Album:Activate
Year Released:2013
Rating:⅘
Where to Buy?http://beartraxx.bandcamp.com/album/activate or https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/activate/id642537073
This month I am bringing a review of an independent EDM artist that goes by the names BearTraxx and GNR8R(real name being Clif.) I discovered this truly one of a kind artist purely by accident on Tumblr one day and was instantly intrigued. After a quick preview on itunes I decided that this would be my next music purchase. Well, I bought it last week and instantly decided that this would be my next review. I have listened to nothing else, lived with this album in the car, at home, at the gym, even when I’m in the bath. Very rarely does EDM make me go to a place this brings me. What is that place? Pure Si-Fi, futuristic peacefulness. Clif(GNR8R) uses old school techniques with new synths mixed with retro si-fi sound fxs to create a new type of EDM. With songs like Primordial and Malestorm, I am transported into a late 1980s Star Trek episode. He also adds something new to the Dubstep world. With the song Step Side Down, he melds familiar dubstep qualities(syncopated drum hits, wobble synths,) with some unique synth patches and layers in some nice melody, a nice break away from the typical dubstep of transformer type bass over a rigid drum beat. Another favorite for me is the use of vocal effects. In the songs Who’s Got The Funk(Titled Bryan’s Got The Funk on Soundcloud.), Anonymous, and Forced Entry, Vocoded Vocals are used to help tell the story of the song instead of just being a mere vocal effect. When you listen to this album, it is obvious that this is not an ordinary EDM album of our time. Rather, this is the work of a true musician who happens to use a computer to make music, instead of an engineer who happens to make music. I give this album ⅘ because of it’s truly unique sense of sound and energy. You can buy this album at the links above, as well as follow the artist on all the social media by searching BearTraxx, or GNR8R.
