We love a bit of Monstercat. As far as independent labels go, they are doing a damn fine job of championing some of the world’s most exciting electronic music artists. So when we got our hands on the new compilation album, Endeavour, for a measly 10 Canadian bucks, we were pretty happy. Once again, the mood is very happy clappy and regular fans will be pleased to hear some heavyweight dubstep, chillstep, trap and drum n bass all up in the mix. For us, though, there were a few standout tracks that deserve a shoutout.
Au5 – Snowblind (feat. Tasha Baxter)
Au5 stays true to form with this thunderous dubstep beast. A piano melody kicks us off before Tasha Baxter’s vocal brings the hands-in-the-air prelude. The snares build up and roll us over to an uplifting 4/4 beat before that drops out, reforms and then smashes things up again with a more familiar dubstep pattern, killer snares and synths going berserk. A little cheesy, perhaps, so we’ll call this one a guilty pleasure. That vocal is ace.
Rootkit – Against The Sun (feat. Anna Yvette)
Another great vocal here courtesy of Anna Yvette, lending her silky smooth tones to an upbeat dubstep tune from Rootkit. This one is going to send dancefloors into fits of hugging and high-fives, no doubt, with it’s strangely gaelic undertones and trance synths combined with just the right amount of oomph to keep people dancing.
Varien – Valkyrie II: Lacuna (feat. Cassandra Kay)
The female vocalists keep on delivering. This time it’s Cassandra Kay throwing down on Varien’s emo-rock, dance music fusion of a tune here. Valkyrie II: Lacuna gives a clear nod to the likes of Evanescence, but it’s not as overbearing as the offerings of that particular rock group. Really this tune could be on the score of a videogame or a movie about vampires and werewolves. We’re not overly familiar with Cassandra Kay, but defo hope to hear more from her soon.
Sushi Killer & Kevin Villecco – Anime Bae
This one doesn’t have a vocal and the weird intro comes like something that might come out of a Sega Mega Drive, but have no fear for this is just a glimpse into the glory of this laidback hip hop beat, with shades of Nujabes about it. The chords are distinctly quirky and the name of tune, Anime Bae, sums it up really.
Pegboard Nerds – BADBOI
When you’ve got with a name like BADBOI, you can pretty much imagine what you’re gonna get. Rude bwoy samples, dark bass and trap drums. Nothing too out of the box, but it got us bopping. Top effort.
