Thursday, July 1, 2010

Day 16: Where Jamaican Commandos Meet Dance Floor Sexing


Just in case the title didn't jog that active imagination of yours, I am talking about Major Lazer. The fictional Jamaican commando who lost his arm in the secret zombie war of 1984 is also a new music sensation also known as "Reggae Fusion". But lets not be too quick to just throw one label on it. Like all other music these days, it is also tagged as Trip hop, hip hop, and dancehall; all genres of music I have clearly missed.

Major Lazer is a collaboration between DJs Diplo and Switch. DJ Diplo, who's rising fame all started while he DJed in Philadelphia, was discovered by M.I.A. while DJing at Fabric Club. The two hit it off due to their unique styles of music and similar background, later going on to produce their mixtape, "Piracy Funds Terrorism Vol. 1". It was through M.I.A. that DJ Diplo had met DJ Switch, a well known figure in the fidget house genre and owner of the music label "Dubsided". Together they collaborated to make the Major Lazer album, "Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do".

By now you have to be asking yourself, "Why the hell is this relevant to anything?" This is my exact point. It's relevant to what is happening to music. Even past that, it is relevant to what is happening in the world where we have access to practically anything via the internet. DJs are becoming more predominant than ever due to the accessibility of professional DJing programs along with a plethora of songs, beats, and instrument sounds to sample. Personally I am completely for this movement because it is the transition into the future of music in which sampling and remixing is welcomed. My best example of this might be my favorite, or at least my favorite electronic album, "Since I left You" by The Avalanches. This is the only album they had ever released even though there is rumor to be another one, and yet there is such a large following for this Australian DJ band. More importantly is how the album was made. For the most part the sample is completely based of sampling from music where they sat for countless hours taking cord samples from different artists. Overall the total estimated amount of samples on the album is somewhere around 3,500. Granted this is not very common, but I feel this is a great example of how sampling can lead to amazing music.

Then there is matter of electronic music, which I basically think is going to be the next movement in pop music, if it's not already. Now I understand that electronic music has been around for awhile now, but it's only till recent that these artists have had such freedom when using synthesized instruments. As the years progress, there are more instruments that are synthesized, better quality, and a more broad range of flexibility with the instruments. It gives a whole new meaning to the one man band. The bearded man who juggled five instruments in the park trying to get them all to work is now the guy with his nose buried in that apple laptop at Starbucks making the next big album. Hello technology, I don't think we've met before. I'm Kyle.

Check out: Major Lazer- "Guns don't kill people... Lazers do"
           and Major Lazer ft La Roux- "Lazerproof"  DOWNLOAD THE ALBUM VIA LINK


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