Saturday 5 April 2014

E is for EDM! Dance The Blues Away

There were so many things on my list for today and many could be connected so I picked the one that has the most importance for me and links so many of the others. Yes, Electronic Dance Music (EDM) has finally seeped into my very consciousness, thanks to a certain DJ Soulshaker aka Cold of Cold's Gold Factory.

So what were the other possible E words for todays post? Well, eclectic is one I've used to describe myself in the past and my music taste is definitely eclectic. My collection has everything from Barbra Streisand to Meatloaf, Led Zeppelin to Buddy Holly and nowadays, Kaskade, Tiesto and Zedd, just to name a few of my favorite DJ's.

Entertainment, Energy, Enthusiasm and Ecstasy all crossed my mind for todays topic and having watched hours of the livestream of the Ultra Musical Festival in Miami last weekend, three of those were very much in evidence. Thousands of EDM fans descended on Miami for 3 days & nights of energetic dancing and entertainment whilst over one hundred thousand watched via livestream, undoubtedly with the volume up high and dancing around their computer desks! I know I was although I must have looked funny because I was 'tethered' by my headphones!

Ecstasy of course, is an illegal drug, often associated with raves and therefore EDM but having danced the night and the blues away on many an occasion myself, without any illegal help, the music itself brings a kind of euphoria I've not found with other genres. A few glasses of wine or a couple of martinis does help me though, put the music on and I can drift away into my own little world. When stuff is getting me down, it really helps to focus on the music and just lose myself in it.

I wrote about depression yesterday and it was just about the time I was recovering from my last major episode when Cold introduced me to EDM. I had been listening to Breaking Benjamin, which I really enjoyed, knew all the words to and could sing along to for hours. It was only recently when I revisited some of their songs that I realised just how damn depressing their lyrics were. I could almost feel myself sinking as I listened to the first few tracks, it was uncanny enough that I switched it off and deleted them from my hard drive.

There are multiple genres within the broad category of EDM too and I'm not musical at all so I do find them rather confusing. I do know what I like though and following Youtube suggestions when I listen to a track I know, helps me find others I like. I like Deep House, Vocal Trance and Chillout style for background when I'm doing yoga or pilates. Truth be told, there's not much I don't like although Dubstep and Drum & Bass spring to mind for the least favourite category!

I even have some playlists on Youtube so if you want to have a listen to stuff I like, check out my Sweet playlist or perhaps my Gotta Dance one. I like to leave them playing in the background when I'm doing other stuff although the Youtube adverts do get annoying after a while!



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2 comments:

  1. I know who Kaskade is--she sang "Every Time We Touch," correct? And "Evacuate the Dance Floor," which is a really good song, too.

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    1. Hi Stephanie, thank you for stopping by. I'm sorry to say but you're thinking of Cascada! This Kaskade is a guy but I think you'd like his stuff too :)

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