Best of 2011: Experimental Electronic Music
When someone wrote on my little sister’s Facebook wall about “dubstep” I knew electronic music was reaching a wider demographic than ever before. In 2011, acts like Skrillex and Deadmau5 introduced electronic music to an entirely new generation. “Post-dubstep” emerged as a reaction against this Americanized, frat-boy version of heavy-bass-electro. British artists James Blake and SBTRKT paved way to an indie-electronic hybrid genre–uniting hipsters and ravers alike. As DJs begin to infiltrate top-40 radio, there are fringe artists emerging on the outskirts of electronic music. Forget Avicii, listen to these musicians that are changing the game.
Com Truise
Seth Haley’s alias doesn’t fit the typical indie-electro profile (a bar that was set high by the adorable indie-hunk, James Blake). The New Jersey native produced one of the summer’s best albums, Galactic Melt, and continues to make waves with his remixes of popular indie bands like Neon Indian and Twin Shadow. His music is eeriely ambient, but doesn’t skimp on some futuristic-funk sounds. The song “Flightwave” sounds like the landing anthem for a spacecraft that eventually transitions into some seriously sexy beats. Listen to his single, “Cathode Girls” on Pitchfork.
Oneohtrix Point Never
Brooklyn-based producer Daniel Lopatin recently earned the coveted “Best New Music” stamp of approval from Pitchfork for his new album Replica. The 10-song album listens like one long and beautiful drone–with samples and loops that create a sensory experience for the listener. Much of Replica sounds like a soundtrack to a black-and-white film, ending with “Explain”, an ambient song that evokes visceral joy. Listen to Replica in-full at The Guardian.
Clams Casino
New Jersey bedroom producer, Clams Casino, creates complex yet accessible experimental music. On his EP, Rainforest, he mixes hip-hop beats with atmospheric noise, creating distant sounds that transcend the electronic genre. His single “I’m God” samples Imogen Heap over a dream-like melody and he recently remixed the Washed Out single “Amor Fati”, which you can listen to on Pitchfork.
Tycho
The album, Dive, could rival any band for best album of 2011. San Francisco producer, Scott Hansen, created a modern masterpiece with his 10-song high-conceptual album. Dive will transport you to a soul-possessing world, one in which you are fully submerged and weightless. Listen to the full album on the BBC website.
