Just about everyone these days seems to want to have their say about Skrillex. And, arguably with good reason - in the past 18 months, the former First to Last emo vocalist has managed a quite staggering set of achievements – with 4 EPs under his belt, on the mau5trap and Big Beat labels, the 23 year-old has not only embarked on a mammoth international tour, jumped straight to number 19 on the Top 100 DJs list (amid yet another massive controversy), but has also collaborated with huge names across the EDM industry, among them Benny Benassi, Nero, Kaskade, Knife Party and Avicii, as well as names like KoRn, Rob Zombie, Lady Gaga and Ellie Goulding. Sonny Moore has not only launched his own record label, OWSLA, which seems to be producing some of the most consistently high-quality releases from new talent in the scene, but he has also effectively spawned his own, inimitable sound, being dubbed as ‘brostep’ for lack of a better description, a high-energy collision between dubstep, electro house and glitch, featuring massively distorted vocal samples, explosive basslines and huge synth hooks.
Inevitably, this has caused one of the biggest divisions in
recent dance music history, with Skrillex’s online “haters” piling on abuse,
while his fans loyally defend their idol. It’s an argument which is going
nowhere –as much as every magazine wants to write an article about Skrillex
being “the most hated man in dubstep” or pondering just how the young sensation
has come to fame, there will also be argument. He is very much the “marmite” of
music, either loved or hated, with very little in between. Regardless of which
side you fall on this debate, it is undeniable that Skrillex is going places –
and fast.
And now, at last, his new EP, Bangarang has dropped, after various setbacks. Many fans will
remember how Sonny’s hard drives were stolen from a hotel in Milan earlier this
year, meaning that his forecasted artist EP was no longer possible, and instead
a remix EP, More Monsters and Sprites, was released. Admittedly, this contained First of the Year (Equinox), which has
been one of his most successful tracks, with his music video racking up over 25
million hits on YouTube since its release 4 months ago. Nonetheless, many fans
felt disappointed, some to the extent that numerous death threats were being
launched against whoever stole the hard drives. Fortunately, Bangarang is here at last, and full of brand
new tracks. Whether it fully makes up for the lost tracks is debatable – but there’s
plenty to get excited about here.
Unfortunately, for UK-based fans, Big Beat recordings have
made the decision that the EP will be limited to US fans only. At present, the
only way to legally obtain it is via a workaround using the old Flash version
of the Beatport site, but at £13.93 for 320kbps MP3s, or the frankly astonishing
price of £21.98 for high quality WAV versions, many fans will feel hard done by,
even those keen to help support an upcoming artist. Hopefully soon we will see
a price reduction and wider geographic distribution, as well as an iTunes
release – back when the original My Name
Is Skrillex EP dropped, the release was available for free, and Sonny seems
to be a big advocate of making his music as widely available as he can – on his
Facebook, he even goes as far as to encourage his fans to pirate it if they can’t
afford it.
Pricing aside, Bangarang
shows its true colours within moments. The opening track, Right In, thunders through choppy vocal
edits and grinding bass, briefly widening out with sparkling synths reminiscent
of With You Friends. The whole EP shows
far more attention to synths and hooks than any of his previous work, as well
as a host of new collaborations.
The EP’s title track, Bangarang,
was leaked online some weeks ago, but chugs along at a comparatively
sedately 110bpm. Those familiar with Skrillex’s Mortal Kombat remix, Reptile may well find this track
familiar – with distorted vocals from Sirah, whose name last appeared on the My Name Is Skrillex release, and harsh
synths, this track is sadly probably the EP’s weakest point, with only a couple
of loops making up its 3.35 runtime, which only see any variation with some
filters towards the end.
The EP’s third track is another born of tremendous
controversy. Above & Beyond described 2011 as the year that the notion of
genre in EDM seemed to collapse completely, and Skrillex’s work with the
remaining members of ‘The Doors’ certainly seems to support their point.
Another project which every internet music reviewer wanted to chip in their two
cents on, Breakin’ a Sweat is
nonetheless a huge tune, bursting at the seams with organ sounds and
clap-driven rhythms, quoting Light My
Fire somewhere along the line too.
After that slightly
more gentle collaboration, the EP takes a decidedly more menacing route. Even
from the tracklist, it becomes clear to the listener that frightening things
are about to happen. The Devil’s Den is
Skrillex’s collaboration with Wolfgang Gartner, another electro house prodigy making
a name for himself this year, with his devastating album ‘Weekend In America’.
From the opening hook, this track is clearly a monster, showcasing Wolfgang’s
fearsome synth style, before descending into absolute mayhem 30 seconds in.
Before long, the track opens out with Skrillex’s signature breakdowns and some
of the grimiest vocal mods since Noisia remixed Painkiller – this messy electro house tune will inevitably produce
huge results on dancefloors worldwide.
Right On Time is
another collaboration, this time with dubstep heavyweight 12th Planet
and OWSLA label-mate Kill the Noise. The sound, set at 140bpm veers more into
glitch territory, with long builds and stuttered vocals more reminiscent of
KOAN Sound – another useful tool for the DJ arsenal, to add a grimy technical
sound to a dubstep mix.
Another track which will be familiar to Skrillex fans is Ruffneck Bass, which was released
earlier in the year under the guise of ‘Flex’ and ‘Full Flex’ variations, which
sadly were quite different from the original mix, which was leaked on the
internet some time ago, presumably from the stolen hard drives. Nonetheless, Ruffneck Bass has been driving crowds
insane at his live sets for some months, and now, it’s back – in the form of
another track with Sirah, this time called Kyoto.
With manic sliced-up vocal samples in the initial build-up, and a breakdown
directly from Ruffneck bass, some fans may feel a bit disappointed with Sirah’s
yell of “Skrill, drop it hard” on the drop, rather than the legendary “Are you
ready for the ruffneck bass?”. Her predictable vocals on the later stage of the track also
feel somewhat superfluous – whether we will ever see the original mix of
Ruffneck Bass is debatable, but at least this version delivers a lot of the
features of the hard-hitting original, combined with some fresh new synths,
which lend the track something of an Eastern feel.
Finally, the EP comes to a close with Summit, featuring Ellie Goulding, whose synthpop origins set her up
well for her more recent work with dubstep artists. This track feels far more
laid-back than most of the album, focussing on gorgeous progressive synths and
Ellie’s vocals, with a mood reminiscent of With
You Friends. Tracks like this remind us of Sonny’s emo origins, but here’s
hoping we see more work like this – Summit
is a stunning track, and rounds off the EP fantastically, easing the
listener back after the six frantic tracks before it.
So, to round it off – this EP will inevitably bring even
more controversy out, dividing opinions left, right and centre. But for those
who enjoy electro house, or indeed ‘brostep’, this album has a lot to offer –
with devastating tunes like The Devil’s
Den, and the stunning Summit,
this one is definitely worth a listen to. What it won’t do is change many
opinions of Skrillex’s haters – but for the rest, give it a try, if only for the
Ellie Goulding collaboration. Bangarang well
and truly hammers home that Skrillex is one of the biggest names in electronic
music today, and before long could well be threatening the long-established
heroes of the scene.
Rating – 4.5/5
