Track of the Moment: Beba by PANTyRAiD

Now, before you question how I came across this duo, I was doing some… research on actual panty raids, mostly just when the first one occurred because I was… curious. However, PANTyRAiD (as it’s stylized), was one of many… other things that came… up during my search. Of course, even when I got down from my post-success euphoria these guys still… rubbed me the right way. However, I’ve been holding out on writing an article about them because I wanted to wait until Mark accepted my wager on me being able to make more than 5 sexual references in one article while still being on topic. I think I’ve won.

And I’m not just making these references on my own. The subtitle of their website is “Audio Fondling Your Girlfriend” (jokes on them, I don’t have a girlfriend! ...I’m so lonely…). The duo goes by PantyRaid (which I never understood the appeal of, but you can’t legally buy the kind of stuff I’m into, so…). And let’s not forget the female vocal sample in “Like That” and “Too Fine To Do Time”, or the cover of The Sauce and Superior, their album and EP respectively. Their entire image is built around making your downstairs area feel funny, both men and women. Well, that, and amazing, original beats.

A collaboration between Brooklyn-based MartyParty and LA-based Ooah that started up around 2009, give or take. They’ve done a few shows, but haven’t really put out much music in the 3 years they’ve been around; just their previously mentioned album and EP. Normally I’d expect a little more output from an electronic duo, but this is just a side project for both artists, so I’m not surprised. However, they have been doing shows recently, including an appearance at Sonic Bloom about a month ago, so hopefully they’ll be putting out some new stuff.

PantyRaid re-enacting of the first time me and Mark met

What’s interesting is the difference between their EP, which came out last year, and their first album, which came out in 2009. Their album features a more traditional, but unique, electronic sound, while the EP followed the current trends of electronic music and heavily influenced by dubstep. It’s still within their style (aka good) and focuses more on the lows than the wobble (as dubstep should), but it definitely has some modern influences to it. However, I’m going to focus on The Sauce, since there’s more there and it’s more interesting.

The Sauce focuses on melding a lot of different styles; dancehall, 2-step garage, electronica, glitch, and a little tiny bit of synthpop and chopped and screwed in occasionally comes in. If you don’t know what any of those genres sound like, I don’t blame you. I personally had to search through a rather long list of genres and figure out which ones applied, and I’m sure I missed a few, since there’s a lot of overlap and miniscule differences between subgenres and even genres. But don’t think that PantyRaid sounds like every other electronic act out there – they bring something new to the table. Like Squarepusher, these guys like to set up a rather standard melody made of loops for the first minute or 2, then break into some improvised cuts and interjections of synths. It’s hard to pick a particular song to share, but I’ll share “Beba”, which I love, and I feel shows off their influences and style the best. If you want more, you can stream their EP and album from their Soundcloud, like them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter. Oh, and if you like sexy sex, this article, or me, like Frogs on a Log on Facebook for updates on awesome music.

Track of the Moment: Lights by Klaypex

Remember when I said that I would post some good “modern” dubstep? And I did? Well, because I’m lazy and don’t want to discover a new artist good enough for this well-read and popular song/artist spotlight, I’m going to post another dubstep artist who I believe is great for this spot.

If you remember from my top 42 albums, I picked a band that, according to Elliott, doesn’t exist according to Wikipedia. But trust me, Klaypex exists. And they’re doing some good things in the dubstep genre.

As I said in my previous article, I’m a huge fan of the open beat and relying on the strength of the sample to carry a song, especially in dubstep. And while I may rail against Skrillex (expect a post about how I heard of Skrillex before "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites"), his influence on electronic music as a whole is easy to see. It’s arguable that he’s what brought dubstep into the mainstream, and now every electronic song needs to have a drop, and many use an LFO, although very quietly and as a base for what they’re focusing on. I don’t want to say Klaypex studied in the school of Skrillex, but they definitely took a few courses there (which isn't a bad thing).

Their wobble, much like Skrillex’s, hangs out a lot in the mid-range, and comes at you fairly hard. But it’s not overwhelming; it’s very neat and organized and well-thought out. While it’s not the Chrispy level of organized chaos, it’s enough to get you moving like an idiot (unless you’re part of the .00000001% who got the moves like Jagger) and sounds fantastic. Also, they rely on the sample to not only create the tone, but also the track. Unlike most modern dubstep DJs, they throw in fragments of the sample throughout the song, and use a variety of other electronic noises to make their tracks, although the wobble is still at the forefront.

One thing I like is variety in my wobble. Not a Skrillex level of variety (which is too much), but enough to keep the track interesting. It also shows off the skill of the guy making the song. See, DJing is just as hard as learning to play guitar (and many other instruments). Once you learn the basic fingering and strumming of a guitar, you can learn how to play power chords in half a day. Similarly, once you figure out what each button on the digital controller does, you can learn how to make dubstep songs within a day. Hell, this guy makes a simple one in 5 minutes. However, when you add complexity to it, with a variety of tones, lengths, and samples, it shows the skill of the DJ, and a dedication to making it “music”, not just "noise", and that’s what Klaypex does. They vary the wobble frequently, but don’t try to over-vary and over-layer the track with it.

Also, they get big ups for using a sped up and pitch shifted “Yellow!” from Monty Python and the Holy Grail on the track “Not Getting Any Better” (if they don’t, I apologize for the gross misinformation). Also they’re pretty cool guys, judging by their Facebook page (and this is in no way an attempt to get them to share this article, because I totally wouldn’t whore myself like that).

Unfortunately, they aren’t giving out Loose Dirt for free anymore (I got mine free, suckers), but they have a few of the songs for free on their website, and their Soundcloud page has free streaming of Loose Dirt, and their new album Ready to Go.