 | U.T.F.O. - Roxanne, Roxanne |  |
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 | Found at skreemr.com |  |
I began going through different types of music that I do listen to. One area that I had not really explored was how electronic music had been introduced in to my liking as a means of expression. In the early eighties, I used to walk down the street to my friend's house and we would shoot the basketball around. His boombox would have songs playing that his friends had recorded on to mix tapes. Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, UTFO, and Run DMC where always in the rotation. I enjoyed what I heard, but I didn't get into the hip-hop sounds really until later in life. But, I was interested in the sounds I was hearing. I liked the hard beats, and the rhymes. The pieces that moved to hold on to this form of music was the use of sampling, playing the game of where did that come from. The icing on the cake was the sound of the record moving back and forth, the act and sound of scratching.
| Paul Hardcastle - 19 | |
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| Found at skreemr.com | |
While I liked rap in the early days, I didn't personally relate to the songs. Then, in about 1985, Paul Hardcastle's 19 hit the playlist in the radio stations in Anchorage. I found myself captivated by the use of music and old documentary/news reel style samples to convey a message. To me this was more though provoking than "Born in the USA." I wanted to hear this song over and over again. It faded from heavy rotation, but I wanted to hear more songs like that with the electro-break beat. I didn't have a personal connection to the Vietnam war, but I felt like I had a better understanding of it from that song.
| Falco - Rock Me Amadeus | |
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| Found at skreemr.com | |
Next came the one-hit wonder in the US, Falco. While never having another hit in the US, Falco had a number of hits in Europe. His song Rock Me Amadeus had a similar effect on me that 19 did. I liked the use of the strong beat, and I likes the learning that happened. I had never thought about Amadeus and how young he was when he started to compose music. Being in 4th grade this was incredible to me that someone my age was producing music that people were still talking about in the present.
| Fingers Inc - Can You Feel It | |
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| Found at skreemr.com | |
At this point in my life, there is a bit of a pause in my exploration of electronic music. I moved into a more alternative/punk era with songs by They Might Be Giants, Pixies, and Suicidal Tendencies. Industrial sounds of Nine Inch Nails were intriguing as was the entire soundtrack to Cool World. In the early 90's, Anchorage had developed a "Rave" scene and like many other kids at that time, I went and pretended to enjoy myself. I didn't really, not that much. It wasn't until I went to college and experienced the parties/raves of San Fransisco. One morning, after a night of dancing and watching the DJ mix the records, the final DJ in the second room put on Fingers Inc while the sun was coming into the atrium that was the second room. It was a very powerful experience and I thought to myself, this is what this is all about.
| DJ Shadow - 02 Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt.mp3 | |
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| Found at skreemr.com | |
I transferred from California after my sophomore year of undergrad to Augsburg. Prior to the move, had been in a funk band through the summer and was looking for that musically. At the time, REV 105 was the station that I listened to. I loved the variety it presented. One song that stuck in my head was DJ Shadow's Building steam with a grain of salt. No other commercial radio station I had listened to before would even attempt to bring that type of sound to the mass audience. With the use of drums and samples, the feel of the song was so... deep? I had to get the album, which is still one of my absolute favorites. The album was entirely composed of samples, but the mood and emotion conveyed through the songs really spoke to me. Taking what you know from one context and moving it artistically into another context.
| Kid Koala & P Love - Moon River | |
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| Found at skreemr.com | |
After being exposed to DJ Shadow, I had the opportunity to see Kid Koala in concert. He was able to take what DJ Shadow did in the studio and move it to the turntables. The manipulation of analog sound that wasn't too forceful as many other scratch djs. The scratching was tasteful and purposeful.
| Roni Size - Brown Paper Bag (Full Vocal Mix).mp3 | |
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| Found at skreemr.com | |
Breakbeat and jungle style of electronic music was something that I had known about,but found it too rough around the edges. Hearing Roni Size changed that for me and still influences what I listen to while I am working on coding or grading.
This progression of electronic music throughout my life has turned from a method of learning to explorations of emotion and mood with different rhythms. Tracing this through time while looking at one genre of music is rather illuminating. As mentioned before there are many different genres I could have explored. The punk one would be very different and compact compared to this one, but something that would be equally as important in my life.
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