Meta-Stories in Music: deadmau5’s “The Veldt”
You might call Joel Zimmerman, who goes by the enigmatic stage name deadmau5, a musical dissident. The 31 year old phenomenon is currently ranked the No. 4 disc-jockey in the world, according to DJMag.com, despite the fact that he prefers not to call himself a DJ. In fact, when recently asked about the future of DJing, he quipped, “DJing has future?” His often controversial remarks garner him both fans and critics alike; regardless, he may have a point. Given his innovative use of unique technology and computer software in his live shows to not only play but even create music on the spot, it’s no wonder he can’t stomach being compared to someone who merely shuffles discs and fades songs to string continuous music together.
Zimmerman’s latest single, titled “The Veldt,” was officially released last Friday on Sirius/XM’S BMP radio show and immediately started making waves on the Web. To call it a work of art would not do it justice. Considering how the track came together—a day-long live-streaming session, the addition of Chris James’ vocals and then the inspiration for the song’s lyrics—you might call the flawlessly crafted final product a complete exposition, a musical creation with pieces preordained to be in sum. Yes, the Niagara Falls native is already known for his progressive approach to track development, but the way “The Veldt” came to fruition is especially unique. According to The Grateful Web:
The Canadian, platinum-selling, independent artist has proven that social networks can provide the necessary tools for bringing a track from concept to completion. During a 22-hour live-streaming session in March, deadmau5 created a new track titled “The Veldt” inspired by a short sci-fi story written by Ray Bradbury. deadmau5 subsequently uploaded the song to his FML SoundCloud page for his fans and the magic of the world wide web took hold overnight. The following day, he found numerous tweets about one vocal version a fan posted to SoundCloud. All airing on his live stream, deadmau5 listened to the version vocalist Chris James created, contacted Chris live to work on the track, and rang his manager immediately to set up an official collaboration.
Clearly, Zimmerman has no qualms with taking inspiration from unlikely places—such as Bradbury’s dark-themed short story—in addition to exploring new forms of collaboration. He continues to show us what it takes to not only be successful in an age of social media, but to stand out in an overflow of noise and deliver an evolving, matchless sound.
34U #2 Grimes, Kindness and The National
I have been all over the place in terms of the music I’ve been exploring the last few days. With that being said, there are a few indie-rock-dance artists I’ve been partial to. They include Grimes, Kindness, and the venerable The National. Read on for some history and for some choice songs.
Genesis by Grimes
Some people are born with the innate instinct to do things differently. Claire Boucher, aka Grimes is one of those people. After having been expelled from Montreal’s McGill University for missing an excessive number of classes, in 2009, the then 21 year-old and her boyfriend built a 20-foot boat with hopes of sailing it from Minneapolis to New Orleans. Alas, engine trouble and the Minneapolis police would cut their trip short.
34U #1: Rae Morris, Porter Robinson and Carousel
You like new music. So do I. I also like to blog about everything, so I think it makes sense that I start a weekly music post to update you on the tracks that I currently have set to repeat. From now on, on a mostly weekly basis, I plan to write about 3 artists and songs that I think you should check out. I may talk about how I found them, why I love them and where you can find them (commercial, television show, movie scene, etc.), or I may just say, “Here: listen. The music speaks for itself.” For the first of these posts, I’d like to introduce you to songs by Rae Morris, Porter Robinson and Carousel.
Personality In Your Playlist: What Your Musical Tastes Say About You
“People who like country and pop might be more simpleminded, and that’s not necessarily bad. They just avoid making things unnecessarily complex.” That’s what Jason Rentfrow of the University of Cambridge in the U.K. and Sam Gosling at the University of Texas at Austin found when studying what your musical tastes can reveal about your personality. Their research, published in 2006, found that assessing a person’s playlist allows for remarkably accurate predictions about their personality.
Their research revealed some things that we might expect – for example, classical and jazz fans generally have above-average IQ scores – but also findings that we may not have anticipated – kids who like gangsta rap or heavy metal are often shier and more timid that most.
(Psychology Today summarizes their findings here nicely. PsyBlog goes deeper into their findings.)
Rentfrow and Gosling’s study was profound, yet small scale. In 2008, Adrian North of Heriot-Watt University carried out the largest study of musical tastes and personalities to date, and he described the research as “significant” and “surprising” according to a BBC article. “We have always suspected a link between music taste and personality. This is the first time that we’ve been able to look at it in real detail. No-one has ever done this on this scale before,” said North.
Seriously Though, When Will YouTube-MP3.org Get Shut Down?
If anyone who downloads and shares music online – without paying for it – is regarded as a thief, then YouTube-mp3.org must be considered the ultimate accomplice. The website is, quite simply, the easiest, frictionless service for snatching the audio from videos online.
YouTube-mp3.org allows you to convert YouTube videos in mp3 audio files in minutes, sometimes seconds and there are no limits as to how many times or how often you can do this.
Something Old, Something New
I think I picked up my first acoustic guitar in the later years of grade school. I started to learn how to read music in grade 7 music class. It was then that I began to play bass guitar and my passion for music started to develop. I remember walking around my house holding my bass, playing nonstop and rarely ever putting it down so long as it didn’t interfere with anything else that I was doing.
The Christmas of grade 8 I got a Washburn bass for Christmas, and although I had never heard of Washburn before, I knew from Guitar World Magazine that Washburn was owned by U.S. Music Corp., a company that also owned Warwick Basses, Marshal Amps and Jay Turser, so it must have been good. The next Christmas I got a Walden acoustic guitar—basically the ultimate beginner’s instrument. I loved it. Even more than my bass. And while I began to play it nonstop, midway through my teens I was playing bass for a punk – yes, punk! – band called Hands of the Few, who I think are actually still together. I also played bass in my big brother’s heavy metal band called Sympozium. Our songs are forever archived on Pure Volume.
Throughout high school my love for music and playing guitar grew stronger and deeper. Day and night I would constantly be searching for new music to download and show friends. Whereas now I’m always on the hunt for new technology, back then, I was fanatical about finding new artists before any of my friends did, so I could be the one to show them. I shopped obsessively for t-shirts of all my favourite bands, which throughout highschool, generally included Thursday, Taking Back Sunday, Underoath, The Starting Line, From First to Last, Armor for Sleep, Boys Night Out, The Spill Canvas, Jamison Parker and other pop-rock acts.
