Zhu and Aphex Twin

Today I have music for you by two artists that were nominated at the Grammys 2015.  I honestly don't know why, but a part of me really wanted to talk about artists who are popular enough to be in the main spotlight, but also underground enough to the point where a vast majority of their music remains out of the mainstream flow.  The theme for today is dance and electronic music. This first song is by the artist who was nominated for best dance recording. Zhu is an artist who seemed to kind of pop out of nowhere. Zhu is an artist who has stirred a lot of thoughts within the EDM community for a few reasons. First and foremost is the anonymity. While we do know now who Zhu is, there is still this level of remaining a mystery that he maintains. He isn't signed to a big label and does not have a huge website that blasts his music and artist related goods. He releases songs when he feels like he is ready and usually through Soundcloud. His method of live shows is also pretty mysterious and low key. I mean it is literally just flyers that get handed out! He is one of those artists whose face is not plastered on billboards, TV, or the internet. Keeping himself anonymous is almost like a tribute to what Daft Punk did when they first put music out on the scene. Now this anonymity brings us to the second reason. Zhu remains a faceless entity for the sake of music. He wants us to enjoy music for what it is and sounds like. I know there are a lot of people who "like" songs simply because it is a by a specific artist. But Zhu forces us to listen to the songs without associating a face or reputation with it. He forces us to listen and enjoy the music the way we need to. Third reason, Zhu has created music and mahsups and remixes that have done something that most artists have not. Zhu has moved beyond the typical and cliche style of dance music. He goes beyond the overbearing tropes of the EDM wave and does something completely unique. This is a more underground kind of sound and I think it is incredible that that low key music is what is being brought to light. Honestly, I think this might be what we need. An artist who is bringing new material to the table and brings the idea of music past the identity part and more towards the musicality of it all. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for Zhu, or rather, what he has in store for us.   This next artist was nominated and won for best dance/electronic album. Aphex Twins kind of blew up these lat couple of years.He the talk of the EDM community and still kind of is. Now what is it that made his album Grammy worthy? Well I guess we would have to start with the kinds of songs that comprise this album. These songs were all written over the course of several years and the songs have been produced in various locations. This album is almost like a time capsule in the sense that it captures what ideas were going through Aphex Twin when he produced them. The songs cover a wide range of genres from jungle to ambient and takes us through an audio journey. Aphex Twin has been around for a couple of decades and his influence on the electronic music world has been so enormous. This is such a phenomenal comeback album and I am so proud to see that it resulted in a Grammy! Aphex Twin definitely has more things to show us and the only question left to ask is, are you ready? I hope you enjoy the music and please feel free to comment!