Electronic Dance Music: Killers in the Jungle

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > No More Drake > Electronic Dance Music: Killers in the Jungle

Mister Speaker: May 8, 2007; WE WILL CONTROL
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AND HEAR

Lmao if you think a Boiler Room set 'blowing up' is entirely organic.

I wouldn't rag on the guy so much if his music were decent (there are loads of awful nepo babies and rich wannabes in the scene), but it isn't.

# ? Apr 11, 2023 21:01

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# ? May 30, 2024 17:03

ShowTime: Mar 28, 2005

He's decent, but I admit, nothing special. But his Boiler Room set does have nearly as many views in 8 months as Kaytranada's set has gotten in 9 years. They are sitting at like 16m and 18m. Saying that, his two biggest things from that set are with Skrillex. Leave Me Like This and Rumble were the two biggest parts of his set, but he uses a lot more. Baby Again... and Still Here (with the ones that I came with) are the other 2 I can remember. Danielle (smile on my face) and Delilah (pull me out of this) are pretty good but I'm not a fan of most of his other stuff.

And that record stopping poo poo annoys the gently caress out of me the way he does it. It can be done right or you can overuse it and use it at the wrong times and he does the latter.

# ? Apr 11, 2023 21:09

Arms_Akimbo: Sep 29, 2006; It's so damn...literal.

His MPC skills are legit

Also DJ success is literally about who you know, so I always find this stuff hilarious. Anybody can throw their hands in the air and beat match a couple mp3s, you get booked based on who you know. The whole industry is built on it

# ? Apr 11, 2023 21:46

Mister Speaker: May 8, 2007; WE WILL CONTROL
ALL THAT YOU SEE
AND HEAR

Arms_Akimbo posted:

His MPC skills are legit

Also DJ success is literally about who you know, so I always find this stuff hilarious. Anybody can throw their hands in the air and beat match a couple mp3s, you get booked based on who you know. The whole industry is built on it

Having millions of dollars and Brian Eno as your godfather opens more doors than all the networking ability in the world, and enables people with pedestrian artistic ability to become superstars. Of course the industry is full of rich idiots who crave attention, as you said fundamentally DJing does not have a high barrier for entry and it literally puts you on the same stage as world-class musicians. I don't necessarily have a problem with nepotism (or even a bought career, and to be sure, Fred Again has both) if the artist is actually doing something interesting and unique, but Fred is not, and I will call it out every time I see some Little Lord Fauntleroy like him on a promoted Boiler Room set waving their arms to uninspired tech house.

Mister Speaker fucked around with this message at 21:59 on Apr 11, 2023

# ? Apr 11, 2023 21:56

Costco Meatballs: Oct 21, 2022; by Pragmatica

Brian Eno only started mentoring him after he had been producing poo poo for people like Ed Sheeran and stormzy for years afiak

# ? Apr 11, 2023 23:44

Mister Speaker: May 8, 2007; WE WILL CONTROL
ALL THAT YOU SEE
AND HEAR

Costco Meatballs posted:

Brian Eno only started mentoring him after he had been producing poo poo for people like Ed Sheeran and stormzy for years afiak

Read the bottom part of that wiki image I posted. I can only find stuff on twitter asserting that Eno is indeed his godfather, but it sounds like he's been a close family friend his whole life.

EDIT: It occurred to me that Fred Again is basically just a worse version of Jamie XX. That's reductive, I know, but I don't care. So I'm not just making GBS threads things up, here's a relatively-new single from Jamie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJHhTlmooM0

And some local Toronto UKG vibes from HolloH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DieReumFF10

Mister Speaker fucked around with this message at 02:10 on Apr 12, 2023

# ? Apr 12, 2023 01:56

The REAL Goobusters: Apr 25, 2008

Mister Speaker posted:

You rn

# ? Apr 12, 2023 09:44

Costco Meatballs: Oct 21, 2022; by Pragmatica

Like if you want to be a hater be a hater but if you listen to the TDC and think 'talentless hack' you are in fact just being a hater.

# ? Apr 12, 2023 17:05

Mister Speaker: May 8, 2007; WE WILL CONTROL
ALL THAT YOU SEE
AND HEAR

He's not doing anything Jamie XX didn't already do better. All the money in the world can't buy that.

# ? Apr 12, 2023 17:51

The REAL Goobusters: Apr 25, 2008

Mister Speaker posted:

He's not doing anything Jamie XX didn't already do better. All the money in the world can't buy that.

Ok man

# ? Apr 12, 2023 17:57

Costco Meatballs: Oct 21, 2022; by Pragmatica

Mister Speaker posted:

He's not doing anything Jamie XX didn't already do better. All the money in the world can't buy that.

A comparison that kind of just shows that you're pretty ignorant about both musicians' bodies of work. They're completely different, bro.

# ? Apr 12, 2023 18:20

Mister Speaker: May 8, 2007; WE WILL CONTROL
ALL THAT YOU SEE
AND HEAR

Costco Meatballs posted:

A comparison that kind of just shows that you're pretty ignorant about both musicians' bodies of work. They're completely different, bro.

Ok man

# ? Apr 12, 2023 18:28

ShowTime: Mar 28, 2005

Mister Speaker posted:

Ok man

Congrats on the custom avatar man

# ? Apr 12, 2023 18:36

Mister Speaker: May 8, 2007; WE WILL CONTROL
ALL THAT YOU SEE
AND HEAR

I guess I earned that one, which is more than Fred can say for his success.

# ? Apr 12, 2023 18:39

Arms_Akimbo: Sep 29, 2006; It's so damn...literal.

The thing about people with a lot of money is they usually have a lot of time to play around and if they're into music that means they get good at an instrument. Their parents can also afford to own in-tune, working pianos so their kids are exposed to creating music earlier. That's why a lot of your more grassroots musical movements like hip hop revolve around more rudimentary things like sampling and tape loops, those were the tools and techniques available.

Unless you're completely committed, learning every little detail and nuance of an akai MPC to perform with it live is absolutely a luxury

# ? Apr 12, 2023 18:43

LionYeti: Oct 12, 2008

Arms_Akimbo posted:

The thing about people with a lot of money is they usually have a lot of time to play around and if they're into music that means they get good at an instrument. Their parents can also afford to own in-tune, working pianos so their kids are exposed to creating music earlier. That's why a lot of your more grassroots musical movements like hip hop revolve around more rudimentary things like sampling and tape loops, those were the tools and techniques available.

Unless you're completely committed, learning every little detail and nuance of an akai MPC to perform with it live is absolutely a luxury

Absolutely, Fred Again is very talented and his extremely wealthy upbringing gave him the luxury of being able to mentally commit to hone that talent. And his connections allowed him to more easily show off that talent to the world at large. Would he have succeeded if his parents/godparent and mentor didn't have Wikipedia pages? Maybe, maybe not but his family money and connections undoubtedly made it easier. At the same time, he's not like that CEO of Goldman or whatever loving bank who is buying his way onto festival cards with ghost DJ's and poo poo.

LionYeti fucked around with this message at 18:54 on Apr 12, 2023

# ? Apr 12, 2023 18:48

The REAL Goobusters: Apr 25, 2008

I will only listen to broke rear end djs now. Like just straight up artists with the most busted rear end setups. It�s the only way to make sure��

# ? Apr 12, 2023 18:51

ShowTime: Mar 28, 2005

It happens a lot. I was making a post when this all started mentioning Taylor Swift, but got distracted by something. But her, like in Freds case and i'm sure countless others, had some talent, but additionally came from a wealthy background with a supportive family that was able to provide her with the time and resources to get better and then network. Now she's basically a billionaire.

# ? Apr 12, 2023 18:52

Mister Speaker: May 8, 2007; WE WILL CONTROL
ALL THAT YOU SEE
AND HEAR

Arms_Akimbo posted:

The thing about people with a lot of money is they usually have a lot of time to play around and if they're into music that means they get good at an instrument. Their parents can also afford to own in-tune, working pianos so their kids are exposed to creating music earlier.

This is absolutely true, and not something I take issue with at all - provided the artist is doing something worthwhile with the advantages handed to them on a silver platter. Money doesn't buy happiness but having safety nets to catch you if you fail alleviates a lot of stress. To look at it from the other side (and this is something I brought up recently in another thread where nepotism came up), the problem in the way the arts are infinitely more accessible to those with wealth and connections, is that think about all the dope art we could have if more people had the same opportunities instead of living in poverty. There's a quote about 'the weight of Einstein's brain' that applies here; I think it's tragic in a way that so much focus is on clout-factories like Boiler Room when the real heat is made elsewhere by people who can't afford to keep it up (but whose influence will no doubt be co-opted by those already at the top).

So I'm more than a little sour when someone like Fred comes along with all the advantages in the world, and uses them to make music that is, at best, pedestrian. He can play a decent piano but what rich kid do you know that wasn't taking some posh music lessons from a young age? He's just another producer whose success was largely purchased and manufactured; unfortunately Boiler Room maintains its position as some sort of barometer of 'underground' electronic music (even though it stopped being underground years ago) and in the minds of people who can't be arsed to look any further than the latest BR set or the Tiny Desk he's a superstar. I guess I'm just a little disappointed in some of you lot for going with it.

quote:

Unless you're completely committed, learning every little detail and nuance of an akai MPC to perform with it live is absolutely a luxury

This I don't really agree with. An original MPC, maybe yeah, but even that is largely a matter of muscle memory. The modern equivalents all have really intuitive workflows, and it certainly doesn't take eight hours a day of uninterrupted practice to learn your way around one.

To reiterate, note that I'm not calling out ALL nepotism or trust-fund bullshit in the arts; when someone comes along with a famous Dad or a boatload of money and actually makes a difference and a lasting impact in their arts I'm all for it - Brandon Cronenberg is an excellent filmmaker; Nick Kroll is an OK comedian but made serious waves with his voice acting; TSwift created a loving empire. But LMFAO, Steve Aoki, Jaden Smith and Frederick John Philip Gibson can suck my balls. I definitely 'earned' some sad person's fivebux here by being aggressively contrarian, but I won't apologize for calling out undeserved success.

Mister Speaker fucked around with this message at 20:14 on Apr 12, 2023

# ? Apr 12, 2023 20:11

ShowTime: Mar 28, 2005

I mean, if you feel sour about that, you feel the same for every other person that benefits from generational wealth and advantage, right? People in every career benefit from their family having money and influence, not just musicians.

# ? Apr 12, 2023 21:30

Escobarbarian: Jun 18, 2004; Grimey Drawer

Is this where the Fred Again fan club is at?

# ? Apr 12, 2023 22:48

Mister Speaker: May 8, 2007; WE WILL CONTROL
ALL THAT YOU SEE
AND HEAR

ShowTime posted:

I mean, if you feel sour about that, you feel the same for every other person that benefits from generational wealth and advantage, right?

I feel like you're setting some kind of logic trap here but yeah, sure, absolutely.

# ? Apr 12, 2023 23:39

hifi: Jul 25, 2012

Costco Meatballs posted:

Like if you want to be a hater be a hater but if you listen to the TDC and think 'talentless hack' you are in fact just being a hater.

I scrubbed thru it and thought it was Wack

# ? Apr 13, 2023 01:34

Costco Meatballs: Oct 21, 2022; by Pragmatica

hifi posted:

I scrubbed thru it and thought it was Wack

I mean that's always a fair opinion. There have been lots of talented but Wack artists, many of them on piano.

# ? Apr 13, 2023 14:04

Rageaholic: May 31, 2005; Old Town Road to EGOT

Coachella is streaming on YouTube this weekend. Looking at the schedule, I wonder if artists like The Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Eric Prydz, Calvin Harris, Porter Robinson, Jai Wolf, etc. will be a part of the stream.

# ? Apr 13, 2023 16:36

Josh Lyman: May 24, 2009

Rageaholic posted:

Coachella is streaming on YouTube this weekend. Looking at the schedule, I wonder if artists like The Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Eric Prydz, Calvin Harris, Porter Robinson, Jai Wolf, etc. will be a part of the stream.

Prydz never streams. Calvin Harris wouldn�t surprise me.

# ? Apr 13, 2023 16:44

Rageaholic: May 31, 2005; Old Town Road to EGOT

Looks like Porter's gonna be streamed:

quote:

HI IT�S PORTER / I�M PLAYING THE MAIN STAGE OF COACHELLA ON SUNDAY 🙂 4:45PM - livestreamed
doing my absolute best and putting everything into it
idk whether this is really the final Nurture show but
New band , best of my own music , a new beginning - love u all
MUSIC SAVED MY DAMNN LIFE !!!
((d[-_-]b))
PORTER ROBINSON
byewwwwweeeeeee

# ? Apr 14, 2023 01:40