Listening to Dubstep on loop can be good for your health

What is avant garde in rock today? Well that's a really tough question when you consider how poorly I follow current pop and rock trends. (I really like Michael Jackson? can we talk about that?)

Anyway, I want to digress a little about Dubstep, something we haven't discussed since our exploration of conceptualism and Edgar Varese. I recently have been discovering the world of electronic music, and being shown how sounds are created, analog synthesis, tracked and performed gives me an entirely new appreciation of the world of electronic music.

We discussed a more 'classical' style development of electronic music, like that of Lucier, Oliveros, etc. I only mean classical in its broadest term, such as music that would be performed in a concert venue.
Yet electronic music has transformed pop and rock music in every facet of its creation, and the entire sub-genre of electronic/dance/house music.

So let's go back to Dubstep. After looking it up, I realize that I am just beginning to scratch the surface of electronic pop music. Not so coincidentally, Dubstep was born in the 90's in south London (I say uncoincidentally because both Laurie Anderson and the members of Pink Floyd were British musicians).

Let's look at the Grammy award winning track from Skrillex, easily the top selling dubstep single of the decade:



Since Chris showed us this song in class, I have been literally obsessed with it (much to my roommates disdain). As Wikipedia so eloquently states, "Musically, "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" is prominently a Brostep song that uses elements of electro house, progressive house and glitch."

To clarify, "brostep" is an even further sub-genre of dubstep used to describe much of American dubstep, especially the music of Skrillex. If is characterized by agressive tempo, style and use of electronics, as well as a very thick texture especially around the middle range of sounds.

Anyway, Why is this avant garde? Because I haven't heard of it before this semester? Well, yes. But also because it is a completely electronic (minus sampling and intermittent and processed vocals) form of popular music that most of us wouldn't hear on the radio, seek out readily or invest time in analyzing. I personally have become absolutely fascinated by the rhythm that is produced in these sounds, as well as the complete variety of unique sounds, as well as the intensity of emotion that these songs are able to convey with little to no vocals or lyrics.

Also, it makes me want to dance. And I do. Something about Skrillex's other track, "Kill EVERYBODY" does not inspire at all the sentiment that the title suggests; a little disturbing.