New Music: Top 5 Favorite Track Releases This Week [2/11/18 – 2/16/18]

Taska Black – We Would Never Do

This is the first and only song I’ve heard from Taska Black, but from what I’ve read so far he is taking the EDM scene by storm. Taska Black typically releases music under San Holo’s Belgium record label bitbird, but this new track ‘We Would Never Do’ was a debut release under the popular label Monstercat. That is one good indication of this artist’s rising success.

What blew me away about this song was the monstrous, distorted bass drop about a minute into the track. Taska Black weaves together a unique pattern full of interesting pitch changes that give the track a dark but fun tone. In an attempt to define the style I would probably consider it Hybrid Trap with some Industrial tendencies, but I won’t worry too much about genre technicalities. Featured vocalist Nevve also delivers an enchanting hook as she repeats the title phrase “we would never do”.

Like I said before, I haven’t had a chance to play any more of Taska Black’s tunes but I am excited to do so. He has definitely earned himself another fan with this one.

Play this song loud!

Virtual Self – Particle Arts (1788-L Remix)

Technically this song wasn’t released this week… it was released Friday of last week, but there is too much hype surrounding it for me to let it fall through the cracks. An artist going by 1788-L has seemingly come out of nowhere with a massive, hard-hitting rendition of Virtual Self’s ‘Particle Arts’. Virtual Self, as many may know, is Porter Robinson’s new project which seeks to bring back 90’s nostalgia techno-style music similar to Dance Dance Revolution and many popular Japanese RPGs. Like with many of his past productions, Porter Robinson has undoubtedly spawned a new movement of inspired artists seeking to expand upon his sound. 1788-L is one such artist who seems to have begun this project with direct inspiration from Porter Robinson’s Virtual Self. Thanks to some sleuthing from a writer over at YourEDM, 1788-L has been revealed to be the side project of artist Stonewall Klaxon who has already established a pretty unique and heavy sound. 1788-L has only one other song on his Soundcloud called ‘Replica’ and based on its heavy cyberpunk-inspired electro production we can get a pretty clear sense of the direction the project is headed. Needless to say it has me extremely excited for what’s to come; not only from this artist but from others who seem to be inspired by Porter Robinson’s ground-breaking path.

1788-L’s rework of ‘Particle Arts’ begins just like the original, that is until the 57-second mark where the beat completely changes up and drops into a mind-shattering crescendo of electro brilliance. Listen below:

Reid Speed & Frank Royal – IN 2 U (ft. She Is B)

It’s been awhile since I’ve listened to some good liquid Drum & Bass, so I’m glad I’ve discovered Reid Speed & Frank Royal’s track ‘IN 2 U’. Somehow this track elicits both nostalgia and novelty to me. The serene female vocals and low-tempo DnB beat bring me back to the early days of my EDM discovery. The novelty comes from the psychedelic bass growls that enter the beat around the 1 minute and 30-second mark. Both of these elements combined have brightened my interest in the genre as a whole.

Reid Speed, in particular, is interesting to me because I’ve recently learned that she is actually the founder of Play Me Records, a record label that I’ve loosely followed on Soundcloud for some time. Reading a little into her history I found that she is actually a pioneer in the DnB scene and is known for her ability to stretch the boundaries of genres. ‘IN 2 U’ is indeed a hard song to really classify; it seems to blend the styles of psytrance, DnB, and dubstep at times. I’ll definitely be keeping a closer eye on Reid Speed and Play Me Records from now on.

Alison Wonderland – ‘Church’

I won’t say too much about this song because I wrote a dedicated piece about it this morning, which can be read here. I will say though that this song took me a couple tries to enjoy. It stands in stark contrast to her previous release ‘Happy Place’ which was more rowdy and upbeat. But after about the third listen I started to understand the direction Alex Sholler (a.k.a. Alison Wonderland) is going with this one. I now find it to be a simple yet addictive song about empowerment and self-respect. And for the bass-head in me, there is a nice little surprise within the beat of the chorus which really shows itself while listening through some good headphones.

‘Church’ is the 2nd single to be released from Alison Wonderland’s highly anticipated sophomore album Awake. A video was also released at the same time as the song, watch it below and remember to read my dedicated piece about the song and video linked above.

Ghost Town – Modern Tragedy

I was shown Ghost Town a couple years ago by my girlfriend and I immediately loved their fusion of EDM and Rock. Ghost Town has been around since 2012 and they’ve continued to showcase a unique and versatile sound that has attracted millions of listens. After releasing a steady stream of singles in 2017, it was announced that two original members of the band have left and gone their separate ways. While this news was extremely disappointing to me, I kept an open mind as they released another song titled ‘Hell’ just last month. Based on the quality of that song, I feel reassured that Ghost Town will continue with their impressive Rock/Electronic fusion in the years to come.

Following the release of ‘Hell’, the remaining two members of the band released another track earlier this week titled ‘Modern Tragedy’. This latest release proves that despite the loss of two of its founding members, the band still seeks to improve on their established sound. ‘Modern Tragedy’ is heavy on the electro and the lead singer’s vocals are full of energy as he yells empowered lyrics such as “this is who I am!”. This song in particular also features interesting album artwork that has me curious about their new art direction. In the past their artwork was more cartoonish and colorful; the artist Alister Dippner has historically worked closely with the band, but I am uncertain whether he will still be doing future artwork.

The reason I’ve had such a close eye on this band’s latest releases is that I’ve actually purchased tickets to see them in Colorado in just two weeks! It was disheartening to learn of the band’s split after I had already purchased tickets, but the release of ‘Hell’ and ‘Modern Tragedy’ has reassured me that this will still be an exciting show. They will be opening for the band Slaves. Listen to ‘Modern Tragedy’ below, and be sure to watch the video for ‘Hell’.