FEATURES
“So Many Beautiful Memories”: GRiZ Fans Share Their Favorite Moments and Stories
The connection between fan and musician has always been an elusive one. But GRiZ understands that both parties are kindred spirits—and that should not only be celebrated, but rewarded. In collaboration with GRiZ and his team, we found seven super-fans to share their favorite memories and stories as part of the Michigan-born electronic music virtuoso’s tight-knit community. Max Dashevsky “I saw GRiZ for the first time in 2012 at the Blue Note in Columbia, MO, opening for Big Gigantic. My friend bought me a ticket because he wanted to introduce me to the funkier side of electronic music. As soon as GRiZ started his set and played that sax, I was completely blown away. I fell in love with his energy and music right then and there. Since then, I have seen him all acr...
Song of the Week: Drake, Future and Young Thug’s “Way 2 Sexy” Is Here to Soundtrack Labor Day Weekend
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, Drake’s Certified Lover Boy brings a wildcard banger. In a welcome reunion with Future and Young Thug, Drake gets weird with “Way 2 Sexy,” a playful romp sampling Right Said Fred’s 1991 classic, “I’m Too Sexy.” Egged on by Hendrix and Thugger, our Certified Lover Boy makes a slight departure from his sad boi vibes for a collaboration sure to ring out at Labor Day weekend cookouts. Future sets the tone with the chorus, which will probably go viral on TikTok. Stating the obvious, Hendrix tells listeners that not only is too sexy for...
Rewind: On This Day In 2014, Pierce Fulton Released “Kuaga”
This year the dance music community mourned the loss of Pierce Fulton, a star talent—gone far too soon—whose presence continues to be missed. In 2014 on this day, September 1st, Fulton released his late-summer smash “Kuaga,” according to the song’s Beatport listing. It went on to become one of the most beloved electronic music tracks of the past decade. Like most great works, “Kuaga” was written by Fulton with humble expectations. Derived from Swahili, “Kuaga,” meaning “farewell,” was Fulton’s way of mentally moving on from the current chapter of his professional career. It was the last song of his existing record deal, and he was ready to spread his wings elsewhere. In a 2017 Reddit AMA, he even admitted to thinking of...
EDM.com Presents: The House Brew, Vol. 1
House and techno are the bedrock of electronic music. From the deep, dark trenches of barebones techno to the entrancing soundscapes of piano-laden melodic house, EDM.com’s monthly series The House Brew explores new releases from time-tested genres. “Next To Me” – RÜFÜS DU SOL “We decided we wanted this to be a simple love song, which is rare of us to do, to create something purely sweet without juxtaposing that with the raw, dark emotions on the other side,” RÜFÜS DU SOL said about “Next To Me.” Tyrone Lindqvist’s yearning vocals welcome listeners alongside a simple, soothing piano melody. Then, a howling chorus crescendos into an infectious groove. With emotive lyrics, tender vocals, and spirited basslines, “Next To Me” is signature RÜFÜ...
Underground Vibes | 071
“Out There” – Sourcee, Envoy Music Marking their first collaboration, veterans Sourcee and Envoy Music are able to craft a true dancefloor gem with “Out There,“ bringing together groovy basslines and infectious vocals. “Save You” – MICA, Vana, Hailure MICA just shared his brand new EP The Night You Left via Suit Of Bullets, and “Save You” alongside Vana and Hailure is without a doubt a standout track. “Swims Best” – Former Hero Former Hero recently unveiled his debut album footpaths via bitbird with “Swims Best” clearly representing his sparkly yet introspective sound. “Hyper Dream” – Fresh Stuff Fresh Stuff has been carefully building a massive discography over the past year, and his brand new single “Hyper Dream” is a true testament t...
Long Live Vinyl
If 2020 brought anything good, it’s another high point in the unimaginable meteoric rise in record sales. Sales grew 46% from 2019, with 27.5 million LPs sold in the United States last year, vinyl outsold CDs for the first time since the 1980s — when vinyl started losing to its polycarbonate plastic counterpart. It’s clear now that the old medium for listening to music isn’t just for the nostalgic or hipster purists that are obsessed with sound quality. It’s becoming a mainstream way to collect and consume music. But why? When it comes to technology, we’re all about moving forward rapidly, staying on the cutting edge. So, why, then, when the biggest music catalog on Earth sits just a couple of touches away on our smart devices, are we returning to a century-old medium? For many, it may jus...
The Robots Are Coming and They Like to Rave: What We Learned From Interviewing Sensorium’s AI Avatars
When Sensorium’s virtual PRISM world finally opens its doors to concert-goers later this year, don’t be surprised to find yourself striking up a conversation in the crowd—with an AI-driven avatar. It’s no secret AI has been a pillar of Sensorium Galaxy’s overall development strategy, but the technology—developed in partnership with Mubert—has been kept vastly under wraps. When it comes to AI, Sensorium’s computer-generated avatars serve multiple functions. Some are artists with the potential to produce an endless stream of electronic music in a live performance setting. The remaining AI personalities—each possessing unique behavioral traits and professional and personal backgrounds—are residents of the Sensorium ecosystem. They have the “freedom” to navigate t...
Ranking Every Kanye West Album From Worst to Best
This article originally ran in 2016 and has been updated. Welcome to Dissected, where we disassemble a band’s catalog, a director’s filmography, or some other critical pop-culture collection in the abstract. It’s exact science by way of a few beers. This time, we sort through the best and worst of Yeezy country. Over the years, Kanye West has been many things to many different people. He started off as Jay-Z’s secret weapon, a budding super-producer pumping out hits like “Izzo (H.O.V.A.),” “Takeover,” and “Encore,” prompting Jay-Z to interrupt The Black Album to shout, “Kanyeezy, you did it again, you a genius!” That was probably one of the last times West was called Kanyeezy, and one of the first times the g-word was tossed around. In 2004, West launched his solo career and sold himself t...
Twitter Reacts to Jake Paul’s Split Decision Victory Over Tyron Woodley
The highly hyped fight between former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and ex-Youtuber Jake Paul finally occurred over the weekend and saw Paul defeat Woodley in a split decision after eight hard-fought rounds. Woodley, who was evidently unhappy with the unanimous decision, called the judging “laughable” and demanded a rematch in the immediate post-interview. The ex-welterweight champion went as far as calling the decision “bullsh*t.” The win over Woodley puts Paul at 4-0, currently undefeated in his past four professional bouts. Prior to his match with Woodley, Paul made it a point to media that he was ready for the competition is taking a considerable step up to be able to get in the ring with Woodley. Going into the fight, Woodley had his loss by submission at the UFC 260 last Ma...
Beyond the Boys’ Club: Willow Smith on Embracing Rock, Her Mother’s Influence, and Opening for Billie Eilish
Beyond the Boys’ Club is a monthly column from journalist and radio host Anne Erickson, focusing on women in the heavy music genres, as they offer their perspectives on the music industry and discuss their personal experiences. Erickson is also a music artist herself, recently releasing the song “Eternal Way” with Upon Wings. This month’s piece features an interview with Willow Smith. Many music acts take an entire career to churn out four studio albums, but Willow Smith has already achieved that feat at the age of 20. If you count her collaborative LP (The Anxiety) with Tyler Cole, then it’s five albums, plus a handful of EPs. Willow recently released a rock-inspired new album Lately I Feel Everything, featuring a raw, alternative vibe with heavy guitars, punky rhythms and powerful vocals...
Kanye West’s Top 20 Songs
This article originally ran in 2013 and has been updated. Kanye West returned on Sunday, August 29th with Donda, which was initially set to arrive in July 2020, but, you know…Kanye. Whether you’re loving or hating the effort, you can always look back on the good ol’ days with our list of his top 20 songs. Obviously, ten albums, three collaborative releases, and dozens of singles later, it was more of a chore to put together than anything else. In order to keep sane, we pared things down to the general overview, best lyrics and samples of each song. So did anything from Donda make it to our updated list? To find out, see Kanye’s 20 best songs, ranked from worst to best, below. Advertisement Share this: You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined wh...
The Reissue Section: Summer 2021
From deep jazz spiritualism to big dumb rock, Summer 2021 has been chockfull of archival releases of old favorites, obscure discoveries and newly unearthed recordings that will appeal to a vast array of music fans with ice cream money to burn. I keep hearing about how the CD era is dead and all that stuff. But this current cache of archival titles continues to prove the compact disc is very much a format that continues to bring joy and happiness to a large swath of the music-buying public. So yes, CD players still belong in cars, you savages! Stone Temple PilotsTiny Music…Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop Deluxe Edition (Atlantic/Rhino) Third albums are the ones that tend to cement an act’s career in a way that either helps them ascend to new heights or sink like a stone. For Stone Temple P...
