My worst bet of the past five years is not that EDM would take over the world of pop. That’s exactly what happened. But how it would take over the world of pop and I got that wrong. I thought Drop The Lime would be blue print for the modern rock band. Drums, synths, bass, another bass, protools, mixing board, Midem, lead singer. Like that. I thought modern EDM would be the equivalent of a self contained unit, like a rock band, using electronic gadgetry to enhance what could be done with a live sound and that isn’t what happened at all.
What happened was DJ Producers farmed out tracks to pros who added beats, voices, wrote lyrics, and then returned it and the DJ manufactured the finished deal before adding a vocal on top. Song writing by committee and I don’t see anything wrong with it except it lacks the tightness of a rock band, or of the future Drop The Lime never reached.
The dream for EDM was that better living through electronics could change the face of the rock band by opening up all the possibilities of a four piece band… to throw the doors of EDM wide so you can make anything happen in a live setting.
Instead, EDM closed down so thoroughly that even the beiggest bands, even Swedish House mafia, have been caught playing tapes instead of mixing live.
That’s the future missed on stage, music coming alive.