My name is Will. I first fell in love with the innocent emotion of trance and the pulsating beats of house when I was but a young tween. Music games were a hit of the early 21st century and I was yet another one of those annoyingly persistent kids who begged his parents to buy the latest music game, from four-panel dancing games to five-button plastic instrument games, not just because they were so much fun to play, but because he had developed a love for the music in the games. Amid the overabundance of hip-hop from everyone in between the talented 50 Cent to the fortunate Soulja Boy, I found adoration for a collection of sounds known to few as Electronic Dance Music back when 99% of the genre was mistakenly generalized as “Techno” and the rest, the commercially oriented and slightly mainstream 1%, “Bubblegum Pop”.
The future looked grim, as far as breaking mainstream in America, for a genre that ironically took root in Chicago clubs. It seemed as if this was yet another case where the US had invented something so infectious and profitable that it could only be marketed to an audience other than themselves. Nearly everywhere else in the world, predominantly in Eastern Europe, EDM took to airwaves like a storm, infusing itself with Pop to create the catchy and sometimes tacky Dance-pop and Electro-pop that every Top 40 listener is familiar with today.
The end result? What America formerly tagged as Techno has now become Dubstep and while many have criticized the recent mass exposure and blamed a couple notable stars of the genre *cough*Skrillex*cough* for tearing the underground scene to shreds, the exposure undoubtedly comes with good cause. America actually takes Dance music seriously now and it’s not simply referred to as computer generated noise that any bum with a pirated copy of FL Studio could create (to some). Virtually every radio outlet plays music that is either entirely Dance-pop or inspired by the reincarnated Dance craze and Electronic DJ’s/producers have become this generation’s rock stars. Swedish House Mafia, Avicii, and Skrillex have replaced Queen, Led Zeppelin, and U2, all reaching the astonishing international success via exhaustive worldwide tours that was once widely administered to Rock bands and a few Pop stars. On the critical level, Electronic DJ’s/producers have also found success at prestigious awards ceremonies like the Grammy’s, with Afrojack, David Guetta, and the aforementioned Skrillex already receiving their fair share of gramophone glory.
What does this all mean for the future of EDM and this blog in particular? With the overwhelming recognition EDM has so quickly earned, we, the listeners of music across all genres, should openly accept the culture and its beat driven music and start to take Electronic Dance Music seriously! More specifically, on a X-out-of-5-stars level. Sure, popular music reviewing outlets like Rolling Stones and Pitchfork have evaluated a number of Electronic music, some much more than others, but the representation is skewed to the preferences of those particular sites. Bloc Rockin’ Beats strives to be a site that does justice to the artists who have been fortunate enough to break mainstream and the artists who are still awaiting their 15 minutes of fame. This blog will keep fans of the popular genre, while also including Pop, Hip-Hop, and Indie, up to date on what drops it like Hiroshima and what sears like the Sahara. With reviews of the latest albums, EP’s, and singles to hit the scene and head’s up news on what’s to come, I hope that you, the readers and devout EDM fanatics, will find this a place of refuge for critical expression on Dance-oriented news that will last as long as there are people to support it.
Now, listen and read on!
Bloc Rockin' Beats 