Skrillex Book Club: Volume 5 - Leaving EP (2013)

[hprara]

Image by bepmp3

Time for the the fifth 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.
Last week, we looked at Bangarang.

This week, we slip a little bit underneath the radar to look at...

Leaving EP (2013)



I think I actually listened to this one when it first released. I was in my family's van either on the way to or back home from church lol. I remember being really hyped to hear an official version of 'Scary Bolly Dub' as it had been floating around in various forms for a while online prior to that. That's one of the things I associate closest with this EP. Scouring the Mothership forums and various Zippyshare links for unreleased tracks and leaks on my iPod Touch. Simpler times...

Kind of an oddity this one. Or like a stopgap release I suppose. Coming after the name he had made for himself with Bangarang and Scary Monsters, it's easy to see why this one was panned pretty hard when it came out. I remember a lot of "where's the drop" types (myself included admittedly - though I still enjoyed it) listing their grievances with the more lowkey sound of this EP. But I think it's also pretty clear that this one's kinda just for fun. From what I read, it was pretty much entirely recorded in a hotel room with 'The Reason' only being finished a few hours before release.

On that note, that song fucking rules. Easily the best one on here. It's definitely a little more tame in a few ways compared to what he had been releasing up to that point. But god those saws, that pluck melody, everything just comes together so well. I think if nothing else you could see his improvement on a technical level here. There are at least 3 tracks I've made where the idea behind them was just "oh what if I did something kinda like The Reason here". The rest of the EP never quite gets to this level again imo, but it's still pretty decent. The previously mentioned 'Scary Bolly Dub' is a nice little dubby trip down memory lane. Sonny described it as a DJ tool and yeah that checks out. A nice listen but doesn't really go anywhere. The title track is fine. Everyone hears dark syncopated foley type drums and goes "OMFG BURIAL COPY" and like, I guess? I mean it definitely reads as Burial-inspired but I don't think there's much more beyond that. I guess that's just what happens when you're the poster child for a genre during the ""Internet-Age"". Skrillex does have quite the penchant for making even the more simple vocal chops he does pretty catchy even if the rest of the track is kinda boring.

All in all, it's okay. It ends as soon as it starts. I think you still gain more than you lose listening to it.


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_]

I remember when I first read the title of this EP and went "Why is it called Leaving? Is Skrillex quitting?!" and being genuinely worried for a little while (Spoilers: He didn't). Okay anecdote time's over lets talk about this thing.

"The Reason" is such a banger. The second drop and the buildup to it gets my so hyped every time I hear it. Every time I hear "Scary Bolly Dub" I always mentally picture that Bollywood Thriller video lmao. Anyways the song is great. It's basically the lovechild of Scary Monsters and Make It Bun Dem and it might actually be better than both of those songs. Its funny how, after all those Scary Monsters remixes from a while ago, the only person who could make a remix that tops the original would be none other than Sonny Moore himself. I have nothing to say about the title track other than I think he'd go on to make better songs in this Burial-inspired OG dubstep style on future projects.

Kinda surprised I didn't have more to say about this EP tbh.

[gauze_]

i figured since were not talking about it officially at least for now? not sure if well circle around to this one but i thought it would be fun to take a quick glance and listen to make it bun dem after hours just because i can and my super short basic review is yeah we dont need to talk about this one! all of these remixes are mid to bad and also the alvin risk remix has a sample of dave from the alvin and the chipmunks movie yelling alvin and i dont know how to feel about it but yeah it kinda sucks and thats okay. i also want to bring attention that on soundcloud the tags are really funny this really was 2012 when this was released. "#ep #make #it #bun #dem #make it bun dem" its perfect.

moving to the actual subject of this week of skrillex book club, ive never listened to this ep and honestly might not have even heard of it until one of the times i checked the catalog to get a sneak peek at what we would talk about in future volumes. so going into this with an open mind and only what para said in the introduction to this week i didnt fully know what to expect other than it being less bombastic and in your face then the releases before it. and while that was definitely correct i cant say i expected a lot of other characteristics also being gone? these first 2 tracks especially dont quite feel like they go anywhere which sucks because the reason is good but it feels like if it was developed just a bit more it couldve been more enjoyable. im hesitant to use the term "hit hard" because it almost implies i want the song to be brostep its fine it isnt but it just doesnt hit in a way of enjoyment. scary bolly dub definitely just goes nowhere in an actually displeasing way and leaving is the only one that feels like a full track. the reason and leaving are both definitely enjoyable i just wish the reason had some more time in the oven. i do appreciate that this ep does some more experimentation and even if received kind of poorly at the time, it allowed skrillex to explore more outside of just being "the brostep guy." solidly worth a listen but i wish there was a little more to it

best track: leaving
worst track: scary bolly dub

[hprara]

Every time I hear "Scary Bolly Dub" I always mentally picture that Bollywood Thriller video lmao.

god bless buffalax

i also want to bring attention that on soundcloud the tags are really funny this really was 2012 when this was released. "#ep #make #it #bun #dem #make it bun dem" its perfect.

i still tag youtube videos like this lol

[bepmp3]

ok yeah this one's pretty alright i guess

coming off the stellar first four eps i remember seeing this one drop back in the day and immediately noticing the vibe was very very off. first off the logo is in the top left corner instead of center place! what the fuck! not to mention the cover in general just lacks the bombastic maximalist energy that his previous covers have, which at that point he had become known for that energy in his own music. i think at the time i only listened to the last track 'Leaving' and with it being completely moodier in tone i really thought this was skrillex abandoning his sound or even hanging up the skrillex project. obviously not the case. in hindsight this ep was just a slight detour in his discog filling in the gap between his "EP mode" era and "album mode" era. plus, the first two songs aren't even as moody as that last one! still very upbeat and the skrillex we all know and love.

i don't really have much to say about the first track "The Reason". really just an upbeat EDM song that's lighter than his other material and very obviously built around a vocal chop from a sample pack lol. reminds me of a lot of early monstercat stuff.

"Scary Bolly Dub" is probably the most interesting track here... it's so obviously just a DJ tool made for his live sets lol and is kind of weird being placed on the EP here. it's more of a VIP mashup mix of two of his older songs "Fucking Die" and "Scary Monsters". am i the only one surprised that he still held on to Fucking Die? like having all these hits and he still decides to redux a song from NMIS is pretty remarkable. the reinterpretation of Scary Monsters' drop in this version is also delightful. there's one part in this though that i downright hate and it's how he tries to inject Scary Monsters at 2:58. the two chord progressions on top of each other do not work at ALL and it just sounds like he plopped the audio file onto the track. points off for sonny moore.

finally that final track "Leaving". i know it's an annoying nerd thing to be like "burial vibes??" each time someone tries this style but nah this really is straight up if sonny tried to make a song off Untrue. the black and white cover doesn't really help either lol. as far as i know this is really the only time he tried doing this style? and i feel like a broken record saying this time and time again but it's not until QFF when we'll get to see him experiment with dubstep flavors outside of brostep to a degree of success.

anyways i was gonna leave space to write about how last week i spent a whole evening crying really hard to the 2009 demo for "Bells" but nah. this book club is doing miracles. by the end of the book club i will be seeing sonny moore in my dreams. i'll be seeing his face in clouds and on pieces of toast and shit. everywhere i go i see his face