(new post - music) The Favourite Musics Post, EDM version
the Music Enjoyer has logged on. i'd like to do occasional posts where i go over various musics (and maybe for books and film/TV, as well) that i found that year, but i gotta set the stage first! so welcome to a very silly post here
i've long conceptualized my music taste as falling into three camps: EDM, video game soundtracks, and Everything Else (mostly indie, some pop, a little bit of hip-hop - an absolute Smidgen of alt rock). i know that's basic, but it's the truth. i think i group it this way because i approach each "family" of music for different reasons:
EDM is for jamming, sound texture, appreciating the production quality and how it feels on my ears - i guess music i listen to for stimming? it's my most natural choice and comprises the vast majority of my personal collection (2322 MP3s - as a video game music enjoyer, i've been burned by relying on the internet to keep a song i like accessible way too many times, so i'm kindof a boomer that way).
video game music is more for escapism. it can be "stimming" escapism, like listening to boss fight music to have a power fantasy, or it can be more emotional escapism, like cutscene or area tracks that stir some kind of feeling.
Everything Else is more based on direct emotional connection. it's very rare that i listen to something non-EDM to scratch an itch in my head - it's almost always because i'm in a mood that needs expressing. even the examples where i do take the "texture" into account are majority electronica, which is obviously a close relative (hip-hop and rap can also serve a similar purpose, but it depends on the style of the song). that being said, my favourite "Everything Else" artists tend to eclipse my favourite EDM artists in how attached i am to them because of the different ways i approach their work, despite the fact that i far more readily listen to EDM.
i think i'll split these three into their own posts because halfway through writing just the EDM section, this is already getting long. and the VGM post will honestly be even longer as one of my special interests.
favourite EDM
my most beloved EDM is mostly progressive house or electro house, which i've been listening to since probably 2008 - i ignored any bass music for a long time because i'd mostly heard old middling examples from monstercat. last year, my girlfriend finally blasted my head open with music from all sorts of incredibly innovative and skilled bass producers. it's honestly embarrassing, because a lot of them are well-known! i just lived under a rock when it came to this stuff. since i was a teen, i've just stuck to looking up artists i already knew i liked on youtube. i didn't even use spotify at all until maybe late 2023. can't teach an old dog new tricks, et cetera, you know. (i am not even 30 yet)
i've collected different types of EDM in different ways. my favourite music comes from the producers i most consistently like and have followed for a long time, with some smatterings of albums/EPs/single tracks i really love but haven't quite meshed with the artist's body of work yet. consider this a hierarchy of hierarchies:
producers:
Feed Me (progressive/electro house). i don't think feed me has the most consistent discography of these artists - but it is Fucking Huge and he's had a lot of really good hits, most of which is among my favourite EDM ever. his remix of strobe is honestly a masterpiece to me. to be able to level up such a classic song is nuts; it encapsulates all the best things that a prog house song should have, imo. when he's at his best, he's absolutely my favourite sound considering his patience for pacing, mixing ability, and his personal style.
faves: Strobe (remixed from deadmau5), Without Gravity, Little Space, Mirage (w/ Kill The Noise), Love Control, Roadtrip Sleeper, 100 Days (Stay With Me), Orion
No Mana (progressive/electro house). no mana's output imo is on average better than feed me, but is much younger. he also doesn't have as many songs that i go to for a crazy listening time, so he strikes me as just slightly less of a favourite. even so he still cuts it very, very close; i always say to my gf that i don't think i've ever been disappointed with a single release of his.
faves: Strangers, Tell Me, Lethargy, Luxor Aeterna, Underwater, Lost Call, Disconnect (remixed from KLOUD)
deadmau5 (mostly progressive house). mouse man has been kindof cringe to me for a long time, but i don't wanna do the thing where i exclude a producer who's made edgy remarks from my faves because it feels dishonest - i love his music and have for years. i of course have limits there, i've dropped artists for being concertedly horrible. but what else is there to say, really actually i'm so based for putting deadmau5 here. i wrote this section and then the day after, he called artists who performed at trump's inauguration nazi-supporting dumbfucks.1 i sicced the phantom thieves on him
faves: Some Chords, Cthulhu Sleeps, Hyperlandia ft. Foster the People, When The Summer Dies ft. Lights, Strobe, Stereo Fidelity, Ghosts 'n' Stuff ft. Rob Swire, Avaritia, Sleepless
Pendulum/Knife Party (mostly drum & bass/electro house). some would object to me lumping them together, and... yeah but they're happy here together in the same rank. i asked them and it's fine. anyway, rob swire's voice is amazing. something about how he sings was made for exactly the kind of music they do. my faves from pendulum tend to eclipse the tracks i like from knife party; KP's production is good, but pendulum just sounds more... earnest?
faves: The Island part 1 + part 2, Silent Spinner, Colourfast, The Fountain, Superstar, Death & Desire, Sleaze
Dyatic (bass/dubstep). first on the list who i was only introduced to last year, but he's very versatile and is awesome at everything. love him so far
Lamorn (house/nu disco/indie dance?). another one i only found last year, kinda daft punk-sounding if they trended more toward house and less towards pop. his remix of bridged by a lightwave is beautiful!!
faves: Bridged By A Lightwave (remixed from deadmau5), Message (Extended Mix), Not Alone, To Be Alive, Where Am I, Forever, Eleven
BVSSIC (mostly dubstep/bass). insanely innovative, great mixing, and i love his way of putting a darker/grungier spin on a lot of his music. huge fan of dark EDM/electronica
faves: Disgust, Necessity Tech, Push, Mindache, No Life
albums/EPs:
Electromag by Various Artists, 2021 (electro/electro house). it's kindof difficult to find the exact energy of electro that i go nuts for, and electromag changed my fucking life for giving me a generous stash of it. I Was Starving until this. maybe i skip a couple songs occasionally, but i still find myself returning to it at least a few times a year. normally wolfgang gartner can be hit or miss for me, but whatever he ate for breakfast to make the original needs to be banned from the country. it's one of my favourite electro house songs ever, it files my taxes, it does my laundry, everything about it hits perfect
faves: The Original by Wolfgang Gartner, Example by No Mana & Uppermost, Symphony by Foxhunt, Media Encoder by Foxhunt & Moki, Electro Forever by EDDIE & Bad Disk
I Contain Flashing Images by No Mana, 2024 (electro/progressive house). incredible songs that are also mostly romantic, which i find very endearing and unique for an EDM album. there's a few songs that are a little sleepy to me, but even listening to those i'm still like "yeah... no mana :)" he just doesn't miss.
faves: Luxor Aeterna, Underwater, Lost Call, Digital Friends, Everlasting
The Third Kind by Dyatic, 2024 (various dubstep/bass/others). i love that this is a narrative album. it's more common for EDM albums/EPs nowadays to have some sort of theme but dyatic is fleshing out something beyond just a mood, and i always think that's neat. forest interlude is no joke one of the most beautiful tracks i've ever heard - the use of a brazilian funk beat is so fresh and inspired. i also hope he extends the techno section in a gaze from a monster into a full song because i'm a bit grumpy most of the playtime is a talking sample. i'm forever fiending for more good dark EDM techno
Floorspace by Juelz, 2023 (mostly trap). just a really solid, fun album with a lot of catchy songs. does exactly what it needs to do. i haven't heard enough from juelz yet that makes me go crazy to upgrade him to a fave artist, but it's not very far off
faves: Moondance, Freaks & Geeks, Divination
4x4=12 by deadmau5, 2010 (progressive house). i can't help it, it's a classic. extremely formative for me and has tons of bangers
honourable mentions by songs from various artists, very rough order here:
Isolation by Mewnlight Rose (electro). i like a couple of her other songs, but isolation is on a whole other level. perfect go-hard electro song
British Gas by Oddprophet & ILLAMAN (tearout). tearout is a bit of a harder sell for me, the abrasiveness can be overwhelming, but fucking god this song is crazy in exactly the right way. it's so stupid.
Destiny by Ace Aura (dubstep). the first drop in this song kicks my ass. it might be my favourite dubstep drop of all time
ENCHANTRESS by MAD DUBZ, Daeya, & Jedwill (trap/hyperpop?). wow
Divine, Headspace, Painted by Effin (house/bass/bass respectively). oh man effin is on another level. his music doesn't always hit for me but his style of bass is still very distinct and moody, i gotta appreciate it
Black Ice by Subtronics & Rezz (midtempo?). i have a bit of a bias against midtempo as a genre admittedly, and i really don't like rezz's music on the whole: holy fuck this song hits
Disconnect, See Through, BLISS 2K by MUST DIE! (hard dance/house/dubstep again respectively?). i like must die mostly by proxy because my gf has an on/off relationship with their music. disconnect is just nasty in the best possible way
TEVA833, My Prayers Have Become Ghosts by Varien (um...? house or techno/dubstep respectively?). looove the gritty edgy sound here
Edge of the World by Karma Fields (electro house). i really liked a couple of karma field's releases, and the set he did called The Hex i actually have downloaded because i've listened to it so much. unfortunately i think he's a bit too sleepy for me to really get into as an artist. also gotta respect him for doing an "i'm an AI not a human artist ohhh" fakeout when that actually turned heads in 2012 or whatever, and was not yet associated with the political collapse of the united states. (i still thought it was so dumb at the time.)
SHAPE_THE_FUTURE and MORTAL (w/ MACHINYST) by INHUMAN/Code: Pandorum (techno). once again i'm such a sucker for dark EDM-style techno or other simplistic four-on-the-floor, but it's so rare! i also think a lot of what exists is not done very well, or is too close to pure techno for me to enjoy it. anyway - i don't care for INHUMAN/Code: Pandorum's other stuff too much, but this is really good
EXECUTE by Lizdek & Angel Cannon (techno/hard dance). this is a very late addition, but finally i'm finding more good gritty edm techno... each drop just goes harder and harder, as it should. basically: it so awesome
Reflect by Morgin Madison (trance-house). morgin madison is an artist i found the other year who caught me off-guard. i was happy to rediscover my like for trancey stuff here! i'm surprised more of it didn't end up on this list because i grew up really liking the genre, but it's been a long time.
Dancing on my own by Syzy (i actually don't know lol). i like the whole album this is from, but this song which caps it all off is just really charming and i find myself going back to it a lot. something about it feels kindof nostalgic
footnotes
source: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Fauxmoi/comments/1i964km/deadmau5_calls_out_fellow_dj_3lau_for_playing/]↩
(t’oyaxsut ‘nüün for reading! leave a comment on the post itself if you like ❤️)