John Cameron’s 10 Best Electronic Music Tracks Of 2015

deadmau5 and Grabbitz – Blood for the Bloodgoat

In many ways, deadmau5 is a symbol of contemporary electronic music. He’s an astoundingly influential producer who has risen to success with little more than the opportunities presented by the information revolution at his disposal; despite being one of the most notoriously difficult talents to work with since long before his rise to success, his ironclad resolve and preeminence as an artist has enabled him to make music entirely on his own terms.

While he’s been relatively quiet on the release front lately, he broke his silence to release a track that – even though you’d be hard pressed to hear it played on the main stage of a major festival – tells the story of this particular time in electronic music.

Everything about “Blood For The Bloodgoat” screams producer’s producer. While apparently it was a collaboration with bass music artist Grabbitz, deadmau5 revealed little else about the track when he casually uploaded it to his SoundCloud account. Even the title evokes playful imagery of message boards overrun by bedroom producer trolls.

Most importantly, though, the song itself is rich tapestry woven together from little threads of influence from all the styles of music that have converged in 2015. The strong vocal says EDM, but the driving groove hints at playa tech. It’s simultaneously old and new, at a time when all of the most relevant music seems to communicate a similar paradox.