Skrillex – Bangarang EP

After my latest post about Skrillex, he transformed into massive superstar, one of the most recognizable faces of North American dubstep explosion. His latest EP “Bangarang“, follows his highly successful “My Name Is Skrillex“, “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” and “More Monsters and Sprites” in truly spectacular fashion with more interesting tracks and great collaborations.

Seven track EP was released for download on Beatport on December 23, 2011, was made available from other music download sites like iTunes and Amazon on December 27, 2011, and will be physically released on January 24, 2012. The EP is a collection of songs that had all been previously played live (with the exception of “Right On Time“) during the Mothership tour, which ended a week before the release of the EP.

On this EP Skirllex created another two tracks together with Sirah “Bangarang” and “Kyoto“, “The Devil’s Den” was produced together with Wolfgang Gartner, “Right On Time” with 12th Planet & Kill The Noise, and “Summit” with Ellie Goulding. The song “Breakn’ A Sweat” was produced as a collaboration between Skrillex and The Doors, made for the music documentary “Re:Generation”.

Another latest masterpieces from Skrilex include his amazing remix of Avicii “Levels” (Dance Energy Selected), half a dozen another remixes for La Roux, Benny Benassi, Rob Zombie, Lady Gaga, Nero, SebastiAn, Robyn and Damian Marley, collaborations with Foreign Beggars “Still Gettin It“, Kaskade “Lick It” and Knife Party “Zoology“. And don’t forget about his collaboration with American metal band KoЯn, he produced two tracks – “Get Up” and “Narcissistic Cannibal” – for their tenth studio album “The Path of Totality” (released on December 2, 2011 in Europe and December 6, 2011 in the US).

Knife Party

Knife Party is a side project of two members of Australian drumandbass band Pendulum: Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen. They experiment with more modern, exploding dance music genres – moombahton, dubstep, electro, and house, but you still can hear some echoes of typical Pendulum sound.

In recent months you could hear their genre-crossing tracks in different radio shows and mixes (for example on Essential mix live from Space club in Ibiza). And finally on 12 December 2011 they released first EP “100 % No Modern Talking“. The name of the EP “100% No Modern Talking” is a reference to a waveform in Native Instruments’ wavetable-based software synthesizer, Massive, called Modern Talking. It features four tracks: “Internet Friends” (my favorite Facebook psycho story, “Dance Energy Selected”) “Destroy Them With Lazers,” “Tourniquet,” and “Fire Hive“. The EP originally had a track called “Back to the Z-List”, but was replaced by “Destroy Them With Lazers” as they no longer liked that song. It was released digitally through Pendulum’s record label, EarStorm, as a free download from their official website and Facebook, as well as being able to buy on iTunes and Beatport.

Before that Knife Party released some great remixes – on Swedish House Mafia‘s single “Save The World,” which was released on 10 June 2011, Nero‘s single “Crush On You,” which was released on 13 October 2011 and, finally, of “Unison” by Porter Robinson which was released on 19 October 2011 on his debut EP, “Spitfire“, released on OWSLA, Skrillex’s label.

In recent Knife Party mixes you can hear some new tracks “The Box“, “Suffer” (which reminded me the most of Pendulum oldschool sound), “Intro (Where’s the Bloody Knife Party?)” and some great collaboration with Mistajam “Until They Kick Us Out” and Skrillex “Zoology“.

Latest work of Knife Party is collaboration with mighty Swedish House Mafia “Antidote“. And what is even better, this track has two different music videos – “Clean” version and great movie/video game like “Explicit” version.

Of course, as the project name suggests, you  can see Knife Party live in some great parties, especially here in UK – Ministry Of Sound in London on 21 January 2012, and The Junction in Cambridge on 04 February 2012. Latest Knife Party news you can receive through their Facebook and Twitter, music you can listen and even download for free on their SoundCloud.

Swedish House Mafia vs Knife Party – Antidote (Clean)

Swedish House Mafia vs Knife Party – Antidote (Explicit)

Skream

Skream (born Oliver Dene Jones in West Wickham, Bromley, London on 1 June 1986) is a dubstep producer based in Croydon. One of dubstep’s first and most prominent producers, he has played an important role in the genre’s development.

As a teenager, Jones worked at Big Apple Records, a Croydon-based record store that was at the center of the early dubstep scene; even prior to this, Jones had become acquainted with Hatcha, another dubstep pioneer, because Jones’ brother worked on an adjacent floor in Big Apple Records. As a result of this encounter, Hatcha was the first DJ to play Skream dubplates.

Jones began producing music at the age of 15 using FruityLoops and claims to now have roughly 800 songs in varying stages of development. Skream’s early productions were often with another alumnus of Big Apple, Benga, and are of a decidedly darker and less melodic nature than later releases. As dubstep gained notice from conventional media such as The Guardian and Pitchfork Media, Jones’ music started to take on a more melodic sound; less overtly influenced by the darker, UK garage influenced sounds of early dubstep artists with dub, house, and even jazz influences instead.

The 2005 Skream track “Midnight Request Line” has been described as “dubstep’s most recognizable crossover hit,” and has been praised by producers as diverse as grime producer Wiley, and minimal techno producer Ricardo Villalobos. The key change in the chorus, which The Wire has described as “an epic change of key and tempo that recalls the classicist mannerisms of Derrick May,” has been credited as being a key factor in the evolution of a more melodic sound in the dubstep genre.

Skream has released records on a variety of UK record labels, such as Tempa, Tectonic, and Big Apple Records, including a self-titled album “Skream!” which was released in 2006 on the Tempa label. He collaborated with Benga, Niall Henshaw (otherwise known as Spectrum), Cluekid, Distance, Hijack, Loefah, Warrior Queen, Freckles, D Bridge, JME and many others musicians and vocalists. Since 2006 he produced 5 volumes of his “Skreamizm” EP.

In 2009, he rose to further prominence when his remix of “In for the Kill” by La Roux became firstly an underground hit in the early part of the year before bursting onto the mainstream, being used in promotional material for the 2010 video game Bayonetta and was featured in an episode titled “Hair” on the hit HBO series Entourage. Skream also created great remixes for Bat For Lashes, Toddla T, Klaxons, Dave Gahan, Chromeo, DJ Zinc, Donaeo, Lethal Bizzle, Digital Mystikz and Katy B.

In the summer of 2010, Skream released his second full-length album “Outside the Box“. He also making records as a part of Magnetic Man, a live electronic music project consisting of dubstep producers and DJs Skream, Benga and Artwork. From January 2011, Skream, along with Benga, will be replacing Alex Metric in his ‘In New DJ’s We Trust’ slot on BBC Radio 1.

Latest hits from Skream include his collaboration with Example “”Shot Yourself In The Foot Again” and new great megahit remix of Casssius “I Love U So” which recently became Essential New Tune in Pete Tong’s Radio 1 show Essential Selection.

Skream – Midnight Request Line

Skream – Funkanomika

La Roux – In For The Kill (Skream Remix)

Skream & Example – Shot Yourself In The Foot Again

Cassius – I Love You So (Skream remix)

Skrillex

Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), professionally known as Skrillex, is an American electronic musician from Los Angeles, California.

After moving to San Francisco from Los Angeles when he was nine, Moore received his first guitar, which he would write songs on throughout his childhood. At age 12, Moore’s family moved back to Los Angeles, where he started attending local concerts. Moore started a street punk band called The Riots when he was 13, along with friends he met at these concerts. His second band, Hazel-rah, experimented with a more ambient rock sound. He was also in the band At Risk before he joined From First to Last at age 16.

During his time in From First To Last he released two albums – “Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Body Count” in 2004 and “Heroine” in 2006. With high record sales, the band found themselves part of many successful tours, until Moore started suffering vocal problems, causing the band to resign from several tours. After going through a successful surgical procedure, on February 27, 2007, Moore announced he had left From First to Last to pursue a solo career.

He then launched a Myspace page displaying three demos (“Signal“, “Equinox“, and “Glow Worm“). This led to Moore’s first performance since his leaving From First to Last. On April 7, 2007, alongside harpist Carol Robbins. After recruiting a new band lineup, Moore toured North America on the Alternative Press Tour, supporting bands such as All Time Low and The Rocket Summer, and appeared on the cover of Alternative Press’ annual 100 Bands You Need to Know issue. During this tour Moore’s line-up consisted of Sean Friday on drums, Christopher Null on guitar, and Aaron Rothe on keyboards.

In June 2008, Moore went into recording for his debut album, titled “Bells“, alongside producer Noah Shain. Although no official statement has been given regarding the album, Moore has been reported in interviews and at events saying “Bells” will no longer be released. On April 7, 2009, he released “Gypsyhook EP“, a digital EP, which featured three songs and four remixes. Also included was a Japanese version of “Mora” entitled “Kai Sui”.

In 2008, Moore began DJing under the alias Skrillex at clubs in the Los Angeles area. On June 7, 2010, Moore released his official Skrillex debut EP, “My Name is Skrillex” as a free download. In the summer of 2010, Moore provided programming and vocals for English metalcore band Bring Me the Horizon on their third studio album “There Is a Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let’s Keep It a Secret“. Later in the year, Sonny began a nationwide tour with Deadmau5 after being signed to mau5trap recordings and released his second EP “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” on 25 October 2010, which became huge hit and dominated the charts with tracks “Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites“, “Kill Everybody” and “Weekends“.

Before joining the Mau5trap label, Moore had been signed to both Atlantic and Interscope records to produce a variety of dance remixes for some of the biggest names in the business, including Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. Under name Skrillex he also remixed Black Eyed Peas “Rock That Body”,  La Roux “In For The Kill”, Bring Me The Horizon, Casxio, Frida Gold, The All-American Rejects and Twin Atlantic.

Chasing Shadows

Chasing Shadows is dubstep project of Joe Erskine & Luca Gulotta from Bristol/London, UK,  who are often noted for their menacing signature sound.

They came to prominence in 2009 when their dark production style broke through massive remix of Damian Marley “It Was Written“. They got signed by H.E.N.C.H Recordings, where they started with release of “Ill / Amirah” and followed by “Dr Sin / The End” receiving heavy support from Mary Anne Hobbs, Pendulum, Plastician and others.

In 2010 they released rework of Depeche Mode classic “Dream On“, remixes of Laid Back “Red“, Foreign Beggars “Typhoon“, Master Shortie “Daydream” and their own “Odyssey“. And in December 2010 the remix of Chasing Shadow track “Amirah” from breakbeat legend Elite Force topped Beatport breaks chart.

Chasing Shadows – Dr Sin

Chasing Shadows – Amirah

Chasing Shadows – Amirah (Elite Force Revamp)

Chasing Shadows – Dr Sin