Skrillex Book Club: Volume 2 - Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (2010)

[hprara]

Image by bepmp3

Welcome all to the second instalment in the "Skrillex Book Club".
ICYMI, we're taking a listening journey through the discography of the great Sonny Moore and sharing some of our thoughts along the way.

This week brings us to the iconic...

Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (2010)



This was my actual introduction to Skrillex and dubstep/brostep as a whole. More specifically, "Kill Everybody". We used to drive my friend and his siblings home from school sometimes and one fateful day his older brother took out his Blackberry (or maybe it was an iPhone by this point), and played me this song. My world was changed. The next time I went over to their house I asked his brother to play more of "whatever that was" and I think we just ended up going through like every upload on the Skrillex YouTube channel at the time.

That aside, this is an incredibly solid EP in my books. Dare I say, timeless? Okay maybe not timeless but it's still got banger after banger. Relistening to this I was actually kind of astounded by some of the production. Maybe I'm just a little naive because I didn't dive as far into learning dubstep production as I did other types of electronic production when I started taking music more seriously. But there are some moments where I was like "damn, how did he even think of that". It's not crazy far from it's contemporaries all things considered but it punches hard in all the right places. I love listening to this era of Skrillex and hearing all the little samples and stuff he was still using from the very early days. Some might see it as a bit lazy to reuse samples but I think over the course of this EP, it gives it a kind of cohesiveness. Little shared elements between tracks that kinda tie them together. I think I like every track on here. My favourites are probably "With You Friends (Long Drive)" and "All I Ask Of You" (though I still prefer this unreleased remix of it). The weakest is probably "Scatta" imo but I do have a pretty vivid memory of the previously mentioned friend doing a really mediocre breakdance routine to that song for a school talent show, so I still give it some personal historical merit. Even the remixes aren't half bad. Maybe not as memorable as the original tracks but still worth a listen.

I associate this EP pretty heavily with the time it came out and my exploration of electronic music. It was probably the first time I recall consciously seeking out a particular type of sound. And though I'm kinda far removed from that era now in a variety of ways, and I think the title track was a little overplayed, I'll always have a place in my heart for this one.


Now it's your turn!
What are your thoughts on this EP? Do you love it/hate it? Have you even heard it? (if not, go listen, the image is a link to it's RYM page)
Speak your mind!

[RAW_]

The year was 2011. I wasn't allowed to be on YouTube without some sort of supervision, so I would need to be accompanied by at least one of my two older sisters or my parents if I wanted to watch something on their. It was with my sisters that we discovered a treasure trove of classic YouTube, from iconic viral videos to the incredible art form known as the YouTube Poop. It was during these sessions that my eldest sister introduced my to the electronic contemporaries of the time: Basshunter, deadmau5, and most notably, the one and only Skrillex. It was immediately after listening to Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (the song) that permanently altered my taste in music. Needless to say, I have an intensely nostalgic connection to these songs, so its going to be a challenge to try and look at these songs from a more critical lense, but I will make some sort of attempt anyways.

The most famous, era-defining songs from Skrillex's discography can be found in the first three tracks alone, and its easy to see why. Rock n' Roll (Will Take You to the Mountain) kicks off the EP with a bang, and from the very beginning you can hear remnants of the My Name is Skrillex EP, only this time more fleshed out. For a song whose lyrics are essentially just a single line repeated over and over (with the exception of vocal chops and clips towards the end), the section that plays after the amazing first drops feels like one of the greatest choruses ever constructed, despite no actual lyrics. The second, more brostep-like drop doesn't quite live up to that first one, but its still hard as hell. The lines at the end are permanently etched into my brain (THEY'RE NOT ARTISTS BECAUSE NOBODY CAN PLAY THE GUITAR!!!!!1). Unfortunately, despite the title track's influence and fame, overplay has sadly eliminated the stranglehold it once held on me. Luckily, most other songs on here still sound as good as they did 15 years ago, especially Kill Everybody. That track is still just as danceable and cathartic as ever. As a kid this song felt like getting possessed by a demon. That track slides effortlessly into All I Ask of You, possibly the most underrated song on here. Its more of a typical progressive house track, not unlike what deadmau5 was doing around this time, but with that subtle Skrillex sheen. The only problem I have with the song is that it only has one verse and a simple chorus that just repeats throughout the rest of the song. I kinda wish there was a little more lyrically here. Scatta is the 5th track on the EP. It features Foreign Beggars and Bare Noize. To close out the EP there is a new version of With You, Friends from MNIS that I actually prefer. The MNIS version is a fine track, but the structure of the Long Drive version is incredible. It just builds tension cinematically for 4 minutes before releasing it by finally letting the drums kick in. The MNIS version feels more like 007 Sound System Dreamscape. After this are a bunch of remixes I don't have any strong feelings towards (the Noisia remix is fine though ig).

Listening this time, I have a deeper understanding as to why this particular EP set the music world on fire. My Name Is Skrillex was, as the title suggests, our first introduction to Skrillex, but Scary Monsters truly showed everyone what he was capable of. Its powerful, danceable, and unlike anything most people would have heard before, which is why i believe the sounds of brostep became so influential in the mainstream in the first half of the 2010s. This guy could never make a bad album! (INCREDIBLY SUBTLE FORESHADOWING)

[gauze_]

before i actually say anything, the youtube upload for this ep linked on rym is sooo so funny oh my god. the low quality audio, stretched image for the whole upload, description, name of user, the lack of comments its actually making me cackle.

as for an actual review of the music? yeah this ep still hits crazy style. i was really picky as a kid with what i listened to so a couple of these tracks i have 0 memory of listening to even though i know i had them on my ipod. i cant say exactly why i didnt listen to some of them, i sort of just didnt. so as a great example, i actually never really listened to scatta all that much so i had basically forgotten it and DAMN i cant really believe i was missing out on this one??? it seems like something i really wouldve liked. this might be a little bit of nostalgia talking but some of these tracks are actually kinda timeless? like scary monsters really does still feel like the future. theres a reason it set the golden standard for brostep and is still considered one of the best and most influential electronic tracks of all time. personally the non-remix track i liked the least was all i ask of you. even though i like pennys vocals and the song IS GOOD it just doesnt hit the same way as the others. as a kid with you friends long drive was one of my favorite skrillex tracks so now relistening to compare it to the original track i can say i mightve been wrong on this one the whole time?? the original version just works better to me but thats not to say long drive is bad its still very good i just like the original better now that ive properly compared the two. as for the remixes, i never really listened to them as a kid because they sounded too different and i think i just wanted the raw unfiltered vision of the master himself. but now actually seriously listening to them, theyre pretty good! favorite remix probably kill everybody bare noize remix with scary monsters zedd remix being my least favorite remix and honestly least favorite track in the whole ep. the kill everybody remix is especially sick to me because it really did just throw everything at you, not in a way of "seeing what works," but in a "you will hear every sound at once and like it" way and it WORKS. i think i might just be biased towards walls of sounds :P

as someone who didnt have as much nice to say about my name is skrillex i can definitely say that theres a lot more love for this ep and its not just because of nostalgia. the tracks i have less memory of hearing were still good without as much (if any) nostalgia improving that enjoyment factor. its almost hard to believe these came out in the same year as each other but you can very easily see the ways that skrillex developed as a producer and where his ideas for making music went and were going. super super fun relisten

favorite track: scary monsters and nice sprites
least favorite: scary monsters and nice sprites zedd remix

[hprara]

Scatta is the 5th track on the EP. It features Foreign Beggars and Bare Noize.

Not much else to say about that one is there lol
I will say the little organ riff does get stuck in my head a bit

before i actually say anything, the youtube upload for this ep linked on rym is sooo so funny oh my god. the low quality audio, stretched image for the whole upload, description, name of user, the lack of comments its actually making me cackle.

LOL HOLY SHIT what a combo
"JOIN SKRILLEX"

[bepmp3]

before i actually say anything, the youtube upload for this ep linked on rym is sooo so funny oh my god. the low quality audio, stretched image for the whole upload, description, name of user, the lack of comments its actually making me cackle.

oh good lord LMAO. how does this have 130k views but 0 comments that is such a weird phenomenon. reminds me of that one popular Selected Ambient Works upload that i swear had 0 comments back when it got picked up by the algorithm. i may be misremembering.

i was really picky as a kid with what i listened to so a couple of these tracks i have 0 memory of listening to even though i know i had them on my ipod. i cant say exactly why i didnt listen to some of them, i sort of just didnt.

yeah i think most people got more into the former half than the latter half and inferrably it's due to most eyes and ears being on the ep through youtube and its individual track uploads.


i'll post my full thoughts on Scary Monsters SOON i swear i've had a really weird week and haven't had the time and energy to Skrillex out. i know it's the Important one.