Like most innovative underground musical movements, dubstep has ended up being commercialised in various ways, with the genre’s atmospheric feel and glitch-y beats being appropriated by everyone from singer-songwriters to platinum-selling pop stars. Maybe, then, it was only a matter of time before someone sought to merge its throbbing rhythms with the more conventional aspects of dance music.
This is the approach adopted by Los Angeles producer Skrillex, whose co-option of dubstep grooves can’t hide the fact that, ultimately, his music is a fairly standard brand of electro. The basic Skrillex template – dubstep rhythms merged with general electro chaos – is in evidence as early as ‘Right In’, the opening track on his latest EP, Bangarang. Skrillex, of course, has attracted plenty of media attention and already built up a devoted following, but given that the title track here (a mix of trashy electro grooves and thumping beats) is actually reminiscent of no-one so much as The Prodigy, one could be forgiven for being sceptical about Skrillex being hailed as some kind of groundbreaking production wizard.
Elsewhere, The Doors collaboration ‘Breakn’ A Sweat’ sounds exactly like you’d expect – ie. Ray Manzarek and the boys playing over some dubstep beats – and ‘The Devil’s Den’ is an uneasy mix of cheesy house and Skrillex’s trademark blasts of blaring noise. ‘Right On Time’, meanwhile, borrows from the worst excesses of Eurodance, built as it is around mindless electro riffs.
No doubt much of Bangarang will sound decent in a packed club, but it’s all a long way from the exceptional output of Burial and the Hyper Dub crew.