Are bass drops inevitable nowadays? Long gone are the brostep shenanigans of Skrillex with a herd of rising EDM munchkins shuffling through the unknown land. In this day and age, dubstep is a gimmick. It has led to countless parodies (including my personal favourite, “When Will The Bass Drop?”, a Saturday Night Live sketch) and has resulted in being the punchline of every electronica-related jab.

Listening to a band’s first release is a lot like the aftermath of a first date. Best case scenario you find yourself in total bliss, eagerly wanting more, worst case scenario you feel bitter and betrayed. With that being said, Wild Love’s debut self-titled release falls very much in the first of those scenarios.

Tame Impala were never meant to be as famous as they are now. Five years ago, Innerspeaker, the band’s first album, treaded lightly in the large indie pond. That album was the brainchild of Kevin Parker, doused in reverb, distortion, and subtle influences from psychedelic initiatives. Tame Impala made it seem like they were trying to sound like The Beatles for a new generation.

[heading size=”15″ align=”left”]50. Waxahatchee – Ivy Tripp[/heading]
Waxahatchee has been one of those artists who seems to scrape the bottom of the barrel. There’s nothing wrong with Katie Crutchfield’s style of producing music yet somehow her musical appearance never accesses as much attention as it deserves. Ivy Tripp manages to be Waxahatchee’s first fully-captivating album.

Will Wiesenfeld is delightful. This is obvious after only a few minutes in his presence. Earlier in the day, he’d suggested via text that we meet at 4:30 at the venue in Toronto he was performing at that night as part of NXNE at The Phoenix Theatre. I texted back, “Make it 4:20 and we have a deal,” nervous about whether he would appreciate the joke.

Nicholas Jaar is unmatched and incomparable to other’s in electronic music at the moment. While other’s search for hits, for something fresh, for themselves, etc. Nicholas Jaar floats along as an entity all his own. His music is a collage, a tapestry, of textures, sounds and samples that unmask emotions and thoughts to the mind.