Music has always been important to me throughout my life. My earliest memories were my parents blasting everything from Backstreet Boys to Led Zeppelin and dancing around my childhood home. As I grew up my music taste evolved, and I became a dedicated Hip-Hop fan after Drake’s Take Care in 2011. However, after I was done with my high school phase of being “too cool” to listen to any other music, my best friend made me start listening to some EDM. This includes some of the artists I have listed below, which are artists that I think can do a little bit of everything and give a peek into the rest of the subgenres within EDM.
Louis the Child
You might also like: Whethan, San Holo, Jai Wolf
This Chicago duo was one of the first EDM artists I listened to, and I am sure many people have heard “Better Not (ft. Wafia)” or their remix of “Blasé” blasting through the speakers at a bar. Besides some of these more popular songs, I recommend their debut album released just this summer, Here For Now. It has influences from all areas of the music world and is true to the duo’s unique futuristic bass sound. Their discography includes everything from music that makes you want to scream the lyrics in the car with your best friends (“LOVE ft. Elohim”) to songs that make you feel like you’re standing on top of the word (“Free ft. Drew Love”). Their music can be playing for studying, running, or when you have aux with a bunch of different music tastes in the room. Even if you can’t find something you totally love, it’s still cool to see how far these two young guys from Chicago have gone and support them!
Zeds Dead
You might also like: Ganja White Night, NGHTMRE, DROELOE
These two get their name from the iconic scene in Pulp Fiction and have quickly become my favorite artist in and out of the EDM scene. Their music ranges from house to dubstep to windows-down, feel-good music. Their album Northern Lights has slower buildups and some of their classic songs like “Frontlines” or “Blame” make you want to stick your hands up in the air and feel every emotion. Their recent album, We Are Deadbeats (Vol. 4), includes artists from their label, Deadbeats, and has everything from the steady beats of house (“Just Wanna”) to dubstep/riddim (“Bumpy Teeth ft. Subtronics”). I also recommend checking out SoundCloud for their remixes and samples of classics like Aretha Franklin’s “I Say a Little Prayer.” The bottom line is these two can literally do it all and they have a little something for everyone so check them out!
Excision
You might also like: Liquid Stranger, Svdden Death, Slander
This guy is a legend in the EDM world. He does primarily dubstep/bass/hardstyle and is the introduction for a lot of people new to the EDM scene when it comes to headbanging. He even started his own festival in Ohio a few years ago called Lost Lands, which is dedicated to bass music and a dinosaur theme. The first song that made me want to get into more bass music was “Throwin Elbows,” it’s a classic and crowds erupt when any artist plays it live. Besides the songs that encourage people to “break their necks”, Excision has some more melodic vibes like his song “Home ft Dion Timmer.” Even if he is not totally your style, he has a heavy influence on the EDM scene and even just started his own label representing a lot of small artists.
I encourage you to at least listen to a few songs from these artists or take inspiration to expand your music taste in general. Besides the sounds these artists use that are scientifically proven to boost your mood (seriously look it up), I think it encourages learning more about music and all of the influences (dance, jazz, alternative, hip-hop, heavy metal) that make up this unique genre and all of its subgenres. I am so happy my friend encouraged me to listen to EDM, it has brought me lifelong friends and enhanced my love and appreciation of all genres of music.
