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Around fifth grade was when I really started to get into music. Before that, music was just something I listened to every now and then and it was mostly whatever was popular. But after having discovered a love for metal, my life changed, and music became a huge portion of it from then on. I basically listened to a lot of rock based music for a couple of years, but by seventh grade I had begun to get into electronic music, which occurred simultaneously with a new love of science fiction and cyberpunk aesthetics. In that sense, I was listening to a lot of rave-centric music like trance and drum and bass and was romanticizing the electronic music scene. Something about the pulsing, synthetic rhythms, the digital synthesizers, the inhuman vocoded voices, everything was like a fantasy to me in a way, because it was just so new and different from anything else I had heard. It didn’t take long for me to denounce much of the former rock based music had listen to and develop a sense of naive yet youthful elitism. It was there when I discovered revolutionary artists like Boards of Canada and Aphex Twin, and began to realize that electronic music even extended into experimental territory, perhaps more than any other genres. That was the real eye opening moment for me; having all these artists playing “intelligent dance music” or “glitch” or “ambient” for me, and it was just an amazing time full of discovery. I listened to a lot of that kind of stuff for about a year until getting back into rock and becoming more of a metalhead than ever. It’s clear that I never really found a balance between genres when I was young, as I would focus almost exclusively on one type rather than listen to a diverse range of genres, something I feel as though I’ve managed to do really well now that I’m older. But that extreme devotion to electronic music is what led to my eventual obsession with all other forms of music, my thirst for finding new and interesting content, and everything in between. And in that sense, that period of my life is definitely part of my nostalgia.
Once I did get into the more experimental genres of electronic music, as well as when I got back into metal and other genres, I realized trance to be a genre riddled with cheesiness. I no longer found myself very interested in four-four beats, bouncy arpeggio synths, and bubblegum vocals, opting instead for more varied music. But now that I’ve become even more open minded, I understand the merits trance music structures have, and the same applies to genres like house as well. I know that the easy going, pop-like sensibilities can be incorporated into all sorts of genres in all sorts of ways, and I now appreciate the influence of genres like these upon things like chillwave and Balearic beat, and even hip-hop in the case of AraabMuzik. First of all, let me clarify that I initially dismissed hip-hop when I was young too, as part of that whole naive pretentiousness I had developed, as if listening to electronic music made me somehow deeper than all the surrounding pop loving plebeians. Obviously that was a stupid conception I had! But anyway, I also initially dismissed AraabMuzik back a year or so ago when he was gaining hype. I just kind of figured he would be another dime-a-dozen, plastic hip-hop act. But now that I finally decided to listen to his album Electronic Dream, ironically after getting into artists like ASAP Rocky and Danny Brown (based largely on the realization that lyrics aren’t everything, and that even when lyrics in rap songs are “juvenile,” it’s all still part of a story or a persona) I regret not listening sooner.
You see, the reason I mentioned all of that musical growth I went through in regards to electronic music is because Electronic Dream really chronicles that well for me, in a sense. Mainly, it has all the elements of trance songs that make it feel like I’m back envisioning the perfect rave. It’s romantic, idealized, and perhaps rather cheesy, but in the best way possible, full of self realization: The realization that sometimes, simplistic approaches to music really do work, and really can provide emotional depth and even a sense of comfort, as you return to a place you thought you would never come back to. In other words, I thought I’d never be listening to something so trancey again, but I am, and I’m loving it. Mixed with bass heavy hip-hop beats, ethereal production on some tracks and gabber like production on others, the album is really like one long, yet varied rave; a big gathering of all these people you’ve met throughout your life and even some new faces, and you’re all just really happy to see each other, whether or the first time in a long time or the first time ever. It’s just full of energy and movement, and full of life, unexpectedly so. The fact that much of the music on this album is created from sampling and deconstructing house and trance tracks really adds to this feeling. The feeling of nostalgia is further exemplified by the random interrupting vocal sample stating “you are now listening to AraabMuzik.” I thought I’d hate that, but I actually like it; it confirms the cheesy nature of trance, but in a manner that makes you smile and remember why you initially found that kind of thing so appealing - and evidently still do according to this album.
Still, there is a bit of a darker side to the album as well. For a hardcore hip-hop producer to work with these kinds of sounds is rather weird in its own way, but the fact that these sounds can be transformed into something so new yet intensely familiar is as well; the fact that it’s like AraabMuzik is toying with you, the musical genius who would never stoop so low as to listen to a mere trance record. But your musical past lingers like a ghost, ready to repeat itself at any given moment even when you think you’ve moved so far ahead. However, it’s not to say this album doesn’t demonstrate musical evolution, though. The combination of club like music with relentless, punchy hip-hop drums, ethereal vocals, and the juxtaposition of euphoria with what can only be described as a raver’s drug-induced-introspection gone array, creates a truly unique listening experience. Electronic Dream really is a dream. It’s a dream of the past, yearning for those simple times, and a dream of the future, of what is yet to come. Moreover, it’s also a dream of the present, trying to make sense of yourself from where you’re standing. AraabMuzik definitely has my attention after hearing this album. For a guy who has been known to sample Cannibal Corpse material to make such an album, that’s just fascinating to me. And while this ain’t exactly on par with upcoming artists like Clams Casino (the comparisons between the two producers extend primarily on the first two tracks on this album, but the similarities exist here and there) this is still very developed and mature. A great experience, listen to it and you will fall in love with music, fall in love with dance, fall in love with anything that makes you want romance.
Overall: 4/5
