Skrillex - Recess (LP)

This week marks the first official full-length album release from one of EDM's most consistently intriguing artists. Skrillex has been changing and morphing his sound ever since his debut with Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites back in 2010. Recess seems to be the culmination of all the experimentation Sonny has been doing with his music over the past few years.

My initial thoughts on the album were that he seemed to be trying a little too hard to make this album avoid any kind of commercial sound. However, upon further listening, I believe this album is just Skrillex being Skrillex. It is very clear that he refuses to be pigeon-holed into one genre of music. Recess covers all the bases from bro-step to deep house, and does so with a strange continuity that only he could pull off. The first track, All Is Fair in Love and Brostep, is Skrillex's tip of the hat to all of his older dubstep fans that were hoping for an album full of dirty beats and gnarly drops. He couldn't leave them hanging. However, the title-track, Recess, is much more of the kind of stuff I was looking for out of this album. It's a solid moombahton track that is sure to get your blood flowing faster and faster with every decible louder it is played. Check it out below.

Another track I want to highlight is called Fuck That. This is definitely the most interesting track on the album to me. I call it deep-step, as it sounds like dubstep and deep house had relations out of wedlock and chose not to abort their illegitimate child. Skrillex uses the signature bass wobbles you can find in most deep house tracks, but does it over a mellow dubstep style beat. I really like the way it all came together though. Check it out below.



The last song I wanted to shed light on is the drum and bass inspired Coast Is Clear, featuring Chance The Rapper. I love that Skrillex reached out to this rising rap star and got him on a track. I love everything Chance does, so I knew this collaboration was bound to be amazing. It isn't a very ragey song, but thats why I love Skrillex. His music has no boundaries or limits. To him, all music fits under one roof, and everything is fair game. Check out this collab below and "dance like it hurts to stand still."



Other notable tracks on the album include: Stranger, Fire Away, Ease My Mind and the certified banger with my boy Alvin Risk, Try it Out.

The album is for sale on iTunes or Amazon and can also be heard on Spotify! Make sure you catch Skrillex and his various DJ cronies on his Mothership 2014 tour, coming to a city near you very soon.

Enjoy! <3

Coachella Spotlight #14: GTA

The EDM line-up this year is pretty on point. Goldenvoice has covered all their bases, as they included every genre from the rage-tastic Skrillex or Calvin Harris to the more mellow Nicole Moudaber or Bonobo. No matter what your fancy, you will find it somewhere at Coachella. That said, I think one of the DJs I am most excited to check out for the first time at Coachella has to be GTA.

GTA is a Miami-based collaboration between the DJs JWLS and Van Toth. These two have managed to craft a unique sound that is comprised of mostly dirty, jungle rave beats that make you dance like Tarzan would after smoking crack. They like to blur the line between trap and electro house as well which always makes for more interesting live sets. If you are trying to get buck wild for an hour in the Sahara Tent, GTA would be a good choice to do that with.

My favorite track of theirs is The Crowd. This song is going to be BONKERS in the Sahara Tent. The blaring synths, the vocal samples and the rapid fire drums make this a jungle rave banger! It also throws some half time drops in there as well to add that grime that only GTA can infuse into a track. Check it out below and put your party pants on!

GTA has also worked along side some well known names like Diplo, A-Trak and Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and have remixed the likes of Kaskade, Deadmau5 and Laidback Luke to name a few. His current song with Diplo has gone completely viral over the past few months and is easily the duo's biggest release to date. However, I won't post that because if you haven't heard it before you are living under a rock. I really like their remix of Michael Woods' track Last Day On Earth, which is a highly underrated song, in my opinion. They flip the track and give it that jungle rave sound that only they could do. I hope they play this in their set!


Come get crazy with me as I go hard in the paint during their set! See you there!

Happy Coachella! <3

Top 10 of 2013: A$AP Rocky - Long.Live.A$AP

It was hard for me to pick a favorite hip hop album of the year. There were a couple contenders: like Pusha T (Who I have already told you my thoughts on last month) or Chance The Rapper with Acid Rap. But, after thinking about the diversity of songs that each rapper had on their album, I had to give it to A$AP Rocky's debut, Long.Live.A$AP.

The very first thing that stands out to me about this album are the features. It has some of the biggest rap names in the game sprinkled all throughout. The radio hit, Fuckin Problems, features 3 of the biggest names in 2013: 2 Chainz, Drake & Kendrick Lamar. He also attempts to blend genres and leave his comfort zone by bringing on the likes of Florence Welch from Florence & The Machine and Skrillex. Check out what I mean in I Come Apart.

This song has so many good tracks on it that it is hard to pick which ones I want to highlight. However, there is one song that was a big influence on picking this as the only hip hop album to feature on this list. 1Train is almost like a cypher of sorts, as it features a bunch of heavy hitters all over the same, repetitive beat. Kendrick Lamar kills it, like always. Joey Badass, Yelawolf and Danny Brown also lay down bad ass verses. Check out this gem of a track below.

Then there is classic A$AP tracks on the album, like Goldie. This is quintessential A$AP Rocky, just casually spitting over a hard, simplistic beat about what makes him better than the rest. I love this track, as it's perfect for just cruising around town. Check it out below

Check out the rest of the album on my Best of 2013 Spotify Playlist or follow him on Facebook!

Enjoy! <3

Top 10 of 2013: Disclosure - Settle

2013 marked a big year for the resurgence of house and deep house in America. People are finally beginning to mellow out from all the raging that's been going on the past few years. One of the biggest acts responsible for this is Disclosure.

To start their debut album, these two London based brothers found a genius sample of a motivational speaker and flipped it into a sick deep house track called When A Fire Starts To Burn. This track was not only featured in Skrillex's BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix earlier this year, but could also be heard in clubs around the world. However, shortly after that on Settle is the song that blew them up, featuring another Audible Twilight favorite, Sam Smith, called Latch. Check out the official video for Latch below!

Another great track from this album is Help Me Lose My Mind, featuring the beautiful voice of London Grammar vocalist, Hannah Reid. This song is perfect for getting your shit together in the morning or relaxing after a long day.

If you dig the sound of these two songs, check out the rest of their music on my Best of 2013 Spotify Playlist, follow them on Facebook or check out their SoundCloud for remixes and much more!

Enjoy! <3