[Music] Skrillex – Scary Monsters and Nice Spirits
October 20, 2011
Logo is still cool
Since I spent too much time listening to ‘outdated’ 90′s Electronica I decided I will finally jump on the bandwagon and see what this Dubstep thingie is all about. Apperantly, it’s fairly slow Electronica with big talking bass. Skrillex was my first destination since he’s both considered “fake dubstep” and is getting really really popular. That’s a sure sign it will not be boring. Anyway, when I got around it this is what I heard: Slowed-down Crystal Method’s “Keep Hope Alive” with exaggerated bass, sometimes so exaggerated it’s hilarious. In the case of Skrillex, it is pretty hilarious. Like I mentioned in my review of My Name Is Skrillex, Skrillex simply throws the bass into the song with no structure or flow. When the breakdown arrives in “Scatta”, it sounds as if my computer stomach is being experimented upon by evil aliens. No doubt Skinny Puppy will find a way to adopt this sound.
Big descriptions aside, Scary Monster and Nice Spririts is in the album in which Skrillex does his recognizable Dubstep thinge and less of that aimless House music that filled his first EP. That’s a good thing, because even if the only difference between “Scatta” and the title track is the rapping in the latter, it still sounds great and it’s still funny. There are still House tracks though, and even they’re better this time around Skrillex should give it up altogether.”Rock N’ Roll” has an annoying melody sung in the chipmunk voice that sounds so uninspired I wonder if anyone will think it’s a good idea. When the song kicks into gear, there’s the cool wobbling bass at a fast tempo as always, and after a minute any sense of structure is lost and it can be skipped. “All I Ask of You” brings a female singer in for some pop, and while the melody is surprisingly pretty, Skrillex can’t conjure up a musical backdrop fitting the singer. Both collide, explode, and I’m left wishing that singer collaborated with Orbital. There’s also some sort of extended version of “With You Friends” that has some cool vocal manipulation but, again, goes nowhere.
It’s the Dubstep part that’s the main part. Before that, I’ll kick the chipmunk vocals one last time. Does anyone thought singing in a chipmunk voice “I want to kill everybody in the world/I want to eat your heart” is a good idea in any form? Actually, I bet some do and will find it edgy or something. Nevermind. It’s also the only House track he made that works, maybe because it has more bass than the others.
As for the Dubstep, I’m not sure whether it’s great or emberassing, but it’s definitely better than Skrillex in House mode. It sounds like R2D2 is puking, which can be cool for a while but on repeat and in a volume too high might make my stomach feel bad. In small doses, though, it’s a lot fun, especially because Skrillex has no sense of craft or subtley, and he just throws it all in without a care in the world. Bassnectar’s “Bass Head” sounds like something you could bob your head to and feel badass, but on “Scatta” the bass sounds like it’s about to swallow me, and since it has no real rhythm it’s like I’m being assaulted by audio waves. The title-track was apperantly a hit, but it’s nothing noteable beyond being a good Skrillex song. It has a nice synth melody that’s good enough to be on a Pokemon game for GameBoy, but its soft parts don’t really mix with the “R2D2 puking” parts and, on their own, they’re clumsy and just not well made. At least the puking of R2D2 takes most of the running time.
The EP ends with three remixes – 2 of the title-track, one of “Kill Everybody”. The first remix of “Scary Monsters” by Noisia is neither better or worse. It’s just another variation on the style that’s good enough to hear if you like it but that’s it. The second remix brings us back to the cheesy House, but it’s better than Skrillex’s attempts, it has a wubwubwub breakdown and so good enough to be played at a party. The remix for “Kill Everybody” is an improvement over the original since it realizes it’s better off as a wubwubwub song rather than a House track.
I don’t know enough about Dubstep to recommend this to fans or to suggest this as a gateway to the genre. I’ll just say this – Do electronic breakdowns with big bass that sounds like R2D2 is puking sounds like a good idea to you? Do you want to hear them in a ridiculously exaggerated form that’s almost satirical? Listen to this. Looking for House music? Turn away and put some Leftfield on.
Highs: The sound R2D2 puking is featured more
Lows: Still no sense of structure, good but only in small doses
Rating: 2/5
Certified:
October 20, 2011 at 11:31 pm
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October 25, 2011 at 3:00 am
If you want dubstep that’s well-produced, atmospheric, and even a little dark, try the album Terminal Static by Broken Note. The huge bass may seem exaggerated to those not familiar with dubstep, but Broken Note pull off the sound very well. More importantly, the sounds are expanded into actual songs instead of club fodder.
October 29, 2011 at 1:58 pm
I actually love the huge bass. My problem is mostly with unnecessary filler and House tracks. The title-track is fantastic, but stuff like ‘Rock N’ Roll” is boring and only helps to emphasize how amazing Leftfield are.
I heard of Broken Note, I think. I’m more interested in finding Dubstep’s harsher and bass-ier sound, but I have Burial to check too.
KOKONOE IS GO