Finding new good music on the internet is kind of like finding a ten dollar bill on the street. You pick it up. Even though you know it may be dirty, you put it in your pocket. It’s dirty because it has been places. You know that 10 dollar bill has been used by a great deal of people and probably has germs, but who cares? The thing has value. But does its value come from the bill itself? Nope. It’s just a piece of paper. The true value comes from what you can get with it. Finding a 10 dollar bill is like picking up a little piece of power that fits in your hand. Well, finding new good music is similar to finding money. But instead of getting purchasing power, you are accessing emotional power. When you listen to music, you can put on a pair of headphones and literally control what emotions you would like to experience. Let your mp3 playlist be your palette for your mind. For example, you can listen to relaxing ambient music to tap into tranquil emotions and the music will help you become more relaxed. I used to do this all the time when listening to The Future Sound of London’s, LIFEFORMS.That double CD would let my mind drift for hours. But when you find music on MySpace Music or other music listening services you have access to literally tons of artists and tracks to preview. There is a lot of music rough edges on the internet, but sometimes you find a rare gem that you want to listen to over and over again. That kind of music is like finding a 10 dollar bill, because you can listen to it in your player and tap into emotions. But yesterday a 100 dollar bill found me, symbolically speaking. An artist from London who currently resides in Dublin called Derj. Derj is extremely talented. His music spans from pounding Drum and Bass to thought provocative electronica. I say his music was like having a 100 dollar bill finding me because he has so many excellent full tracks to listen to on his MySpace. The music takes the listener on a journey while directly taping into a specific emotional response along the way. The way he enters each emotion is by using excellent production, tasteful use of structure and intimate layering skills.
Listen to Derj on MySpace Now
Derj’s songs, Summit and Skitzofrenik are superb. Summit is an intriguing song with a twisting tempo and amazing layering. It starts with repetitive violin sounding instruments that set the foundation for a song that makes me reminisce. When I listened to it the first time I finished hearing the track and I thought there was something wrong with my player because time had gone by so fast. At around 2 minutes and 20 seconds Derj implements a really innovative bridge that ties into the second half of the song. During the bridge these strange sounding crying-like instruments speak into your ears and force you to take a break from Derj’s pleasant beat. There are also these oscillating bell-like sounds that are almost creepy. But when the beat kicks back in Derj takes you back on the primary journey and does so with friendly organic sounds.
Derj is a London artist residing in Dublin
Skitzofrenik is a Derj track that is more up-beat Drum and Bass. The track is aggressive and is the kind of music I could totally imagine myself dancing to at a Drum and Bass club or rave. The bass/drum combination mixed with the wet snare give Skitzofrenik a feeling that puts the listener in center of the audio pocket. There are even these small sounds of what I imagine imps or pygmies yelling “Go!” at me. I love it! At around 1 minute there is a sweet buildup where minor distorted organs show the listener the destruction that has occurred. I feel like a student being taught an important lesson in history and wisdom and restraint by an old wizard-like teacher during this part. Then at 3 minutes the beat drop and you are left a grippingly sick, organic rhythm. Then small sounds add beautiful layers to the music preparing you for a large movement at 4 minutes and 45 seconds. The guitar-like lead takes off and rocks you while you take a look back and witness all the chaos that had to take place in order to get you to your new state of survival-awareness. At the end of the song you hear the sounds from the beginning, but after all you’ve been through, it sounds different. Now you understand it better, because you have seen smaller parts of a much larger, much more dangerous machine.
Overall I think Derj is a master at this whole music thing and I recommend that you visit him on MySpace now and listen to Summit and Skitzofrenik. Once you have heard those two songs, venture on and listen to the rest of his music. But if you read this article you should not miss out on Summit and Skitzofrenik. For they are great examples of detailed modern musicianship crafted with the utmost skill and precision.
