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!

Underworld Barks Back!

The British electronic band does it yet again! On September 2nd Underworld release their latest album titled "Barking". Before they graced us with their full album, they made available their "Always Loved a Film" live single. After listening to their single I knew the new album would not disappoint.

Barking keeps with Underworld's traditional 4th-note beats (Always Loved a Film, Grace, Diamond Jigsaw) and their periodic foray into the ambient (Louisiana, Bird) and just plain weird. Although most of their music uses the simplest 4th-note beats, Karl Hyde's voice and vocoder synths have always been the true instrument in Underworlds continued success.

With Barking, they coordinated efforts on the Scribble track with artist High Contrast. High Contrast is known for his deep-base and breakbeat techniques. Although I don't personally care for High Contrast's regular music, both groups put together a masterpiece with Scribble.

Their Louisiana track brings you from the typical glowstick mindset down to a calm place to relax. The foundation of Louisiana has a simple and calming piano arpeggio with Karl's vocals. No techno on this track, just simple goodness.

The deluxe version of Barking (available via iTunes) includes videos for most tracks. If you are an Underworld fan, you are accustom to their homemade music videos. The videos included in Barking range from the truely briliant originality and simplicity to the downright strange. My favorite is Scribble. It has Karl Hyde and his partner Rick Smith at the wheel, driving on a the highway with the camera only facing Karl. Karl jams to the beat in the car while crazy tie-die video affects overlay the scene. It's simple but it get's your heart pounding.

Overall, I rank Barking as Underworld's #2 best album so far (#1 is still Beacoupe Fish in my mind). The only negative thing I can say about the album is some songs seem to have the treble adjustments too low, so you may have to adjust for yourself if an EQ is available. Enjoy!