DUBBYstep

I came across the latest Rolling Stone issue over the weekend and it was their ‘Big’ Issue.  A lot of the focus was on up-and-coming artists.  In music, in acting and in life.

What impressed me the most was a deep dive into EDM with features on Skrillex and SHM.  Rolling Stone asked Skrillex who he thought should be big time artists.  He listed four.  DUBBYstep will take a look at each one.  If Skrillex digs these artists then they must be talented.

First up…Koan Sound.

The duo from Bristol, UK is signed to Skrillex’s label, OWSLA.  Koan Sound is known for their down tempo, dubstep-inspired glitch hip-hip, according to Skrillex and Rolling Stone.

Their sound is mellow and free-spirited at one moment and then bass-bumping the next.  A sound that can really get the dance floor going.  The mellowness in some of their tracks may be attributed back to the meaning of ‘Koan,’ which is a puzzling, often paradoxical statement or story, used in Zen Buddhism as an aid to meditation and a means of gaining spiritual awakening.

Koan Sound is playing all over the world this summer, but will make their next step at Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas.

Check out their featured track with Foreign Beggars on YouTube, ‘Look Who’s Back.’

Check out this insanely awesome Dubstep Cereal commercial.

For those of you wondering, the song is Mord Fustang’s “A New World”

DUBBYstep Live Music Contributor, Phil Pace, takes us on the journey through HOLY SHIP 2012.  The pre-sale for the 2013 show already sold out.  For more information, check out their official website for next January’s festival. 

“HOLY F-ing SHIP!”  This was a common expression heard amongst the crowd and the microphone from the artists throughout the journey.  From the moment everyone stepped foot outside their car or cab to reveal what seemed to be the overly luxurious for the occasion MSC Poesia cruise ship, excitement filled the air… and the sea.

The lines to get onto the ship were filled with smiling faces and some still tired ones left over from the HOLY SHIP Pre-Party hosted by Mad Decent Records. Diplo, one of the busiest men in music today, headlined as his side project, Major Lazer.  All of the fellow “maiden voyagers” as we proudly referred to ourselves as, were already busy trying to meet one another to boast and brag about how amazing the next three days would be.

As we pulled out of the port sometime after sundown on Friday, January 6th, Diplo hopped on the decks and appropriately played a sample of Enya’s “Sail Away” right before dropping into some crunchy electro.  Another commonly used line throughout the weekend was brought up right then as two fans dressed as jellyfish walked passed me saying, “Imagine what other ships think of us right now!”

Diplo playing 'Sail Away' as the HOLY SHIP departs

First night main sets included Skrillex, Rusko, Laidback Luke and French electronic sensation Gesaffelstein to name a few.  Each DJ supported/pushed the next to bring more energy and creativity  until the night truly reached its peak during an intimate, yet incredibly energy filled set by Zedd in the ‘Zebra Bar’ from 2:30-4 AM.  While some people turned it in after this I casually stumbled onto the pool deck for one more drink, which quickly turned into five more when Skrillex made a casual appearance to hang out and send some love back to the fellow maiden voyagers. Yeah, that was cool.

Skrillex in the elevator with fellow maiden voyagers

Day two came to a screeching halt somewhere too close to land on a sand bar in Port Lucaya, Bahamas. My favorite quote from that minor bump in the road or sea in our case, came from a 32-year-old businessman.  Dressed as a pirate for HOLY SHIP’s  “Pirate Day” the businessman cheerfully stated, “I’ve been on cloud 12 since we hit the sand bar!”  So, the second day on this beautiful ship in the middle of the Bahamas continued to be all I could ask for and then some, including the music.

Tug boats attempt to break the MSC Poesia free from the sand bar. It took 14 hours for five tug boats to free the ship

Highlights from day two’s lineup include “Pool Deck” sets by A-trak, Destructo, Steve Aoki, Skrillex, Tommy Lee & DJ Aero.  Then things moved inside starting off with a performance by burlesque goddess Dita Von Teese.  Paris Social Club hosted an evening in the “Teatro Theatre” showcasing Brodinski, Gesaffelstein and Club Cheval.  However, despite my efforts to be in more than one place at a time, I had to choose and ended up in the “S32 Disco” for Justin Martin and then Gina Turner.  At 3:00 am, Justin Martin put on a set for the ages. Even Skrillex and Dave Nada showed up right next to me on the dance floor to show support for one of the few tech-house producers/DJs on a ship full of dub-step & electro acts.   To see a moment where guys who play such different genres within EDM show love, support, and enjoyment for one another’s talents and progression in a constantly growing industry had to be the highlight of the night for me.

Justin Martin performs. Laidback Luke dances in costume for 'Pirate Day'

Day three greets you with some aches and pains from the past two days of jumping and screaming for 8-10 hours a night, but the utter joy and excitement of disembarking HOLY SHIP to get your feet wet during a private island party keeps you going.  The party starts at 10:00 am and runs until 3:00 pm when you get back on the ship to recover for a couple hours and do it one more time on the way back to Port Everglades, FLA.  The “Private Beach Boutique Party” featured sets by Dave Nada, Dillon Francis, Diplo and was wrapped up by whom some of the other artists refer to as the “godfather” of the entire EDM scene, Fatboy Slim.  Being the veteran that he is, Fatboy slowed things down for John Paul Young’s “Love is in the Air”, and it truly was.  People splashed around in the ocean, gave the floating rubber ducky a friendly push, and even a giant conga line formed weaving in and out of the shipwrecked bar/stage up on the beach.

Private Island Party with the MSC Poesia in the background

Love was in the air and people were ready to close out the weekend with a bang!  Back onboard, HOLY SHIP awaited sets on the Pool Deck by Brodinski, Justin Martin, Gina Turner and Laidback Luke; who I must congratulate once more on turning HOLY SHIP into an engagement party after proposing to then girlfriend, Gina Turner.  After the party moved inside from the pool deck, the options included a Fool’s Gold Rap Party, Zedd among others in the Disco, and mystery sets in the theatre.  I ended up choosing the theater and played witness to an extremely intimate set by Steve Aoki and then Tommy Lee & DJ Aero in which female singer Sofi made a special performance.

Sofi makes a special appearance on the final night

Overall, there could not have been a better way to start off the new year for an EDM fan than to be on the maiden voyage HOLY SHIP 2012.  If the next one is anything like the first, you can count on seeing me wandering HOLY SHIP dressed up in my black and red striped pirate pants again.  The entire experience was very personal with the artists, and the opportunities to meet them or at least catch a picture and handshake in passing were numerous.  I also believe the artists had an exceptionally positive experience getting to play with friends.  A couple days after arriving back state-side Skrillex sent out a tweet re-ittirating the fact that HOLY SHIP is a major player in the festival scene, “Holy ship was the craziest thing to happen in EDM period”.

Rusko showcases the intimacy of the festival as he shaves the head of a fan

Enjoy the recap video below…..

The 2012 Grammy Awards spoke volumes to the growth of EDM in the American music scene. Our boy Skrillex, for one, managed to take home three of the five awards he was nominated for including, Best Dance Recording, Best Remixed Recording (Non Classical), and Best Dance/Electronica Record. Not bad. Equally as significant as the recognition Skrillex received was the fact that the Best Dance/Electronica Record category, itself, was dominated by some of electronics biggest names. A category that has been practically reserved for pop icons such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Beyonce and J Lo over the past decade, now found its nominee spots filled by Deadmau5, Duck Sauce, Swedish House Mafia, David Guetta and Avicii. These awards, amidst live performances by Deadmau5 and Guetta, not only made this years Grammys the most entertaining year in recent memory for us here at DUBBYstep, but it was demonstrative of the progress EDM has made in becoming a recognized genre in the professional music scene.

(Skrillex accepting one of his three awards before the CBS telecast via billboard.com)

Now I’ve arrived at the point of this article where I have to be a bit of a buzz kill and qualify what I have written so far… I have to say that I was surprised EDM didn’t completely steal the show. I mean consider the Deadmau5 performance with Foo Fighters. I saw the iconic mouse heads in the crowd and I could hear the roar of the crowd when the curtain dropped to reveal Deadmau5 standing high in his cube; he stole the show. The audience was there for him.

(Foo Fighters and Deadmau5 share the stage outside the Staples Center via TV.com)

The same, however, did not seem to be true of EDM’s presence at the Grammys as a whole.

Consider for a moment, the fact that David Guetta appeared in just one of the two live performances his music was featured in. This performance, like that of Deadmau5 later in the evening, took place in a tent outside the Staples Center. The other–the one that actually took place on the main stage–had little to do with electronic music beyond the actual track and a gigantic pyramid of LED cubes that served as props for a Chris Brown dance number. The same can be said for Rihanna’s performance of ‘We Found Love’–was Calvin Harris even invited to the Grammys? If I have yet to make my point, think one last time about the number of mentions or amount of face time given to Skrillex over the course of the nearly 4 hour production…the man was nominated for 5 awards, won 3, and if you weren’t looking for him you would have missed him.

The result of all of this on Sunday night was the feeling that while electronic music may gave gained significant traction in the music world, the social world just isn’t ready to accept it.  It will be interesting to see if any of this changes in the months following the release of Re:Generation tomorrow night.

DUBBYstep is gearing up for the Snowball Music Festival in Vail Valley.  It’s only a few weeks away.

One of the artists that I’m most excited to see is Rusko, who will be playing the first night.  I witnessed Rusko during a day set a few years back at Lollapalooza but there’s a 100% chance his show with the mountains as a backdrop will be better than his hour set at Perry’s Stage in Chicago.

The English Dubstep producer and DJ has been on the scene since 2006 and two of his more popular tracks are really catching my attention.

This morning, I’m listening to his 2012 hit, ‘Somebody to Love,’ and the 2010 Sub Focus remix of his track ft. Amber Coffman, ‘Hold On.’

Catch both below and enjoy the beautiful vocals that flow into some smooth dub.

Would you like EDM with that?  Fast food leader, McDonald’s, is now advertising with a little bit of dub.

McDonald’s includes a smooth, subtle dubby track in a spot for their brand new Chicken McBites.  They even infuse a little electronic into their, ‘I’m Lovin’ It,’ jingle.

More and more advertisers are turning to EDM in an attempt to reach a younger audience.  Think The North Face and Best Buy.

I can’t vouch for the McBites but I can provide you with the commercial.

The EDM scene continues to make the most of Grammy week in Los Angeles.

According to Rolling Stone, last night marked the world premiere of the ReGeneration film at the famous Chinese Theatre.

It marked the first time that most of the project’s featured DJs -Mark Ronson, DJ Premiere, Skrillex, Crystal Method and Pretty Lights- saw the final cut.

The end of the film didn’t mark the end of the night.  DJ Premiere, Mark Ronson and Skrillex all performed throughout the evening at various after parties.

As DUBBYstep reported earlier in the week, ReGeneration, will be out for the public on Thursday, February 16th and 23rd in theatres nationwide.

We have our tickets.  Do you?  Get them here and enjoy this Skrillex track from the film.  

Hailing all the way from Perth, Western Austailia but based in London.  This electronic duo consisting of Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen bring you a Dubby twist of the young electronic phenom’s Unison.  You may recognize this from a recent trailer of “Red Tails.”

Foo Fighter’s frontman, Dave Grohl, was on stage only six months ago preaching to his Lollapalooza audience that he hates to see laptops on stage and that real Rock ‘n’ Roll is about guitars and drums.

This Sunday at The Grammy’s, however, Grohl will have to deal with the dreaded laptop as his Foo Fighters and Deadmau5 will come together for a live remix of ‘Rope.’ This, according to the AP.

While Grohl was making his remarks last August, Deadmau5 was on the other side of Chicago’s Grant Park performing with his new cube act.  Many fans were left to make a decision on where to spend their final few hours on a rain soaked Sunday as both acts were in the same headliner time slot.

The weather fueled Grohl and the Foo Fighters put on a powerful performance.  While the torrential downpours caused some technical problems for the cube, Deadmau5 still threw one hell of a rave.

Grohl may not have the utmost respect for EDM but thanks to a photo from WXRT at Lolla, it appears that he has a good relationship with Joel Zimmerman (Deadmau5).

Deadmau5 and Foo Fighters will kick off a special electronic music segment at this year’s Grammy ceremonies.  Lil Wayne, Chris Brown and David Guetta will then join forces for a performances of their own.

Deadmau5′s take on ‘Rope’ can be heard below.

While he’s no newcomer to the scene, UK electronic music producer, Feed Me!, will soon thrill North American audiences for the first time ‘WITH TEETH.’ The ‘WITH TEETH Tour’ kicks off in Seattle, WA on 3/12, with roughly 25 shows to follow and a grand finale scheduled in Indio, CA for no less than The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Oh, and that date–4/20.

The month long tour and ‘finale’ through the US and Canada will feature over 25 headlining performances by Feed Me! on a 20-foot wide set of LED Teeth that will synchronize to the ‘build’ and ‘drop’ of his music like Pretty Lights’ skyline and Deadmau5′ cube. With such an already sick producer now emulating these iconic EDM performances, this will be a show to catch.

For Tickets and Tour Dates: Click Here