Opinions about the state of EDM mattered more than releases and tours this past week. Kaskade stated the obvious on his Tumblr: “Put simply, EDM is not the new kid on the block.” Boys Noize, in an interview with Gawker, called dance music “dumb”. Zedd says he doesn’t like “the word EDM”.
Deadmau5 made a rather scathing critique of dubstep. In an interview with Fuse, the Canadian producer said: “I don’t hate it for the culture, I love it for the culture. I don’t hate it for the artists. I hate it for the f***ing sound.
Over the last seven days, various singles came out. First, there was Steve Angello’s “Yeah,” his first recording on Size Records after returning to his solo career. Then, October 8 was hit with two trance singles: Super8 & Tab’s remix of Armin Van Buuren’s “I’ll Listen” and Aruna’s “Save the Day,” out on Armind and Black Hole Recordings, respectively. On another trance note, Kryder put out “Damages” on Musical Freedom.
For full-length releases, EDM duo Synchronice are giving away an EP of remixes, called Just Because.
Meanwhile, in odd single-related news, American Idol’s Kimberly Locke just scored her fifth Dance Club Play charts single with new track “Finally Free.” While American Idol finalists have gone onto successful or modest pop, rock, and country careers, Locke seems like the only to dabble moderately with dance.
For other release-related news, Armin Van Buuren joined the ranks of other EDM artists with documentaries. His A Year With Armin Van Buuren premiered this week on YouTube.
As a precursor to new EDM releases, Sharam announced the return of his Yoshitoshi sub-label Shinichi Records and his new Dirt Jugglerz Records. His new imprints will serve as platforms for music from Ahmet Sendil and Heren.
For live appearances, Dutch artists Jacob Van Hage and Ummet Ozcan announced their North American tours this week. Swedish House Mafia, for 2013, added a fifth San Francisco show to their final tour. Last week, we touched on the Something Wicked festival, a Halloween-related Donnie Disco event in Houston, and this week, Kaskade was announced as one of the headliners.
For other notable EDM events, there’s the Electronic Music Conference in Australia, which just announced its panel this week, including Tiesto, Diplo, and Tommy Trash. Industry professionals from Ultra Music, Hard Events, At Night Management, EMI, and other labels and clubs will also be present.