December 2024 new EDM

 

December NEW EDM: Elephante, Jaron, Bizarrap, Netrum & Halvorsen, Fred Again...

Singles

🗑 TRASH 🗑

MID

GREAT

12/13 = OVSKY - Heart

🔥 FIRE 🔥 

Albums/EPs 

11/22 = Eliminate - 404: Get Off The Internet [Redux]
 - We have the deluxe version of February's Get Off The Internet which is a neat album that I enjoy there were many hyperpop-infused cuts or these dubstep drops that just went all in. 
 - So with these 8 VIPs or whatever theyre called, I can't speak much on the originals as I kinda forgot what they sounded like, the only tracks that made my rotation were "Dawn", the title track, and I also remember "SMSOU" and "f_ck you" because theyre really uniquely intriguing. So with that out of the way, most of these tracks are kinda all over the place they remind me of isoxo a bit with the sharpness of these synths, pacing, and glitchy chops. Also there's no lead in many of these tracks just trap beats and abrasive samples and the vocal mixing is weird. But a lot of the original album is like this too though so I don't anticipate these tracks to flop.
 - When there is a lead, these drops do hit, like "ESCAPE (Get Off The Internet)", "BACKUP (comecloser)" or the virtual riot-esque finish in "ON MY MIND(Waste My Time)"
Rating = 5/10
Favorite Tracks = "ESCAPE (Get Off The Internet)", "BACKUP (come closer)"

11/29 = Elephante - COPE
 - We have Elephante's 10-track 4th studio album/LP and it's the worst of them all. Elephante's I Am The Elephante and Glass Mansion and Heavy Glow are all great projects with great songwriting and progressions, then we get COPE and it's just comparably so horrible.
 - Very disappointing, and I don't know how to describe it but these tracks are just so empty and soulless, the drops are so bare, the fills and transitions are absolutely HORRIBLE they feel just so inexperienced. There's absolutely 0 exploration, risk-taking, and variance throughout the bulk of these tracks. Maybe the whole focus and cohesiveness behind this album is a raw-er more vocal-drawn progression and this is all just a necessary scheme to lead into a greater work and sound in the future. I have fairly high standards for Elephante so listening to this album was a big disappointment cuz like most of these tracks just offer nothing. 
 - Lead single "Say It Like You Mean It" is easily the best of the album and I wish more of it had these vocal chops and movements. I think like 7 out of these 10 tracks were singles from January throughout the year so theres that. 
Rating = 5/10
Favorite Tracks = "Say It Like You mean It", "Know Your Name"

12/6 = ROSÉ - rosie
 - We have a potential breakout artist in the pop scene with ROSÉ with who I consider has potential to be a mainstay here after her viral hit of "APT." with Bruno Mars. She's a solo act from the K-pop group BLACKPINK in which I don't have much experience with but it's one of the biggest and most successful K-pop groups out there, but she's looking to expand her audience even more at age 27. This debut self-titled album determines a lot of it.
 - I'm not sure how to classify this new artist here, but it is really refreshing to see an Asian with this potential of becoming a pop superstar, I'm a huge supporter of that. However, what is her niche in the pop sphere? What subgenres does she reach, and can her songwriting keep up. We need some sort of unique sound to attribute ROSÉ too. Her voice is quite unique its unique in this way that I can't describe it, there's this subtle refreshing and captivating tint, reminding me a lot of Selena Gomez. 
 - Production wise this album is quite bland it's mainly trap beats with kits off splice I presume. There's some neat moments here and there but my impression is that this album and its cohesiveness is quite similar to like every other pop album released this year, a mix of these upbeat catchy hooks, a mix of piano ballads, and otherwise generic pop tracks. It's quite formulaic if you think of it, and though I don't doubt the depth in the song-writing, a lot of these tracks don't offer much for me.
 - So yeah some of these tracks definitely deserves a 2nd listen I kinda just let a lot of the tracks fly by me. The vocals are solid and given the spotlight in a lot of these tracks, a lot of the 2nd half of this album are these ballads that we hear from these types of pop artists. The progressions in "dance all night" stood out with me, I enjoyed the production a lot. The "drinks or coffee" synths and "gameboy" is also quite catchy but I guess I'm just struggling to find a sense of direction within the album. 
Rating = 6/10
Favorite Tracks = "drinks or coffee", "APT.", "gameboy"

12/6 = Psy Trance Mafia, Infected Mushroom, Blastoyz - Breathe Underwater
 - Infected Mushroom and Blastoyz team up to create the Psy Trance Mafia! And with that comes a really short 3-track EP, of which one of the tracks is a previous single and another is a remix. 
 - So these two alias' who are both known for their psy trance production team up and this is some great intentional work with psy trance and a really neat showcase of what this genre serves. I love the bends that the lead takes and how much variation, instrumentation, and countermelodies there are, as usually when I think of psy trance it's usually kinda boring and repetitive just spamming that bass. However the small samples and fills that are displayed in this short EP adds a bit of flavor and progression to psy trance that I like. Especially in "BOOMBA" like these drops feel like microdrops kinda and its just built-up and it really hits that downbeat like the entrance is really so unique its a pretty niche subgenre of EDM and Psy Trance Mafia represented it well in this EP, also this EP is kinda sonically cohesive too theres a lot of these underwater samples and muffled synths that create this cohesive atmospehre. 
Rating = 6.5/10
Favorite Tracks = "BOOMBA", "Breathe Underwater"

12/19 = Bishu - microcelebrity (Remixes)
 - We have a 4-track remix EP of Bishu's previous microcelebrity which I wasn't a big fan of. However, I think these vocal progressions and drops are definitely a candidate for improvement when remixed.
 - "SO ABSURD - VIP" and "DO OR DIE - Tails Remix" doesn't offer much for me it's just some generic mixdowns, then "ENEMY - Goshfather Remix" has a memorable approach with this garage-house infused drop and vocal chop lead. "DIVA - SØL Remix" also has this hollow vocal chop lead liquid drum and bass that just isn't cohesive enough for me. So overall nothing bad but nothing good out of this remix EP, bishu honestly kinda flopped this year for me personally. 
Rating = 5/10
Favorite Tracks = "ENEMY - Goshfather Remix", "DIVA - SØL Remix"

12/23 = Vylet Pony - No Matter What 2024 EP
 - I'm not too deep into the Vylet Pony fanbase or lore but this artist has been cranking out so much music its pretty impressive we have like this 4-track EP, 2 of them being christmas parodies. What's worth talking about for me is "No Matter What - 2024" which has a pretty cute progression and some neat flickers in the production. Pretty catchy tune here. 
Rating = 6/10
Favorite Tracks = "No Matter What - 2024"

12/27 = Jaron - LIGHTYEARS
 - Jaron has emerged to develop a rich, uplifting collection of 13 tracks in LP LIGHTYEARS, which can be characterized with this construction of dominating muddy swirling production, distortion, on and off vocals, and a lot of experimentation. The drops are incredible and there's so many takes on various drop pacings throughout this album, it really does fully explore this sound design which itself just clicks with me. There's also that unique, iconic "firework" or "rocket-flying" sample that just fits in so well with the cohesion of this album and its sound design. This album is years in the making just through the singles alone, and there's so much emotion and little details throughout this album that just makes this LP feel so mature and polished.
 - There's so many standout tracks among the flow of this album, the transition from opening track "BLOOD" to "LIGHTYEARS" is incredible, it reminds me of when you go on a huge jump in skiing, and you're just gliding in the air, and then you land hard and continue streaking and that landing just represents landing into that "LIGHTYEARS" title track like it's such a clean unique transition. Then there's the switchup to rapping on "PIECES", then theres those somber cuts like "BUTTERFLY", the versatility of those singles "SPINNING", "ORANGES", "ICARUS", the stuttering backbone in "ONCE", and finally the perfect closing track in "STARS" which is just so rolling credits-esque. It's such a perfect closer it just feels so emotional with all those drawnout buildups and leads. Towards the end there's this distorted guitar sound that jsut feels so 'whole' like the way to describe that sound is just that it's such a whole sound, a soothing sound. Wow. The instrumentation is again top-tier it's just a whole new world of EDM when experiencing this, it feels like a celebration of life and LIGHTYEARS.
 - This album is truly one of its kind, some of these flashy entrances that Jaron delivers reminds me of even Don Toliver Travis Scott influences. I do think that there could be some expansion to be done, like the vocal production on "ONCE" could use some more back and forth that kinda envelopes it all together, or Jaron could experiment mixing in even more raw instruments into the production, like some piano sections (which "STARS" does include actually) or some synth solo'ing. I'm being really nit-picky when saying that, because you listen to "STARS" and it's just this insane delerium of instruments and drawn out sections, and there's honestly the variation is so solid and rooted to those core elements throughout the LP.
Rating = 8.5/10
Favorite Tracks = "STARS", "ICARUS", "SPINNING", "PIECES", "BUTTERFLY", "ONCE", "LIGHTYEARS", "ORANGES", "PROSPERITY"



Bonus Album (from November that I forgot to review):

11/15 = Marshmello - The R♾️ts
 - Here comes a commercial trap 10-track EP that goes back to and explores "the roots" of Marshmello.
 - Horrible record with super plain progressions and nothing captivating going for it. The samples and fills just aren't melodic and don't hit it's as simple as that, along with just nothing to take away from these tracks. It feels like these drops and leads are made by a soundcloud producer jsut starting to get a feel for music and constructing a sonically whole piece of material. This EP is really lackluster. There's a Lil Jon feature that caught my attention but its just literally brief adlibs and snippets. I'm not exaggerating when I say this is some of the worst, boring music I've heard all year. Especially in today's day and age and its standard in EDM and trap, this is a terrible, dreadful record.
Rating = 2/10
Favorite Tracks = none



Conclusion

So that concludes my 12th "month in EDM" post as we make it through the year 2024!! I had a lot of fun throughout this entire process and I'll definitely be keeping it up for next year, though I will say I will change it to 4 quarterly posts instead of 12 monthly posts, cuz it's been cluttering the blog kinda as I want this blog to remain a life blog and not just an EDM blog.

I spent so much time on these posts and discovered so much incredible music, I've definitely evolved through the years as an EDM listener and like I know this genre so well I feel like pretty professional as a critic sometimes im not even gonna lie im kinda cooking when i review some songs but anyway lets wrapup this month. 

December tends to have more like VIPs and edits and remix albums historically, and honestly just a lower volume of tracks, and we had the same case here. I'll highlight that Bizarrap track which is like his 3rd or 4th music session this year or something and yeah he finishes the year strong its a great track. That THIRST remix of "PULL THE TRIGGER" might be my top single this month, it hits SO HARD with that SCORCHING bass solo paired with the drift phonk where you just can never predict what happens after each fill, its a roller coaster ride of a song the progression is really unique it doesnt follow this phonk algorithm that other artists do it really stands out in the drift phonk sphere. Also, we have jeonghyeon continuing to release euphoric future bounce tracks with KDH on "Until We Met" which may be my 2nd favorite single this month. That lead in the prechorus is so catchy and it's just great vibes, embracing that drop as we takeoff together. It will take a WHILE for this song to get old, man jeonghyeon literally killed it this year, he's like top 5 artists status for me currently.

As far as albums go, I was excited for Elephante but soon disappointed. Jaron also released that album which is pretty much a masterpiece, and ROSÉ dropped her debut album of which "drinks or coffee" is actually in my rotation, that track is rly catchy and I love the synths.

Updated Rankings

As of the end of November, here were the top 10 tracks of the year:
And with December completing I will be presenting the final top 10 track in my 2024 wrapup post so be on the lookout for that. I will say I think I will make some tweaks, you'll see.

Top 5 albums as of end of November:
  1. 7/26 = Smile :D - Porter Robinson
  2. 7/11 = Girls Who Are Wizards - Vylet Pony
  3. 8/30 = Telos - Zedd
  4. 10/11 = brat and it's completely different but also still brat - Charli xcx
  5. 10/18 = Stealing Fire - Virtual Riot
Same case here with the albums, man I might extend this to a top 10 because it feels so worng not including the Jaron album or the Trivecta album. We'll see what I do:



And that caps off this final month of EDM, everything and these rankings has been leading up to this year wrap-up post, it's jan 25 currently so I am PRETTY LATE but when it happens it will be a banger. I'll be concluding this exciting year of EDM over there, and for now, I just want to say thank you for following these monthly wrap-ups. I easily poured a lot of time into these and worked to improve the quality month to month and I really enjoyed this hobby of mine, I really grew as an EDM listener and I hope to continue that next year where there's already so much to look forward to.

Lyric(s) of the Post: 
"Im drifting on a high, with you here by my side, I didn't think I'd love myself 'til I met you"






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