KVR Audio

an-electric-heart · Post by **an-electric-heart** » Mon May 06, 2013 8:26 am

I listen to all kinds of genres, but as far as dance music goes, I'm a bit behind... I still listen to the likes of Prodigy and Pendulum.

The other day someone used the term 'cutting edge dance music'

I'm just curious, examples please? What's the most state of the art (

) modern dance music right now? Where are we at?

Doug1978 · Post by **Doug1978** » Mon May 06, 2013 8:34 am

an-electric-heart · Post by **an-electric-heart** » Mon May 06, 2013 8:41 am

Doug1978 wrote:

Nice... thread de-railed on the first post

Doug1978 · Post by **Doug1978** » Mon May 06, 2013 8:50 am

TBH, I'm a bit out the loop too, but this should be more helpful:
http://wintermusicconference.com/events/idmas/

Pirupa sounds very nice to my ears.

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Mon May 06, 2013 10:13 am

It's interesting how different taste is. I listened to the Pirupa - Party Non Stop song and I just don't get it at all. It has absolutely ZERO things in it that I think are good.

In fact, I've now checked out most of the underground winners and I don't really seem to understand any of them. Maybe I'm just getting too old.

Cheers!
bManic

Doug1978 · Post by **Doug1978** » Mon May 06, 2013 10:42 am

^^ tbh bmanic, we're both getting old (and indeed one of the reasons for me liking Pirupa was that some of their recent singles/mixes remind me of my own clubbing days...).

Nevertheless, that website is one of a number (Mixmag might be another) that offer some indication as to where 'we are at' with popular, mainstream and also emerging dance acts currently - but arguably their suggestions are not cutting edge.
I'll too be interested to read here about any 'bleedingly cutting edge' dance suggestions and links for dance music, although I expect one person's definition of cutting edge dance music may be another person's zzzzzzzzz...

Cheers.

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Mon May 06, 2013 10:50 am

While I'm not sure that most of the list would be my list, this is hot.

You can get it on beatport.

http://www.beatport.com/track/they-fron ... ix/4057000

Beatport charts are a great way to get familiar with what is current in dance music trends.

Spiritos · Post by **Spiritos** » Mon May 06, 2013 12:08 pm

I think I have a too different background in music (or maybe I'm also getting too old) to really understand 'cutting edge' where it comes to dance music.

Although in my 20's I did some heavy clubbing I was always pretty bored with the music itself. I find myself dancing easier to more 'free' music that doesn't have your typical 4/4 beat somehow and although I can be surprised by new stuff like Dubstep (first time I heard Skrillex I was really surpised to hear a distinctive new sound) I find it hard to think of new influences in modern dance music although to be honest I only hear stuff that's played on the radio.

I'm more interested in the merging of genres especially where it comes to electronics and jazz. I don't think this particular example is what you were looking for but to me this is 'cutting edge' and I can even dance to it:

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Mon May 06, 2013 2:09 pm

ghettosynth wrote:While I'm not sure that most of the list would be my list, this is hot.

I don't understand this one either. Can you explain what you like about this song? The sounds, the rhythm, the buildup, the punch of the drums, the "lyrics"?

To me these kind of songs just don't have any point.. there's no real buildup, there are no exciting sounds and the beat is very docile and laid back. Everything stays in the same key throughout the song (well this is quite common for dance music so I can't really fault it).

To me there are no exciting elements here. Nothing "stylish".. everything is rather bland. It's like the composers take no risks and stick to the very basics.

Is it possible to do an analysis or a dissection of the interesting elements of the track? Or just simply tell us what makes it good in your opinion? This interests me a lot as a sound designer as I'm always keen on learning what people want for interesting, usable sounds.. and it also interests me as a composer to understand the motivations for the choice of tonality, harmony, melody and rhythm.

It's very possible that I just don't get it though.. and I fully accept that. It is after all how we all end up. Stuck in our ways and not understanding the new stuff.

Cheers!
bManic

Metanol · Post by **Metanol** » Mon May 06, 2013 2:33 pm

EDM has many edges. I dont really know or care if this is cutting edge but quite new release I have been listening and enjoying. Different style than other examples.

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Mon May 06, 2013 4:42 pm

Now this one I like, immediately! Probably because it has an Infected Mushroom vibe to it right from the get-go.

It has a ton of things to listen to and listen for. It's groovy, it has "clever" breaks and nice sounds.

Cheers!
bManic

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Mon May 06, 2013 5:34 pm

bmanic wrote:
ghettosynth wrote:While I'm not sure that most of the list would be my list, this is hot.

I don't understand this one either. Can you explain what you like about this song? The sounds,

Yes.

the rhythm,

It's house, there's not much that stands out in the rhythm, except, it's disciplined sparsity. That said, the feel is great.

the buildup,

So, I do like when the bass drops as well as the interesting sound that drops just before that. But, when I'm playing this record those may not get heard because they will come in under another record. So, while it's a nice aspect of this record, I'd say that the lack of giant buildups while still remaining interesting is key.

the punch of the drums, the "lyrics"?

Yes, and yes. Or, really, the sparse cleanness of the production and the simple rhythmic and tonal qualities of the "lyric." It's easy to fill up the space with noise, it takes a sense of restraint to allow the space to breathe and still keep a listener engaged.

To me these kind of songs just don't have any point.. there's no real buildup, there are no exciting sounds and the beat is very docile and laid back.

And yet it held my attention all the way though. Let me be clear though, it's non-trivial to do so and if I could tell you the secret I'd probably be selling a lot of records.

Everything stays in the same key throughout the song (well this is quite common for dance music so I can't really fault it).

To me there are no exciting elements here. Nothing "stylish".. everything is rather bland. It's like the composers take no risks and stick to the very basics.

So, I think that you're a little out of touch here. Exciting, well, ok, if you're looking for sounds that are "obviously" exciting. But stylish, I beg to differ. It's quite hip, tech-house is all the rage among the underground set these days.

As far as taking risks, you don't think that it's risky to put so little on the record? Was 4'33" risky? Building a track around some simple spoken phrases isn't risky? You could take a lot less risk by putting hilarious snare builds with rising sirens and a diva vocal drenched in reverb and delay.

Is it possible to do an analysis or a dissection of the interesting elements of the track? Or just simply tell us what makes it good in your opinion? This interests me a lot as a sound designer as I'm always keen on learning what people want for interesting, usable sounds.. and it also interests me as a composer to understand the motivations for the choice of tonality, harmony, melody and rhythm.

So we've talked about this sort of thing quite a bit in the "melody in dance music thread." This is good minimal underground dance music, in part, because it exercises restraint in melody.

It's very possible that I just don't get it though.. and I fully accept that. It is after all how we all end up. Stuck in our ways and not understanding the new stuff.

Well, if you don't like it you don't like it. I will point out that while I don't completely dislike the trance track discussed above, it's quite dull to my ears. It's like the difference between Stevie Ray Vaughn and Buddy Guy. Flashy loud obvious changes don't impress me at all. They're just distracting. I was watching a discussion of Clyde Stublefield and what makes James Brown's music so great, it's as much about the space between the notes as it is the notes themselves.

So, I can tell you that for music like this to be good, you should remove everything that you "think" is exciting, and leave only the raw elements that are "actually" exciting. The risk is that if you take one thing too much out, there is a sharp phase transition from "exciting" to "oh my god, who left the drum machine running." Knowing where that transition is and riding it, is the skill.

Davias · Post by **Davias** » Mon May 06, 2013 5:48 pm

ghettosynth wrote:While I'm not sure that most of the list would be my list, this is hot.

You can get it on beatport.

http://www.beatport.com/track/they-fron ... ix/4057000

Beatport charts are a great way to get familiar with what is current in dance music trends.

This is really from 2013 ?? Sounds like 89' house to me... And not one I would remember or would like to hear...

I don't want to be harsh but I'm really surprised that people could release that kind of music in 2013...

xoxos · Post by **xoxos** » Mon May 06, 2013 5:58 pm

so, are there any examples of cutting edge dance music in this thread, or are we talking about ourselves

Davias · Post by **Davias** » Mon May 06, 2013 5:59 pm

In fact I'm not sure of which dance music we are referring to...

For me in the 90s dance music was or

Opposing to techno that was more cold and industrial,
house more heavy, warm and groovy,
trance more serious, tripping and futuristic
goa like trance but more psychedelic and mystic...

Dance in my book always was more happy, commercial, full of vocals.

So today I guess Psy, David Guetta, Black Eyed Peas are dance music to me...

Even if now every genre tends to fusion, so RnB and Raggaton became dance music too. and when they put a 4/4 kick behind, this is dance for me.

Examples of 'cutting edge' dance/electronic music?