Go full "Spectrum" with Zedd

Zedd (Anton Zaslavski) just release his latest single titled "Spectrum".  Zedd is an electronic artist that mainly focuses on the Electronic House genre.  At 22, Zedd is going places, fast!  The German-born artist has an excellent background in music thanks to his parents, which are themselves musicians.  He can play the piano and the drums, but chose the electronic route.  An we thank him for all he has done in the sort time he's been producing music.


Like most electronic artists, he participates heavily in remixing mainstream music hits for such artists as Lady Gaga, Skrillex, Blacked Eyed Peas, and Fatboy Slim to name a few.  However, as of June 7th he blessed us with his latest non-mixed single.


"Spectrum" starts out as any House/Trance song would, a fast 8th note electric snare drum with an encroaching synth progression.  It quickly transforms into a full-featured song with a traditional base line and a brief cruchy synth.  Just when you think this is going to be boring Trance song, everything cuts-out and Matthew Koma's voice creeps in.  As the name would suggest to the reader Matthew male, duh!  However, to the unbeknownst listener, you would suspect a female.  Matthew's site is here.  Maroon 5, you don't have shit on Matthew as far as vocals are concerned.  Also, I can't help but think of the movie "Train Spotting" when looking at Matthew's picture on his site.  Matt's vocals are the icing on this single's cake!

Ok, back to the review.  Spectrum is a great title since Zedd uses a little bit of everything in this song.  Vocals for the Progressive enthusiasts, hard-hitting sawtooth base synths for you Dubstep lovers, and high-energy rythms for the Trance aficionados.  There is even some quirky sound affects that sound reminiscent of those in BT's "These Hopeful Machines" album.


Along with the highs in Spectrum come the cool and chill parts to let you catch your breath.  But don't get too relaxed.  Before you know it the blood is pumping again and you'll find your hand trying to turn up that volume knob.


Overall, Spectrum is one of those songs that anyone would like.  It's kind of like the last StarTrek movie.  Even non-Trekies thought it was awesome!  So no need to be a Techno/Electronic glowstick flinger.  Everyone should hold back on the stereotypes and give this one a listen.


Criticisms:  The ending of the song is too abrupt.  Just when you think it's time for another round, it's over.  I think Zedd could have found a better way to let us down.  He gets us hooked and then, blam!  No more soup for you!  Second and final, is the siren halfway through the song.  Just did not do it for me and kind of train-wrecks you mental mindset.


Spectrum can be found on Beatport.com or on iTunes.  Also, checkout a great teaser video of Zedd teaming up with Skrillex to remix "Don't Slam the Cinema".


Cheers!

Skrillex Matures with "Bangarang".

Sonny John Moore a.k.a Skrillex, the sole member of the band takes the next step with his latest EP "Bangarang".  Though Bangarang overall is not as hard-hitting as "My Name is Skrillex", and "Monsters...", the eight tracks show Moore's continuing maturity with cleaner sequences and even an ambient track.
Moore continues his use with the unique spliced Transformers vocals and the unforgettable style of dubstep that propelled him to become a force to be reckoned with, and also earned him three, yes three Grammys!
Skrillex is breaking the Electronic genre mold that is too often plagued with the plethora of wanabe DJs spewing out the same cookie cutter progressions.  Most promising electronic artists start with an album that has their signature fresh style.  Unfortunately, too many of them then jump on the bandwagon and do nothing but remix others' works.  Not Skrillex!
Bangarang is refined and clean.  While "Scary Monsters" shook your body to the core with super-low frequencies and mash-up splices, Banarang removes much of the un-cohesive  noise and gets to the meat of what makes Electronica/Dubstep the great new Genre that it is today.
The Break-Down:

• 8 tracks
• Bangarang EP originally released on BeatPort.
• My favorites (in order);  (7) - Summit (Feat. Ellie Goulding), (2) - Bangarang (Feat. Sirah),  (6) - Kyoto (Feat. Sirah),

Truly surprising is "Summit", featuring Ellie Goulding.  For you die-hard Dubstep fans Summit is not going to get your blood pumping.  This 140bps song is true ambient and minimalist.  Comprising of a rich deep 4th-note base rythm, it's accompanied with some simple voice samples and even full-length sentence samples from Ellie Goulding (yes Dubstep with full sentence vocals).  Since I'm a sucker for Ambient, it's my top pick.  It's because of this track it shows Skrillex is going to keep reinventing his sound and keeping the fans coming back for more.

Up next is the self-titled "Bangarang" track.  Starting with some cool guitar rifts, it quickly kicks into high-gear with Skrillex's signature mash-up samples and hard distorted base synths.  Complementing this track, and others in Bangarang, are vocals from Sirah.  Sirah is an Indie rapper that is best visually described by taking Skrillex's half-shaved hair cut and mating it with a younger burnette Lady Gaga (minus the meat suit). Keep your eye on Sirah.  Although most times Electronica does not need vocals to make a good song, Sirah is glue to Bangarang.  Dubstep fans will find themselves playing this track over and over and over...

Finally, "Kyoto".  It intros with Adam Freeland-style beats and a good rhythm.  Then Sirah gives Skrillex the go ahead to bitch-slap their listeners with the lows, the highs and everything in between.  Sirah breaks in the middle of the song with her rhymes  It's what you love!

Skrillex did collaborate with the Doors on "Breakn' A Sweat".  Although a video was made for it, I believe Moore could have done better on this one.  It would be a great track without the Doors.  Just not a big fan of the Doors...  (Sorry Toby).

Overall, if you like Dubstep don't hesitate to get this album.  And remember, settle for nothing less than some good in-ear headphones or a really good audio system with crazy subs when listening to this.  Enjoy!