In spite of their recent inactivity, there isn't an outfit more synonymous with the indie music community's gradual adoption of blog house sensibilities than MGMT. While artists like Justice and MSTRKRFT might have represented the final destination for music fans who made such a transition, MGMT's synthesis of proto-punk instrumentalism and nostalgic production elements made them an entry point through which the hipsters of yesteryear were gradually funneled into what would later evolve into the contemporary EDM movement.
I'd like to think that electronic music is at least a year or two past that phase where you can slap the word "deep" on something to ensure it instant street cred. Apparently KSHMR and ZAXX didn't get that memo, though, because they threw together a big room house track and titled it "Deeper."
It's always nice that dance music artists nowadays drop previews of their tracks long before their actual release, but you'd usually expect them to be longer than 30 seconds. Fedde Le Grand and Holl & Rush apparently didn't get this memo, as the preview for their upcoming track, "Feel Good," clocks in at that exact span of time.
It's been a while since a good mashup really made its rounds, and it looks like 3LAU decided to take matters into his own hands and do something about it. The Las Vegas-based DJ/producer was clever enough to find a common thread between Fetty Wap's "679," Daya's "Hide Away" and Major Lazer and DJ Snake's "Lean On" featuring MØ, weaving them together in an unexpected synthesis that would yield "Lean Away."
How many big room house producers does it take to put out a track? It doesn't matter, apparently, as long as their ghostwriter is paid up front. In the case of Blasterjaxx and DBSTF, though, there's a grand total of four DJs credited for their most recent track - and it doesn't appear to have helped it stand out from the heap of main stage clones that the EDM machine has continued to pump out over the years.
The EDM world has begun to associate DJ Snake with melodic, radio-friendly tracks like "You Know You Like It" and "Lean On," so the Frenchman traveled back in time to tap into his heavier roots. In the form of "Propaganda," he's unleashed a ravenous dubstep banger that's unabashedly bassier than anything else he's put out recently - and no matter where you fall on the track, you can't deny that it's nice to see an artist of his caliber take such a risk.
There aren't a lot of artists capable of making big room house interesting, but Ummet Ozcan has managed to do so consistently as of late. The Dutch-Turkish DJ/producer wowed us with last month's "On The Run," and he's delivered once again in the form of "Wake Up The Sun."
There are a couple things we've come to expect from Henry Fong: dreadlocks and electro house. It looks like he's traded in one of those things for the crossover appeal of the bass house genre, though, and it doesn't come across as genuinely as his other releases.
Above & Beyond have made a name for themselves as one of the most uplifting acts in contemporary trance music, and have recently proven that this characteristic extends further than just their music. Last month, the trio played a show at London's Wembley Arena as a fundraiser for the Little Something charitable fund and raised over £222,000 in the process.
You might think that the Bay Area would already have its hands full preparing to host Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, but it looks like an entirely different type of event will accompany it that weekend. Super City 50 : Urban EDM Event will add to the weekend's festivities by providing a much-needed musical draw, making for a single-day event that should appeal to a considerable number of electronic music fans in the area.
