Shuffle and Stories: Episode 1
Shuffle and Stories is an attempt to get a more personal look on why we feel the way we do about music.
Shuffle and Stories is an attempt to get a more personal look on why we feel the way we do about music. Music is like art, subjective, and that means that everyone has a different way at looking at one album or band. Every week Ill pick from one of ten songs when my library is on shuffle and talk about the music but also talk about why I personally like it or tell any personal stories regarding the music.
As much as I would love to geek out over a bunch of cool arrangements of Super Mario World music I knew what I was talking about when the second Angerfist came through the speakers. Easily my favorite Gabber artist and one of the most famous performers in the genre, Angerfist was my gateway into the music style and the music was so effective to me that I rarely listen to anyone else. It was somewhere around 2008-2009, when I still used the MSNinstant messaging client to keep in touch with the random people I met on the internet, I had some pretty cool European friends and in our discussions about music they would tell me about Gabber which at the time was not only alien to me but apparently very popular over there. They spoke about it with this grandiose feeling, it seemed like it was this massive genre and meanwhile over in the states I had never heard such a type of music. At first I couldnt get into it, it just didnt click with me and I was honestly kind of confused over something sounding this dark and distorted being as popular at was. I was talking to a friend in Germany about Scooter, an amazingly successful dance music group, and I was told that the main hook from their song One (Always Hardcore) was sampled from a Gabber song called Always Hardcore. I was linked to the song and distinctly remember just not getting it at all. Even to this day I still dont like the track, the melodies seem wonky and the chorus was just so bland I didnt see the appeal. http://youtu.be/P__rK9R9PVI Eventually one of my friends named Sammy told me about Angerfist and how the guy was absolutely taking over the world of Gabber. She sent me this Youtube video (posted below) covering the release show for Angerfists newest album Mutilate and suddenly it all clicked. Watching the crowd, alcohol and cigarettes in hand, let loose in this massive venue while Angerfist played on this stage build to suit 80s Metal bands with all the pointed objects and fire blasts was exhilarating. I was just overtaken by how cool everything was, my only thought was holy crap do I want to be there! Back then I was highly apprehensive over going to a club and dancing because it felt like just a judgmental culture (also I lived out where there was only one club and it was super sketchy) but as the camera went through all these shots of the crowd it was completely different. Everyone had a smile on their face dancing around in their own way, silly or not, and I just felt different to how I saw clubs here in the US. http://youtu.be/TAR0lVF-LnA Angerfists music was just so powerful. Not only was it incredibly heavy with how distorted and fast all the beats were but the subject material was so violent. In the segments between the heavy hitting music there would be lines with a variety of depraved content from barely legible sexual speech to stories of wicked serial killers. All of this just drove home the amount of force behind the music, it was like standing on the tracks in front of an oncoming train, scary, ominous, and you knew you were going to move. I will give it that if youve heard one Angerfist song youve pretty much heard them all. His work all follows the same formula of voice samples, the calm build-up, and the mad raving beats the genre is known for so youll rarely find surprises but since the music is so visceral and in-your-face thats hardly a problem. Its all about being as hard and powerful as possible and Angerfist sure knows how to deliver. I mentioned earlier that I hardly listen to any other Gabber artist nowadays, sure I have some Neophyte in my library and theres a couple cool compilations featuring other big names like Rotterdam Terror Corps but with the stupid amounts of content Angerfist puts out Im more than satisfied. His newest album Retaliate is three discs with fifteen tracks each totaling a little less than four hours of dance music, its almost ridiculous how much is packed into his album releases. Even now in 2012 I cant think of anything as big or as nasty as Gabber thats happening in the states, or at least that Im aware of. Sadly that means Im most likely never going to be able to attend a good Gabber concert without dropping some seriously money on travel but its been a couple years and Im still more than content with turning out my lights at night and blasting Angerfist while I rage around my room.