Mad Max meets Rock Em Sock Em Robots in this new video from Deadmau5 with Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance.

Here's a write up I did for CounterPoint Fest on Skrillex. Check out my Artist Profiles and more at counterpointfestival.com

Sonny Moore may be the most polarizing figure in the history of dance music. Back in the first breakthrough of “electronica” in the late 90’s, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and The Prodigy didn’t have to deal with the media machine ripping them apart every chance they got. Moby might have taken some flack for “selling out” and having tunes off his album Play used on every other commercial of the time. But Moby didn’t have to deal with the overt opinions of music bloggers and web pundits, heck, the internet was only in its gestation stages at that point. Old fogie music critics at Spin and Rolling Stone didn’t understand electronic music then, and judging by the latest stab at a dance music issue by a big music magazine, they still don’t have a clue. Nowadays every person with a YouTube account or Tumblr gets to chime in on who they love and hate. EDM has and still is a polarizing music genre, and has always had its haters that say it lacks substance and soul. And haters love to hate Sonny Moore, the man better known as Skrillex.

Sonny never really did anything to be so hated. Just 24 years old and growing up between San Fran and LA, he’s a pretty laid back Cali kinda dude. He got into punk music as a teen and fronted the band From First to Last before breaking off from them to do his own thing. In 2008 he started DJ’ing around LA going by the name Skrillex and in 2010 he put out his first EP, My Name Is Skrillex. The EP took the UK dubstep sound that was just breaking through in the states and cranked it up to 11, using video game and YouTube inspired samples to make a whirring, wobbling version of the genre. Once the buzz started swirling, he got picked up to produce an EP for another polarizing dance figure, Deadmau5, and his label mau5trap. Then it really started.

Skrillex put out the Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites EP towards the end of 2010. He toured relentlessly and went from playing dingy clubs to festival stages, with one of the biggest performances at Coachella in 2011. He got his songs in video games and collaborated with everyone from Lady Gaga to Korn to Kaskade. By the end of 2011, he was nominated for 5 Grammys, winning 3 of them including Best Dance Album and Best Remixed Recording for his mix of Benny Bennasi’s “Cinema.”

With the success of Scary Monsters came the haters and the massive attention from the global community. His seemingly overnight success and over the top take on dubstep and electro made both fans and peers pick a side. And many chose to hate. An article by The Guardian UK summed it up best, begging the question “Is Skrillex the Most Hated Man in Dubstep?” Although many dubstep producers were quick to adapt their styles to emulate his, the genre started being coined as “brostep” with its popularity among the American college set. In the process, he became a part of the American lexicon and psyche. Any hairstyle resembling his isn’t a “side shave”, it’s “Skrillex Hair”. He’s become the most blogged about dance music artist and the most meme ready with dedications like “Grillex” and one featuring his inability to fish well because he’s “always dropping the bass”. Skrillex has become a cultural phenomenon.

What most of the haters forget is that Sonny is an extremely talented musician. His complex arrangements have been broken down and given YouTube tributes in genres as diverse as metal and classical, all the while maintaining a beauty and complexity that you don’t see in today’s pop music. He has remixed some of the biggest artists in the world today, but his remixes flip the songs on their head and sound unlike anything else. He has steered away from cranking out the generic tracks produced by his peers, instead jumping between hip-hop, ragga, drum and bass, dubstep, electro, progressive, and more. In 2011 he launched his own label OWSLA, and signed some of the most envelope pushing artists out there today including Porter Robinson and Alvin Risk. His label and artists are even creating their own genres, like the pitch bending and ever evolving sound of “complextro”. He’s even being asked to produce film scores for kids movies and Hollywood blockbusters. His abilities and talent shine in his studio work, and the energy he brings as a live performer.
 

In the hotly debated topic of “Button Pushing” DJ’s, brought to the forefront by the now infamous Deadmau5 Rolling Stone article, my question is this: Does it really matter? I saw Skrillex play before 40,000 people at Bonnaroo a few months ago. Next to Radiohead, it was my favorite performance of the weekend. Skrillex played only his own original music, remixes, and exclusive re-edits. He probably had much of it planned ahead of time, the visuals and the light show were very intricate and intense. But that crowd went mental from the minute he emerged in his “Mothership” stage, to the minute he finished at 4am. Performers perform, whether they have music pre-produced and ready to go, or whether they are playing “live”. It is a very blurred line nowadays, so the best course of action is to appreciate it for what it is, and enjoy the performance as a whole.

Skrillex shows no sign of slowing down in 2012, he’s headlined Ultra and Bonnaroo already this year, with performances still to come at major festivals all over the world, including his current Full Flex Express Canadian tour, followed by Hard and Outside Lands in Cali, Made in America in Philly, and CounterPoint in September. Haters gonna hate, but I don’t think Skrillex cares much. He’s too busy cranking out incredible tunes and entertaining crowds around the world. Festivalgoers at CounterPoint are in for an amazing show when Sonny drops the bass.
 

Here's the second artist profile write up that I wrote for CounterPoint Fest on Crystal Castles.

Crystal Castles

Crystal Castles are completely difficult to categorize. Chiptune, Witch House, Electro-Goth… all those terms for electronic based music that hipsters throw around to seem in the know… Those would all be applicable. However you choose to define Crystal Castles, you can’t deny the equivalent amount of energy and dismay that they bring to their music.

Hailing from Toronto, Crystal Castles is Ethan Kath and Alice Glass. Ethan was an electronic producer who met Alice when she was just 15. They cut some demos together, and out of those sessions was born the first Crystal Castles track “Alice Practice.” The pair went their separate ways for some time after that, but the tracks kicked around the internet and slowly started gaining some attention. Kath and Glass got back in the studio and put together what would become their first self-titled album in 2008. With its 8-bit sounds and Alice’s haunting vocals, it received an incredible amount of buzz. Unsettling and bleak yet all the while haunting and beautiful, the album was unlike anything else coming out at that time.

Their sound has maintained its gothic roots and became more polished over time. More complexity and bigger sounds came as another self-titled album dropped in 2010. The album was very well received and acclaimed, bringing together fans and detractors of their early work. Songs like “Celestica” and “Vietnam” broadened their sound and depth. The album also featured “I’m Not In Love” and when released as a single, they recruited fellow moper and fan Robert Smith of The Cure on vocals.
 

Voltage Tracklisting 8-25

M83 - Midnight City (Sharam Jey Remix)
Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence (Ewan Pearson Extended Remix)
INXS - Need You Tonight (Streetlab '08 Mix)

Muse - Madness
AlunaGeorge - Your Drums, Your Love
Sneaker Pimps - 6 Underground (Nellee Hooper Mix)
Madeon - Finale (Original Mix)
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Give It Away (Psymbionic Remix)
Skrillex f/ Sirah - Kyoto
Flux Pavilion f/ Example - Daydreamer (Danny Byrd Remix)
Miike Snow - Black and Blue (Netsky Remix)

Nero - Reaching Out (Fred Falke Remix)
Netsky - Love Has Gone (Netsky's Love Must Go On Refix)
Russ Chimes - Back 2 You (Original Mix)
Zedd f/ Matthew Koma - Spectrum (Extended Mix)

Kaskade & Qulinez - Stars Troll (Radio Edit)
Eric Turner vs. Avicii - Dancing In My Head (Avicii's Been Cursed Mix)
Wolfgang Gartner - Girl On Girl - Original Mix
The Knocks & Fred Falke - Geronimo (Louis La Roche Remix)
Dog Blood - Next Order
Deadmau5 f/ Gerard Way - Professional Griefers (Vocal) master
Justice - New Lands (A-Trak Remix)

Linkin Park - Burn It Down (Paul van Dyk Mix)
Coldplay - Charlie Brown (Jacques Lu Cont Mix)
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Otherside (Third Party Remix)
MGMT - Kids (Romario Remix)
Miike Snow - Silvia (Felix Da Housecat Remix)

Netsky - Come Alive
Nero - Me and You (Dirtyphonics Remix)
Deadmau5 - Ghosts 'n Stuff (Sub Focus Remix)
Rusko - Everyday (Netsky Remix)
 

Here's this week's edition of Voltage Radio!

Voltage Tracklisting 8/18

M83 - Reunion (Mylo Remix)
Metric - Help I'm Alive (The Twelves Remix)
Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks (The Knocks Remix)
The Knocks - The Feeling
The Killers - Smile Like You Mean It (Madeon Remix)

Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye (Jason Bentley Remix)
Foster The People - Helena Beat
The Knocks & Fred Falke - Geronimo (Original)
Russ Chimes - Back 2 You (Original Mix)
Grum - Can't Shake This Feeling (Club Mix)

DeeLite - Groove Is In The Heart (Gigamesh Remix)
Treasure Fingers - Cross The Dancefloor (Chromeo Remix)
Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You (12" mix)
Calvin Harris - Flashback (DJ Kue Remix)
Florence & The Machine - Spectrum (Calvin Harris Extended Remix)

Coldplay - Charlie Brown (Jacques Lu Cont Mix)
Deadmau5 f/ Gerard Way - Professional Griefers
Foo Fighters - Rope (Deadmau5 Remix)
Skrillex - Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (Zedd Remix)

Afrojack f/ Eva Simons - Take Over Control (Extended)
Avicii f/ Salem Al Fakir - Silhouettes (Original Vocal Mix)
Pryda - Shadows
Swedish House Mafia - Greyhound
Wolfgang Gartner - Flexx (Original Mix)
Zedd f/ Matthew Koma - Spectrum (Extended Mix)

Kill Paris - Shades of Funk
Nero - Must Be the Feeling (Delta Heavy Remix)
Justice - Helix
Skrillex - Bangarang
Jack Beats f/ Dillon Francis - Epidemic
 

This week's edition of Voltage Radio on 99X:

Voltage Tracklisting 8-11

Of Monsters & Men - Little Talks (The Knocks Remix)
Imagine Dragons - It's Time (Penguin Prison Remix)
Fun - We Are Young (Party Ben and MyKill Remix)
Passion Pit - Take A Walk (Gold Fields Remix)

Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye (Jason Bentley Remix)
Miike Snow - The Wave (Flight Facilities Mix)
M83 - Reunion (Mylo Remix)
Foo Fighters - Best of You (Brondi, Hanna & Sa Remix)
The Chemical Brothers - Swoon (Mjolnir Bootleg Remix)

The Knocks - Brightside (Lenno Remix)
The XX - Stars (LAZRtag Remix)
John Dahlback - Embrace Me (Dirty South Remix)

Netsky f/ Dynamite MC - The Whistle Song
Flux Pavilion f/ Example - Daydreamer (Danny Byrd Remix)
Sub Focus - Out the Blue (Club Mix)
Madeon – Finale

Joris Voorn - Incident
Alex Kenji - Those Good Vibes
Tensnake - Coma Cat! (Go Go Bizkitt Remix)
Russ Chimes - Back 2 You
Martin Solveig - The Night Out (Madeon Remix)

A-Trak & Dillon Francis - Money Makin'
Daft Punk - High Life (Felix Leiter's Digital Edit)
Justice - Civilization (LAZRtag Bootleg Mix)
Zedd f/ Matthew Koma - Spectrum (Extended Mix)
Porter Robinson - Say My Name
 

Check out the Tron inspired video for The Chemical Brothers "Velodrome", the official song of the Olympic cycling events.

Here's this past Saturday night's edition of Voltage Radio on 99X:

Voltage Tracklisting 8/4

Of Monsters & Men - Little Talks (Passion Pit Remix)
Passion Pit - Take a Walk (Gold Fields Remix)
M83 - Reunion (Mylo Remix)
The Killers - Smile Like You Mean It (Madeon Remix)

Foo Fighters - Best of You (Brondi, Hanna & Sa Remix)
Florence & The Machine - Spectrum (Calvin Harris Extended Remix)
Truelove - Rock The Casbah (Original Mix)
Señor Stereo - I Am The Beat (Treasure Fingers Remix)
Empire Of The Sun - We Are The People (Shapeshifters Remix)

Kavinsky - Nightcall (Himan remix)
Solomun - Kackvogel (Original Mix)
Kraak & Smaak - Forget About You (Basement Freaks Remix)
Basement Freaks - Something Freaky
Kill Paris - I Wanna Be Your Lover

RAC f/ Penguin Prison - Hollywood (The Magician Remix)
Miike Snow - The Wave (Flight Facilities Mix)
Santigold - The Keepers (The Knocks Remix)
Afrobeta - Love Is Magic (DiscoTech Extended Remix)

Russ Chimes - Back 2 You (Original Mix)
Above & Beyond f/ Richard Bedford - On My Way To Heaven (Lenno Remix)
Digitalism & Tommy Trash - Falling (Digitalism Original Version)
Qulinez - Troll (Original Mix)
Kaskade & Qulinez - Stars Troll (Radio Edit)
The Killers vs Keane & Alesso - Silenced By Mr Brightside (Hardwell MashUp)

Zedd f/ Matthew Koma - Spectrum (A-Trak & Clockwork Remix)
Deadmau5 f/ Gerard Way - Professional Griefers (Instrumental)
Wolfgang Gartner - Flexx (Original Mix)
Nero - Promises (Calvin Harris Remix)
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Otherside (Third Party Remix)
 

99XVoltage Radio CounterPoint DJ Competition

Hey DJ’s – Now’s your chance to be a part of the biggest EDM festival in the country, right here in our own backyard this September 27-29: CounterPoint Festival! 99X Voltage Radio and CounterPoint are looking for Atlanta talent to round out an impressive roster that includes Skrillex, Bassnectar, Pretty Lights, AVICII, Steve Angello, and more. We’re going to find one Atlanta DJ that will get to perform at CounterPoint, and receive a pair of weekend passes for the fest!

Details:

• Make a 30 minute DJ mix, inspired by the 20-year history of 99X, past – present - and future. The mix should feature your mixing skills along with a keen ear for music selection. Think outside the box. Your mix should be able to be played on 99X’s Voltage Radio and can feature alternative, dance, electronic, retro, dubstep, and more.
• We’ll post the mixes on 99X.com and let the fans vote. The top mixes will be featured Saturday September 8 on 99X’s Voltage Radio, Saturday nights from 10pm to midnight.
• We’ll invite the top 4 DJ’s out to compete and play their mix live at Havana Club in Buckhead on Saturday September 15th. We’ll judge the top 4 on several different categories and choose a grand prize winner to perform at CounterPoint!

Timetable:

• August 4 – Submission starts for mixes
• August 13 – Voting begins at 99X.com
• September 7 – Fan voting ends
• September 8 – Top 4 DJ’s featured on Voltage Radio at 10pm
• September 15 – Final DJ Competition at Havana Club

Rules:

• Use turntables, CD players, Ableton, whatever you want – use original music and edits, or any artists you want - but mix must be 30 minutes and you must upload it to Soundcloud or Mixcloud to be considered.
• With that said, this must be your own mix. Mixes that are not your own will result in disqualification.
• Please edit out any questionable language or use radio friendly edits, remember, we want to play your mix on the radio!
• You must be able to participate in the final event at Havana Club on Saturday September 15th and be able to perform at CounterPoint Fest the weekend of September 27-29.

So get ready to get your mix on, and enter for your chance to win a slot on CounterPoint Fest!

Don't forget to send us:

• DJ Name
• Link to your mix
• Pic
• Tracklisting