EDM – CHUNES

By 25782697 on EDM, Recommendations tagged #Barrycantswim, #EDM, #Music, #UKMusic, #Underrated- Leave a comment

Barry can’t swim, but he’s flying to the top!

The vibrant new EDM producer has gone from strength to strength providing so many of us with this summer’s soundtrack.

The London-based DJ Barry Can’t Swim (real name Joshua Mannie) is without doubt one to watch in the electronic scene. Barry‘s groovy samples and jazz-infused melodic house tracks have already built him a sea of fans desperate to see his sets and I am certain this is just the beginning.

The Scottish born producer blends a variety of dance music sub-genres, including disco, garage and jungle. Barry‘s sound has a unique feel, as he is heavily inspired by traditional jazz music. Interestingly, his appreciation for jazz music started from an early age, as he learnt to play the piano at age 9 and then worked in various jazz bars during his teenage years, purposely surrounding himself with the more traditional style of music.

Barry Cant Swim started creating his own dance hits in 2020, working hard to produce a number of extended projects and singles and he has been unstoppable ever since. His newest EP ‘How it feels‘ is currently on repeat for me with it’s emotive feel, colourful samples and refreshing energy.

2023 has already been an incredibly successful year for Barry Can’t Swim. This year, the producer has massively increased his exposure, attending a number of festivals as well being invited to do a set with the notorious Boiler Room in his hometown of Edinburgh.

Barry can’t Swim – Boiler Room – Edinburgh (2023)

Despite his newfound fame, Barry seems to be remaining humble, telling 10magazine that the greatest highlight of his career so far is simply “seeing people you’ve never met before in places you’ve never been before singing along” telling them “it’s still so surreal”.

Barry‘s rise in popularity is not surprising due to the EDM scene in the UK booming in the last couple of years. A report by the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) revealed that electronic music is the most popular genre at UK festivals overtaking rock – which has dominated for decades. In the last year, similar British EDM artists have had wider global success for example Fred Aagin.. and Fourtet have quickly risen to the top even headlining the iconic Coachella with fellow producer Skrillex.

Barry is set to release his debut album ‘When Will We land?‘ on the 20th of October.

“it’s a huge personal milestone for me, after 10 months of solid writing plus a whole 20+ years of dreaming about it. I’ve poured every thing I have into it, and really hope yous like it”
– Barry via Instagram on his upcoming album

Personally, I’m very intrigued about the new album as the young DJ has recently taken his sound in a new direction by releasing more chilled, melodic downtempo tracks for example ‘Sonder‘ and ‘God is the space between us‘. So, I’m excited to see what it will be like and how it will be received.

Check out his music below and please comment any other underrated similar artists.

5 Sep

By 25782697 on Concert review, EDM tagged #concertreview, #Fredagain, #UKMusic- Leave a comment

Fred Again.. at Alexandra Palace – a euphoric and unforgettable show like no other!

Alley Palley night 1: Fred was in his element! The performance was flawless, from live remixing to incredible visuals but perhaps incomplete?

Last week, the 30-year-old Electronic producer, Fred Gibson, announced on Instagram that he is beyond excited for the show, and that each night of his tour will be different, including setlist, and remixing songs live.

On the 4^th of September Fred Again.. played his first show of his European tour and the first of his four shows inside London’s Alexandra palace. The London-born EDM performer smiled in disbelief as he told the crowd, that he grew up going to the iconic concert venue. On the screen he wrote “nothing is ever as good as playing at home”.

Alley Palley opened its doors opened at 7pm. The queues were bearable and after taking time to get some food and drink inside, I made my way into the actual venue and took my spot not far from the front barrier. The support act was London-based EDM duo, Joy Anonymous who played for around 30 minutes starting at 8pm. Their set was lively and well-performed, which set up perfectly for Fred’s show.

After a long wait in what can only be described as a greenhouse due to the venues large glass roof, Fred was finally on at 9pm. Despite the extreme heat and underlying smell of sweat the crowd remained in high spirits throughout the whole show, selflessly helping pass cups of water back to help those struggling in the middle of the crowd.

Fred Again.. opened with the wholesome spoken-word poem turned dance track, Kyle (i found you) whilst the audience screamed every word. Then Fred seamlessly flowed into a handful of emotional songs from his trio of albums titled ‘Actual Life’. This included Bleu (better with time), Tate (how i feel) and into the more energetic track Kammy (like i do).

Then, Fred asks if he can try something he hasn’t tried in a long time, he parted the sea of fans down the middle and walked through eagerly to a smaller stage set up in the middle of the room. The producer then hit the exhilarated crowd with fan-favourites Jungle and popular grime dance track Rumble, playing the song twice and making a completely new unheard remix as he adds heavy drum sounds live.

The king of electronic music then returned to the front stage keeping the high energy and live drums as he teased an unreleased song that samples Baby Keem’s ‘South Africa’. For me, this was when the show went up a level from very good to incredible.

The music then slowed down, as Fred transitioned into his new song, 2023 summer release, adore u, that features the beautiful vocals of Obongjayar. The gentle glittery notes were received with pure elation amongst the crowd. Fred announced, “this one is for your brothers and sisters,” dedicating the song to his sister, whom he wrote the song about. Some people around me were even moved to tears as the song played alongside a compilation of heartfelt videos of loved ones filmed by fans.

The emotions continued to run high, as Fred played his euphoric remix of Frank Ocean’s ‘Channel’ as a video of the beloved singer performing played on the large screen. The crowd then erupted when hearing the first few chords of Delilah (pull me out of this), chanting the melody as they waited for the drop. Simultaneously, the main screen showed videos of fireworks travelling up above the heads of fans onto the huge overhanging screens that fans could look up above to.

For the next track Fred Again.. told fans hold up their phone torches and blue plastic squares they were given in the queue creating a sea of small blue lights. The interactive idea was great in theory, but as the lights in the room were already blue, it didn’t work as well as the producer may have hoped.

The incredible show closed with Angie (Ive been lost). Fred Again.. commanded the crowd to sing along, splitting them into 2 sides and at the end asking them to sing in unison, creating an overwhelmingly ecstatic atmosphere to end the show.

Unfortunately, the only thing stopping this show from being a perfect 5/5 stars was the abrupt ending. Personally, the sudden ending made the show feel slightly incomplete without an encore as a few popular songs were still left to play and it had not yet reached 11pm. For example, the high energy Marea (we lost dancing), Baby Again.. and Turn On The Lights again.. were all missing.

However, as I mentioned earlier, each show is supposed to be unique from each other so it makes sense that some songs will be swapped so he can have a different setlist each night. This didn’t make it any easier for the loving fans who waited at least 15 minutes hoping for an encore.

To see exclusive videos from the show follow our TikTok @chunesmp

19 Feb

By 25782697 on Album Reviews, EDM, Other tagged #albumreview, #EDM, #Fredagain, #international, #Newalbum, #Newmusic, #Skrillex, #SkrillexQuestForFire- Leave a comment

‘Quest for Fire’ by Skrillex – Flawless mixing, versatility and UK scene influences

The dubstep king, Skrillex, has returned with his first solo album since 2014 with ‘Quest For Fire’, an album that really embodies the versatility of the EDM genre!

Perhaps Sonny’s newly formed friendship with the two Brits, Fred Gibson (Fred Again..) and Kieran (Four Tet) has not only effected his popularity but his music too. The first of 2 albums to be released in 2023 feels heavily influenced by UK garage culture as well as drum and bass. This is emphasised by the choice of features for example grime rapper Flowdan on both ‘Rumble‘ and ‘Hydrate‘. Similarly, third track ‘Tears‘ features the underground British grime and dubstep producer Joker, an odd but fitting choice that highlights the array of different sub-genre influences Skrillex wanted on the album.

The 15 song album is very well-curated and the mix of genres keeps the listener guessing. The majority of songs are either 2 or 3 minutes and in such a short time they all manage to pack a punch.

Despite ‘Quest For Fire‘ being extremely energetic and almost hectic, the tracks themselves are not overproduced. In an interview with Radio 1’s Jack Saunders, Skrillex said that when first producing fan favourite ‘Rumble‘ with Fred Again.. he nearly did too much and overproduced it. The pair joked about kicking fellow producer and friend Kieran (Four Tet) off the track and him being an honorary producer, “his biggest role in ‘Rumble‘ was the most important role, which was to make sure we didn’t overproduce it and fuck it up”. I think it is clear that Skrillex has carried this advice when finishing the production of the album.

Personally, I very much enjoyed the lack of major pop star features on this project in comparison to some of his previous work that featured the likes of Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran. This adds to the authenticity as each feature seems specially chosen, which brings something unique to the song.

Standout Tracks

‘RATATA‘ is one of the more commercial and mainstream tracks that definitely belongs to the dance pop category. It features the iconic Hip Hop artist Missy Elliott‘s great vocals that mix perfectly alongside the sample of ‘Positif‘ by Mr Oizo to create a high-energy feel-good tune.

‘Hydrate‘, the brother of viral track, ‘Rumble‘ is in my opinion just as good if not better. UK grime MC Flowdan appears for the second time on the album with an excellent verse that really catches the listeners attention. Flowdan himself sums up the clean production of this track: “it’s simple, not complicated”.

‘Supersonic (my existence)‘ was already a fan favourite when Skrillex released it in 2021. This is probably due to its nostalgic feel as it’s very old school Skrillex with a dubstep-led sound. The slow atmospheric intro paired with eery vocals really helps to build the song up to the hard and bassy beat drop.
Skrillex and Porter Robinson at Sky Fest (2019)
The final track ‘Still Here (with the ones that I came with)‘ is the perfect close to an emotional journey of an album. The title is pretty self explanatory with Sonny reaching out to those in the music industry he started out with, perhaps trying to reassure fans he has not changed despite over a decade of fame. This is illuminated by the collaboration with Porter Robinson a producer he has had many years of friendship with.

The album as a whole shows off Skrillex‘s flawless mixing and creativity with an unbelievable blend of tracks with a fitting list of guest features. Although I can see why people may find it too chaotic and lacking a clear narrative, personally I enjoyed the experimental element of the project. I think the multiple sub-genres included especially from the UK scene were used successfully and highlighted his innovativeness and versatility as an artist.