Listening to the radio one afternoon on my way home from church, I cranked the volume when a mystery song caught my ear. Philip, my brother, was in the car with me that day in 2005 and we were listening to my favorite St. Louis station – 89.1 FM The Wood. On the weekends, the music flows with little interruption and without any sort of description of the songs. It’s also non-commercial which means they play songs that don’t hit the Top 40 and verge on the obscure. So there we were, cranking this song – full of harmony but sounding like a single voice, void of accompanying instruments yet not lacking in texture. It rang in our ears and resonated in our souls and once it ended we NEEDED to hear it again. But how? Who was it? Where would we find it? Ah yes, the wonders of Google and iTunes. I’m not sure where we went first, but Philip brilliantly thought it could fit the electronic genre since the vocals clearly had been electronically manipulated. So we went to the top downloads in the Electronic genre and BINGO! There it was: Imogen Heap “Hide and Seek.”
Confession time: until then, I had little to no respect for electronica. Okay so maybe that’s not a surprising confession. However, in the past several years my ears have adjusted to the digital age of sampling, electronic manipulation, and recorded music’s electronic additions thanks to computer-produced sound. This steadily brought a producer’s job to the forefront and challenged his or her work with the newest technology. All recorded music has become “electronic.”
An attractive feature of electronic music and what keeps me coming back for more is the empowering tools that allow a solo or duo to have a full sound – all woven together in an electronic tapestry. Take Andrew Bird for example – his live music takes on much the same electronic elements as do others who use samples. Imogen Heap weaves her songs live on stage, piling loop after loop and fits them in just the right rhythm and place.
Along with the new introductions to electronic artists, one of my old favorites put out a surprise electronic album: Derek Webb. Today, Thursday February 25, 2010 ONLY you can get a FREE download at NoiseTrade.com/ of his new album Stockholm Syndrome. Check it out, seriously. A lot of hype that gradually produced doubt accompanied it’s release. The relevance of its release is doubtless for me and I listen to it more than any of his past work. Going back to his previous record The Ringing Bell I can continue to understand Webb’s growth and musical trajectory. With the release of Stockholm Syndrome, Webb also released the song stems for fans and musicians to remix and mashup on a site called SoundCloud- a hosting site for remixes, electronic sample sharing, and a place for artists of all professions to communicate and critique. girltalk is the best example I can give for an artist/producer who takes dozens of song – new and old and mashes them together in insanely imaginative ways. [note: It would be another entry to discuss the role of a dj vs. producer. I'm purposely leaving out the dj/MC which uses sampling and mashing by definition] 
I believe that more self-produced artists like Webb & Heap are using the ease of file sharing and inexpensive mixing software to encourage creativity among fans, allowing an almost conversational give and take of music. During SILVERDOCS 2009, I saw the documentary RIP: A Remix Manifesto which furthered my education of the issues behind mashups, music downloads and the question of freedom in media exchange and copyrights. The film goes beyond music and encouraged viewer participation through video remixing. In the end, there can be collaborative, mutually-supportive peace between artist and downloader or an intense – often money-driven – power war.
Back to the music… one critical turning point in my music listening was when I started subscribing to the KEXP Song of the Day Podcast. This (FREE!) daily bit of current and sometimes pre-released music accompanied by ablog gives context and information. Bell’s song “Housefire” was one of those tunes that eased my ears into more electronic music. Instead of hearing meaningless beeps & taps, I began to hear layers of complex rhythms and harmonies. Passion Pit was the next group to REALLY catch my attention. Let me tell you, I fell head over heels and was fully convinced that if their song “Sleepyhead” could be a person – a man – I would marry him. Ironically, or not, Passion Pit became one of Paste Magazine’s “Best of What’s Next” bands and caught the attention of NPR’s All Songs Considered as well as festivals & listeners around the country in 2008. They have a pop-driven sound. Similarly, Bon Iver gave me a taste of simpler self-produced music that verges on electronic with a few affected tracks such as “Woods” which is reminiscent of Imogen Heaps’ “Hide and Seek”… and we’ve come full circle. Before I let you go, just wanted to share a list of songs in my iTunes library & final thoughts.
25 Top picks for KEXP’s Song of the Day electronic songs:
- Dan Deacon “Paddling Ghost” (5/19/09)
- Bon Iver “Skinny Love” (3/31/09)
- The Arch Cupcake “Rubix Dude” (5/11/08 )
- Booka Shade “Charlotte” (7/15/08)
- The Dodos “Fools” (7/21/08 )
- El Ten Eleven “Jumping Frenchmen of Maine” (4/14/09)
- Faunts “Alarmed/Lights” (4/1/09)
- High Places “Head Spins” (10/9/08)
- High Places “From Stardust to Sentience” (11/20/08)
- Le Loup “Beach Town” (10/19/09)
- Kinky “Fuego En La Fabrica” (3/3/09)
- Lusine “Two Dots” (9/2/09)
- Man Plus “A Ghost is a Ghost is a Ghost is a Ghost” Remix (12/19/08)
- Miike Snow “Animal” (6/8/09)
- Miike Snow “Burial (DJ Mehdi Remix)” (3/11/09)
- Moby “Pale Horses” ( 7/23/09)
- Peter Bjorn & John “Nothing to Worry About” (2/25/09)
- The Pinker Tones “Fugaz” (6/3/08)
- School of Seven Bells “Iamundernodisguise” ( 11/19/08)
- Zion I “Caged Bird Part 1 (feat. Brother Ali) (4/16/09)
- Telepathe “So Fine” (2/30/09)
- Stellastarr* “Freak Out” (7/21/09)
- Nino Moschella “Continue to Call” ( 6/23/09)
- Passion Pit “I’ve Got Your Number” (11/3/08)
Click, read, download & enjoy! If you want more reading, there are several other blogs like SoftSynth Blog who shares their 25 top electronic albums of the Decade. Many other songs and artists are worth exploring in this discussion and as I barely scratch the surface, I’m finding more. Have you heard a song that inspires you to dance or mix it up? Leave a comment and pass it on!
Highlighting next week:
On the Big Screen – Oscar Predictions! I’ll be giving my predictions for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards which happen Sunday March 7th, so read ahead & tune in!
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