Skrillex, Recess, Enough Said

By Eric Hirsch

Sonny Moore, better known as Skrillex, just dropped an atomic bomb on the music industry. After much hype slathered in speculation, Sonny Moore released his long awaited LP, “Recess,” and did it in the most Skrillexy way possible. Set for release March 18, “Recess” will go platinum and might just break a record or two, no pun intended. Like the EDM industry, Skrillex has proven that he isn’t fading but rather gaining steam.

Sonny Moore did a long awaited AMA or ‘Ask Me Anything’ on Reddit on the first Friday of March. He quietly mentioned he has a new smartphone app called Alien Ride, an-asteroids style mini game with a countdown, that is essentially black-tar heroin for his fans. The countdown ended last Monday, when Skrillex began releasing his album in a streamable form via the app.

The first order of business after work on that date was checking /r/skrillex – a modern-day hub of everything devoted to the Bespectacled one – at home only to discover the whole sub was ablaze with excitement. Fellow redditor, Skrillex fan and tech wiz Tom Lube was posting the songs to Soundcloud as they were released to help broaden the range of availability. The experience was like opening presents on Christmas day, each surprise better than the last.

Much vaunted opening number “All is Fair In Love and Brostep” already topples “Still Gettin It” as my favorite Skrillex production. The back-story, involving a feud, is as compelling as the track.

To wit, in June of 2013 Skrillex completed a right of passage in the DJ/Producer world and released a BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix. In that mix he played a song that became known as “Untitled DJ Tool/This Much Power.” In September of that year, the producer Zomboy released a song called “Terror Squad” that sounded rather similar to “Untitled DJ Tool."

Many accused Zomboy of ripping off Skrillex, neither of whom offered any comment. Instead, Skrillex’s response was to lift the first drop from Zomboy’s "Terror Squad,” polish it, and put it in ‘Untitled DJ Tool.“ He also took Zomboy’s signature hook "It’s f-cking Zomboy” and changed it to “It’s F-Eking HA HA!” Burn. He added some Ragga Twin vocals to it and boom it’s Skrillex squared. Aptly titled “All is Fair In Love and Brostep” is Skrillex’s way of saying he is not afraid of being ripped off because he’s setting the standard and continues to raise the bar.

The title track “Recess” – featuring Kill the Noise, Fatman Scoop, and Michael Angelakos of Passion Pit – is a 104 BPM club banger. This song should prove to be a signature for DJ’s around the world for all of 2014 and is already a fan favorite.

“Stranger,” featuring KillaGraham and Sam Dew, churns to a dark and energetic break-beat, and more ripe fodder for DJ’s who will milk it for all it’s worth.

“Try It Out,” featuring Alvin Risk, is already a favorite amongst brostep lovers. The song was previously released as an EP.

The jazz-meets-hip-hop-inflected “Coast Is Clear,” guest starring Chance the Rapper and The Social Expiriment, is drum and bass at it’s core, and the raspy vocals by up-and-comer Chance the Rapper is sure to thrive in radio rotation.

“Dirty Vibe,” a trap beast that brings together Diplo, G-Dragon and CL was allegedly made in a hotel room in South Korea on a whim but sounds far from it. It is going to become a trap staple overnight, and righteously so.

“Ragga Bomb,” the second of two songs that boast the Ragga Twins, has more energy than a super nova. The track is distorted, bit crushed, and bassy to a point near, but just shy of, insanity.

“Doompy Poomp” is an experimental glitch track that gets better with age like a fine wine. It’s probably the most raw and honest form of what Sonny is capable of in a studio.

“F-cK That” is Sonny’s stab at deep house, although not quite slow enough for that crowd but definitely the deepest Sonny has gone with a house track. F-ck that beat up…do what?

“Ease My Mind,” with Niki & The Dove, introduces Middle Eastern accents to a dubstep banger. This song is ethereal, sad and uplifting at the same time, and heavy as a tank.

“Fire Away,” featuring, appropriately enough, Kid Harpoon, serves as the perfect closer. Clearly influenced by Aphex Twin, the track is spacey and chill while giving you just enough bass to nod your head.

“Recess” is brilliant.

Bravo, Sonny! Bravo!

Now a little history.

I was one of, if not the first, DJ to play Skrillex at a club in Connecticut. Skrillex’s music first came to me via a friend who was visiting from L.A. and told me about this guy Sonny making waves in the local Electronic Music scene there. In 2009, armed with a couple Lady Gaga remixes and his first EP as Skrillex on the horizon, Sonny Moore was quietly gathering momentum that would change dance music forever.

Sonny started his music career in 2004 at the tender age of 16 as the lead singer of post-hardcore band From First to Last and quickly became a teenage heart-throb. He was heartily embraced by the Warped Tour community and built a foundation that would help launch his alter ego Skrillex years later. In 2007 he started his solo career slowly transitioning to writing electronic dance music.

In 2008, he dedicated 100% of his efforts to learning electronic music production and began releasing demos as Skrillex.

I’ve been fortunate enough to see Skrillex on every tour he’s done and witnessed him grow as a producer and DJ and, like a proud father, have loved every minute of it.

At Illangello’s album release party, I was fortunate enough to meet Sonny. We discussed how great and influential Aphex Twin is and how dearly we love his music. It’s true what they say, Sonny is the nicest, most professional, and grateful person you will ever meet. This was made obvious by the first thing him saying to me was that he liked my shirt, black with a gold Shield of Hyrule on it. Are you kidding me? It’s not every day that you get to meet your idol and it goes better than you can imagine.

All in all, “Recess” reps an eclectic mix of collaborations and genres with the biggest and tightest production we’ve seen from Skrillex yet, indicating that the EDM industry doesn’t appear to be peaking any time soon.

We don’t yet know what EDM is capable of but Skrillex is surely going to help show us.

Pre Order “Recess” Here!

Here’s a bonus for reading the article!

Duck Sauce-NRG(Skrillex, Kill the Noise, Milo & Otis Remix)