and whatever other accounts filled with their own music, hoping to get famous themselves. not to mention that it wasn't THAT different from any/everything that came before it. i really hate to mention this guy, but ever hear of otto von schirach? regrettably, i have (and feel the need to clean my keyboard now).

even IF your scenario is an accurate depiction of what happened, it still ignores my point that he came around at the perfect time, when american kids were beginning to allow themselves to listen to electronic music.

[Yoozer]

Originally Posted by Cupwise

anyone, with any type of music, to get noticed like that, with minimal effort or backing.

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Moore joined the American post-hardcore band From First to Last as the lead singer in 2004, and recorded two studio albums with the band (Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Body Count, 2004, and Heroine, 2006) before leaving to pursue a solo career in 2007

That's not minimal. Most people don't even get to that level.

Also, any minute or Joule of effort on this is wasted - because it's not being spent on music. If any artist had to worry about this as much as GS does, they'd never make any music at all.

[moneyforsluts]

even IF your scenario is an accurate depiction of what happened

I'm just saying what I saw as far as his electronic music career goes. But keep in mind that if your scenario is an accurate depiction of what happened, there are a group of musical Bilderbergs that choose what music the "sheeple" will be fed, just doesn't seem like it's based in reality.

it still ignores my point that he came around at the perfect time, when american kids were beginning to allow themselves to listen to electronic music.

This is what I was trying to point out is false. In the 90's people went to raves and dance music clubs, there was a "rave" scene in pretty much every movie around that time. Just because you weren't involved with it doesn't mean it didn't happen or it wasn't mainstream.

[Goa-Dubs]

Old drum and bass with some noisy acid sounds.Am i missing something?

[xanax]

lol.. nobody is calling this earth shattering, to the contrary it sounds like an outake of old afx/squarepusher material.. the question was who is behind it.. and the controversy that ensued from the suggestion of it being skrillex..

as for the rest gotta agree with moneyforsluts here… i would even say the 90s was a great time for edm in the US, chicago and detroit alone were a major influence for european artists including afx, daft punk etc… new-york had an off the hook club scene and a ton of labels, philly had josh wink & big warehouse parties, and even DC where i went to school had a couple edm vinyl record stores and a massive rave scene in southeast.. i'm pretty sure SF & LA had it as well. obviously the US is a vast country and if you were nowhere near these big cities, chances are you missed out completely…

as for music videos, they definitely had a huge impact since they were so incredibly creative… spike jonze, michel gondry, chris cunningham.. it was all about getting the most artistic director.. and they were recognized for being groundbreaking.. this one by roman copolla even portrays a US rave getting shut down (including the recipe to italian tomato sauce lol):



anyways fast-forward to today and there is hardly anything left of the above, and that might be the problem.. there is hardly any real local scene, music videos are made by amateur fans on youtube.. internet is land of the lost.. many people religiously follow beatport charts, resident advisor, blogs, twitter etc… the whole business has tanked, actual records don't sell, and therefore artists are being raised to jesus status in order to sell out shows..

that being said, i do believe that skrillex's story can entirely be true, the internet can also definitely be a way for a virtual nobody to gain exposure and boost to stardom in virtually no time… it isn't just make believe i know friends of mine that own labels that have picked up major artists for their roster through a soundcloud or myspace. of course that doesn't mean other unscrupulous PRs will use the phenomenon to make hype and push dummies (just look at lanadelrey)