[Album Review] Muzzy - The Takeover EP

I've known of the Monstercat label for a while now; artists like Stephen Walking, Rogue, and Ephixa. But only recently have I started to go into their entire catalogue of artists - Droptek, 7 Minutes Dead, and others.

For now, I'm taking a look at Muzzy - drum and bass phenom. His style really brings me back to classic drum and bass sounds, though not quite jungle. In comparison, Muzzy's sound is more modernized and polished, and now that he's released his The Takeover EP, I'm very excited to see what he has coming next.



Fortunately, we have been provided some insight into the motivations behind each of the tracks on his new EP.

Each track has a different reasoning behind it, while still sounding relatively thematic - and that's extremely important when defining your sound as a producer. 'Draining Atlantic,' for instance, has a very ethereal feel to it, alluding to longing and interrupted love. On the other hand, as Muzzy himself wrote, 'The Phantom' was written with High Maintenance as a track that would go down well live. With a drop that immediately puts emphasis on the high synths and rolling bass line, it's got a quality jump-up feel to it. 'The Phantom' wouldn't be out of place, at all, in a Chase & Status or Drumsound & Bassline Smith set. Even the crowd samples in the background give it a live set feel.

Other tracks 'Timberwolf' and 'Rave Through The Apocalypse' draw on more natural themes. Plenty of, relatively, natural sounds - drums, synths - with a dark and demented bass line give 'Timberwolf' a more worldwide quality. As Muzzy puts it, "...kinda how I would imagine flying across the globe would feel like." Finally, 'Rave Through The Apocalypse,' Muzzy says, is influenced by his love for horror/thriller film scores (not unlike Figure). The snares hit noticeably harder; the melody is more subtle, beneath the surface; the vocal samples are foreboding and terrifying. With the build-up, you get the sense that something terrible is about to happen; and I believe that's what's most important in a horror score - that feeling of imminent danger. So for that, at least, Muzzy has hit the nail on the head.

What I look for in each of the artists and albums that I review are talent and room to grow, and that's no different with Muzzy. If this is the best he's got, I'd be very disappointed, because there's no way he doesn't have more up his sleeve. For what it's worth, I'd love to hear a whole hour set from the man featuring his favorite drum and bass tracks - at the very least, I'd get an hour of Muzzy.

[Album Review] Clyde Machine - Je Peux. EP

Joseph Greene, aka Clyde Machine, is another one of those producers whom I've been following, thanks to reddit, for almost a year and a half. Since his first release, Now Drop The Bass, I've been keeping tabs on him and checking out his SoundCloud or Facebook whenever he has some new material. His style in the past has been largely dubstep and heavily bass-centric. This newest release, however, really gets me excited. My favorite thing in the world is seeing a producer surpass his past accomplishments, and that's exactly what Clyde Machine has done here.

Je Peux. EP is a conceptual masterstroke. The whole concept behind it is available through the Clyde Machine Facebook page, but I'll try to summarize it here -

In the rain, a man faces his own emotions - doubt, emptiness, sorrow - and in the process is swept up by the environment around him. Rain is pattering down, and it seems like it will never let up. The only thing keeping him from complete desolation is his own rationality - he looks toward the future. As he does, he thinks less of the past and is able to see past the clouds toward a horizon that looks just a little less bleak. He was alone. He is now just an individual. He was desolate. He is now hopeful. He does not forget the past; he yearns for the future.

Reading the concept and listening to the EP, it's wonderful how accurately they portray each other. I can't even really begin to describe the feelings that I get when I listen to it - Greene has translated emotion into music so acutely that it astounds me. For one, Greene's production has soared in quality. The depth of the bass and the timbre of the drums, how real they sound, makes everything about this EP sparkle. These are tracks that you would listen to when you want to make something beautiful. Second, there is real life embedded in the very heart of this release. It is the direct result of an event in the producer's life - not a run-of-the-mill "club banger."

The tracks - I Can. I Don't Want You To Go. When It Rains In The Night. - form such a wonderful sound that I find it's something that I'm going to be coming back to again and again in the future, for a long time.

Please support Clyde Machine by visiting his -

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Artist Intro: Invader!

My friend turned me onto Alejo Gonzáles, aka Invader!, in May last year when he released his Alive EP. Since then, I've been voraciously awaiting each and every track he puts out.

I believe Gonzáles' greatest strength lies in his ability to just not give a fuck, while simultaneously caring deeply about music and his fans. He regularly responds to submissions on his Facebook and often strikes up controversial conversations that lead to a greater understanding of what he's all about.

I believe there is a war waging between the side of fans who just want the next Big Room House hit like the ones that Feed Me reviewed for Beatport not too long ago. And then there's the side that desperately wants innovation in their music. The side that is tired of the same bland VSTs and synths; tired of the same directionless productions put out by label-bound DJs. I believe that Invader! is the hero that we need.

His unique spin on electro, trap, dubstep and more makes me excited whenever he posts a new track. My favorite of all time has to be his remix of Goldman - Closer.



With such a fantastic house base, Gonzáles re-imagined the track as a gritty electro banger complete with growls and snarls that would make Kill The Noise shit his pants. With the sultry sweet voice of Hayley Daviss, the track lends itself to remixing - between the bubbly breakdown and the second filthy drop, this track is a classic dancefloor banger sure to get anyone to bang their heads along. Punchy kicks and restrained use of the laser-like synths in the second half show the skill that Invader! can bring to the table when he has the right motivation.

But Gonzáles isn't all about serious business. He's also done some off-the-wall remixes of pop artists like Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus (both available for free download).




Putting his talent to making both trap and drum & bass, the Invader! name is not about avoiding disappointing fans - I really think it's about finding a way through all the bullshit that finds itself associated with EDM these days. Producers find themselves pigeon holed into a genre - I know that I've done it to acts like Camo & Krooked who came out with an absurdly out-of-character minimal album Zeitgest at the end of September.

Invader! has taken that possibility away by being unpredictable and always on top of his game. Just like the track below, when he hears something he likes, he tries it out himself (often to great effect, I might add).



What I think I like most about Invader! is how easy it is to relate to him. He's never too far removed from his fan base and always posts what he has on his mind. A lot of it is controversial and not everyone likes what he says, but it's cool that he has these feelings. He's only a year older than I am, and it's always incredible to see what everyone else is doing. There is very little about Invader! that isn't out in the open. Now, Gonzáles himself, that may be a whole other story. We'll just have to find out.

Keep in touch with Invader!, I'm sure he'll appreciate it.
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[Album Review] David Toma - Analog

Finally - I get to do some more work to promote the little guys. Just a little over two weeks ago, I did a review for Mosh. I found out about him through reddit, and that seems to be a fine place to look for new producers who want to get their music out there. Today, I'm writing about David Toma, a musician/producer from Grand Blanc, Michigan.

Toma has been writing/producing electronic music for only the past year and it looks like it's really starting to pay off. Analog is Toma's first LP, featuring chiptune and 8-bit tracks, released just earlier this week. As a beginning producer, it's difficult to really understand the way that these programs can make sounds (I assume). I've heard theories about "side-chaining" and "DAWs" and I'm nowhere close to even knowing what these things are. So when I hear something like Analog, it really reminds me that artists aren't made famous in a day. Despite producers like Xxyyxx or Madeon making it big at seventeen and eighteen, others take a little more time to blossom.

I believe the best indicator of whether a producer has the talent to make it or not is melody. If you have a fantastic sound, you can add little things like synths, drum patterns and such later. Toma has been playing piano for the past 10 years, and that sound really comes through on tracks like "Some Assembly Required" and "Not Responding." Using your strengths to your advantage is a required skill when venturing into uncharted territory.

Overall, Analog needs work. It was addressed in the original reddit post and Toma has acknowledged it (very humble, I like that already). The drums are a little repetitive and bland, and at times misplaced or distorted by synths. However, it is a highly enjoyable album to listen to. It's got some R&B, some funk, some glitch, but with an overall chippy tune. The distortion and noise added to the synths and piano really help to define that sound, and the drums are super plucky and upbeat. At just under an hour long, and with 16 awesome tracks, I can't see why you wouldn't pick Analog up and help a brother out. I see this man going places if he keeps it up. You can stream the whole album on his bandcamp below.




Also support him on Facebook // Twitter // Soundcloud

Beats Antique @ The Yost Theater

Slowly, but surely, I'm crossing off my list of venues I haven't been to. Last night was my first time at the Yost Theater in Santa Ana - and while I usually frequent the Observatory, I have to say, Yost does a great job of keeping it classy.

And last night, I got to experience another first - an Irish whiskey and ginger ale. And it was delicious.

But seriously, Beats Antique. While not the most exciting band (a la jump up or drum n bass) they put on one hell of a show. With a full live visual set up done by Obscura Digital, with effects by Ivan Landau (a filmmaker whose visual-effects credits include Æon Flux and Sin City), digital artist, Andrew Jones, and illustrator Leighton Kelly, the stage was set ablaze with energy and wonderment. If was honestly like watching a story unfold right in front of me, and that's not something I've yet seen during a live show. It's always gotta be about energy and getting the crowd moving - it was nice this time to see something completely different.


Joining Beats Antique on their tour were SORNE and ill-esha. SORNE started the night off with pure energy thanks to leading man Morgan Sorne's haunting vocals and on-stage persona. Accompanied by a DJ and percussionist, Sorne managed to interact with the crowd in a way that touched our souls directly and made us feel for him - whether it was the hypnotizing way he moved about the stage, or the shrill vocal range that he produced. With the drums came such an energy that seemed to flow through Sorne, it was clear that his music is his love child. With no pretense, he showed his full self on stage unabashedly and the crowd drank it in. They exited the stage to uproarious applause. SORNE's first album "House of Stone" is available on bandcamp for free streaming or purchase.




ill-esha came on next. I suppose I should have done my research - it surprised me when I found out that she was a she. With more than a decade of experience in the industry, ill-esha has done it all: MC, vocalist, producer, and instrumentalist. With a more downtempo feel than SORNE, she brought the feelings to a more subtle place and intrigued the crowd with her fervent singing and glitchy beats. The way she was able to divide her attention between mixing and singing was amazing - however, it left her stage presence a little lacking. There was always something she had to be doing on-stage to keep it going and it took away from her crowd interaction, and conversely, how the crowd viewed her. ill-esha was recently placed #6 on TheUntz' Top 10 Female EDM Artists.

When Beats Antique finally started playing at 10:30, the crowd could not have been any more restless. With the new live stage set up, I was extremely curious to see what kind of incredible visuals they would be throwing our way. With Tommy Cappel on drums and David Satori on guitar, violin, trumpet and synths, and Zoe Jakes dancing, it was an experience I won't soon forget.



Certain reviews (such as the one by Consequence of Sound) paint the album as having some loose ends to be tied up with Act 2. But I think that any loose ends have been tied up by witnessing the live show. I believe that this album was meant to be viewed as much as listened to. Listening to "Doors of Destiny," without seeing Zoe snatch someone out of the audience to pick a door and seeing a giant, inflatable demon come out of nowhere, no wonder it seems out of place. The animations were spot on, with the installation including pentagonal shapes resembling houses that could hold either animated eyes or actual homes. With spectacle a main concern, Satori took to being the more animated of the duo and had a myriad of head ornaments that he would don throughout the show. And lest we forget the amazing dancing from Zoe Jakes, whose belly dancing almost stole the show (as well as all of her costumes).

The experience continues tonight in San Diego and tomorrow here in Los Angeles at one of my favorite spots, The Fonda Theater. If I didn't already have plans, I would seriously consider seeing them again - that good.

HARD Day of the Dead 2013

This past weekend, HARD Presents put on their second annual Day of the Dead festival near downtown Los Angeles. While the talent wasn't exactly anything new for HARD (repeat acts included Skrillex, Calvin Harris, and Boys Noize) the music definitely was. With a few tweaks in stage production and lighting, this year's Day of the Dead set a huge precedent for future festivals in Los Angeles.

Since the departure of the Electric Daisy Carnival from Los Angeles three years ago, festivals have been keeping to a one-day format, but HARD switched it back up with two-day festivals for HARD Summer & Day of the Dead. Of course, this increases profits and sales for the successful event promotion staff, but it also brings in a lot more talent. With an extra ~12 hours of music, there can be up to 48 additional producers (one per hour per four stages - a generous estimate).

It was quite obvious to those who attended last year's Day of the Dead that HARD is evolving. Aside from switching the name from the previous "Haunted Mansion," they are attempting to appeal to a wider range of listeners with a Discotheque Stage as well as an Underground Stage. Event goers last year might also remember the metal "awning" that covered the HARD-er stage - that was nixed for this year. In my opinion, that was definitely due to too many people climbing on it last year, which had producers Kill The Noise and Knife Party having to stop their sets mid-track to yell at stupid kids to get down.

The Underground stage was just as small as last year, and the Discotheque got a small upgrade in lighting, especially since there was such a large amount of huge names playing - Skream, Giorgio Moroder, Kavinsky (Live) and Masters At Work. The biggest upgrades came in the HARD-er stage and HARD stage. Aside from having the metal scaffolding removed, the HARD-er stage got wider with 4 new LED screens (two per side), at a 90 degree angle; also a couple of large (unfortunately non-animatronic) skeletons hung from the top of the stage, one on each side. While the production for the HARD-er stage expanded outward at ground level, the HARD stage went airborne. A thin (relatively) LED strip made its way from the top of the stage around to about parallel with the sound booth - about 150 feet back. On top of each side of the strip were three flame cannons that burst to life with any huge drop, along with one cannon on top of the sound booth.

As for the talent, I did my best as only one man to see as many acts as possible - but with producers like Nero and Skrillex, it made it hard to visit any other acts. Saturday, I made it to - Doorly, Kastle, Dusky, Salva, TOKiMONSTA, Maxim, Zeds Dead, Kavinsky, Nero, and Skrillex. Of Saturday, these are the results:

• Biggest Let-Down: Maxim. It was my fault for expecting a member of The Prodigy to play similar to The Prodigy by himself. Playing mostly UK hip-hop and trap, he fell short of the rager that I was expecting.
• Biggest Surprise: Salva. I had never heard of him until I saw him, and was immediately impressed. Though he played hip-hop and trap, genres I'm not a huge fan of at festivals due to the crowds they draw, his live mixing and charisma on-stage somehow made everything sound much better. All of that, and an excellent tracklist made him a pleasant surprise for me.
• Best of the night: Nero. Having seen Nero five times before, never seeing the duo together, this night was especially special. Playing only original tracks and their own remixes, including an appearance by vocalist Alana Watson, Nero put on an incredible performance. The lighting guys had all the right colors and timing to make every drop, build up, and break down as epic as possible.
• Best moment of the night: Nero dropping The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army. Completely unexpected considering the tracklist so far, they played it to near original state, just adding a massive amount of bass. And it was glorious.

With my body in shambles, I retreated home at midnight on Saturday to recoup and come back the next day. The second day was much less eventful, only arriving at 7 p.m., I headed straight for Skream. Known as one of the first producers to spearhead dubstep culture, his set at the Discotheque was uniquely subdued and way more funky. Assisted by guest MC Mala, Skream went disco, proving that he's certainly not a one-trick-pony. Next up was another first time for me, Pretty Lights. Unfortunately separated from his live band, he still put on one hell of a show, probably my second favorite of the weekend. The crowd felt the chill vibes and grooved along to the jazzy, glitchy beats. The lighting technicians, again, did not let me down as they put on a hell of a light show for every drop and groove. And then just as Pretty Lights signed off, Deadmau5 was just getting ready to go on at the HARD stage. Unfortunately, the crowd was just too massive to get a good spot and I was stranded behind the sound booth with nary a line of sight to the ear-clad Canadian. I stayed for as long as I could muster, while he threw out classics like 'FML' and 'Moar Ghosts n Stuff,' but ultimately left about a half hour before the festival finished.

Funny enough, I passed Paper Diamond on the way out closing out the HARD-er stage. Just this summer at HARD Summer he only had a 3 p.m. timeslot. Awesome to see what a producer can accomplish in just a few short months.

All in all, I would call Day of the Dead a massive success and a huge step in the right direction for festivals in Los Angeles. Both nights, security took no longer than 20 minutes and it was hassle-free all the way. Food prices notwithstanding, the team at HARD did a fantastic job throwing the biggest party of the Halloween season. I'm definitely looking forward to what they have to show us next year.

[Album Review] Mosh - Empire

I hope everyone had an awesome Halloween! October is officially over, but there's still lots to talk about.

Alberta-native Adam Bignell AKA Mosh released his second LP titled Empire two days ago. Supported heavily by the /r/electronicmusic community on reddit, Bignell was finally able to release the album and it has already received amazing reviews from dozens on users, even sparking a subsequent AMA from the producer.

One of the traits that sets Bignell apart (aside from not having the backing of a major label behind him) is his sincerity - every track sounds utterly polished, and it is completely obvious how much time went into the production. Empire has a fantastic Eastern theme throughout and Bignell does a fantastic job of merging the ancient-esque sounds of Japan and China with modern electronic synths and rhythms. From his AMA on reddit -

I tried to represent power with women because I wanted to simultaneously make reference to power without "masculine brawn". A sort of psychological, contextual power that I feel a woman conveys better.

And I've just always adored eastern music. The scales and techniques they use are gorgeous and feel very serious while being down to earth. I find traditional western music feels more... snobby (not to say it's bad. But much of the classical world has a very high class feeling)? Where traditional chinese/japanese music feels very human.

Aside from the obvious club banger "Komodo," Bignell tries his hand with hip-hop in "Loud" and absolutely kills it. Great use of featured artists and a fantastic beat make the track one of the best on the album. "Metrapol" has already been slated for a music video to follow up to "McQueen" from Bignell's first album, Monarchy. However, my personal favorite track from the album is, undoubtedly, "Zodiac Overdrive." I love the guitar riffs and the gritty sounds right before it drops the bass and I find myself just banging my head in my room, all alone. "Shaolin" and "Year of the Dragon" are fantastic examples of how eastern music can be reworked to produce faux-cinematic masterpieces. In fact, a lot of tracks on the album are highly reminiscent of oft-masked electro producer Danger.




The album changes tempos and rhythms seamlessly and it just plain works. It's a fantastic accomplishment. I found myself thinking I was in Tron, if it were set in medieval Japan. In fact, Bignell mentioned in his AMA that he would really love to do a big film score - so now all we have to do it wait. Also, don't forget - this album is "Pay What You Want"! So it's free, if you'd like, but I would really recommend supporting the man that's helping to get your groove on, ya hear?

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