L.A. Music: Skrillex, and That Song

I don't even know what I'm doing writing this. Clearly, my expertise in L.A. music lies in decades past. So far, my most "current" artist has been Beck, and that post featured a song that came out five years ago.

Which isn't to say that I don't like or listen to current music. Granted, not a lot floats my musical boat these days. I don't like all the overwrought pop crap that's so popular: all the American Idol and spin-off talent shows, the Glee thing, etc. etc.  I don't care.  I think "Moves Like Jagger" is a catchy little song that my grade-schooler loves, and granted it gets stuck in my head pretty quick, but that doesn't mean I "like" it, either. 

So just because I'm writing about Skrillex doesn't mean I "like" him that much, either.  Except that in my house lately, it's like that old beef slogan.  "Dub-Step: It's What's For Dinner."  And breakfast and lunch and in-between snacks, too.

Maybe it's a boy thing, because the biggest fans in our house are my husband, followed closely behind by Tucker.  Trailing way back there in the outer reaches of tolerance is me.

I don't get it. And it's not even because I'm not young enough in the young way.

I get that my husband loves electronica and computer-generated music. Being the hard-core computer geek that he is, the hardware love carries over to the audio world. It goes way back, to the Moog-generated classical music of William/Wendy Carlos to the "Popcorn" song from the '70s, on to Kraftwerk and Devo and '80s alternative and etc.. You get the idea. The boy likes his synthesizers.

But this! O, this.

I think I've mentioned before the my husband works from home (which is great) and most days, he has a pretty consistent soundtrack going, to keep him company and provide some background noise besides the click-clacking of his keyboard.  And on lots and lots of days lately (roughly the last three months), he keeps playing THAT SONG over & over.

Propping myself in his office doorframe, I'll harass him and inquire, "don't you get tired of listening to that song all day?"  And this is a joke, of course, because it's not just one Skrillex or dub-step song that's he's got turned up, but many, many different songs.

Many, many different songs, and they all sound about the same to me. 

He tells me that the similar sound or effect that runs through all this noise music is The Drop.  It's all about The Drop.

Photo from here.

In the current Rolling Stone, there's a small article about The Drop, and it features a quote from Skrillex:  "It's like you're revving your engines and the fucking motorcycle just wants to take off, and as soon as you  fucking throw it into gear, it just starts to go."  Um, okay. I can see, or hear that.

Still, this sound doesn't move me.  It might make the art on our walls shake and vibrate with the bass, but it doesn't move me.  I don't even think you can dance to it. Which isn't the point, I get that too. You don't dance to Motorhead, either.

And as for Mr. Skrillex's L.A. music creds: born in east L.A., moved up north to somewhere cold & rainy for a while, but came back to the eastside as a teenager. So there you go.

And here you go. THAT SONG.  (Or one of them, anyway.)

Enjoy! Have yourself a good long, dub-steppin,' bass-shakin' Memorial Day weekend.