Music: Five Artists

Virtual: Studio Killers, Jenny    

 The band Studio Killers is a virtual band, led by the character Cherry, who is in fact voiced by a man with his voice pitched up. Her bandmates include an anthropomorphic ferret DJ and fox keyboardist, and their videos focus on Cherry's fictional life as a partygoer. Their music is a mix of energetic club music and alternative pop, as evidenced in the above video.

Electronic: Jase from Outta Space, Do What You Want (Infusion Remix)

This song is near and dear to my heart, and fits the category of Electronic perfectly. It focuses on a heavy backbeat and repetitious lyrics, with elements of the song coming and going in surging pulses depending upon the phase of the song. Interestingly, as with most electronic music, this is a remix of an already-existing song. I see this as a natural evolution of techno music, as sampling and re-sampling lyrics and rhythms from a song can produce any number of new effects, as can also be seen in pop, hip-hop, and house music.

Punk: The Bravery, Hatefuck

One of the deepest values of punk can be summed up in a fairly short sentence: "Give no fucks, party hard." This philosophy extends to a disdain for authority, social norms, and the expectations of decency in typical civilized society. This song, in its aggressiveness, exemplifies this culture as it describes perhaps a brutal, mutually sadomasochistic relationship between the singer and his partner.

Dubstep: Lady Gaga, Government Hooker (Roman Stone Remix)

I wanted to make a fairly deep cut into dubstep, and just as with Techno, it favors remixes and sound sampling, aided by their many soundboards. In fact, it could be said that dubstep was founded on the idea of sound sampling being used as a form of music in itself, most notably in some of Skrillex's work. Dubstep remains one of the most well-known alternative electronic genres, and is almost expected in most clubs.

New Wave: The Smiths, I Know It's Over

A more somber song than the others, it reflects the rise of New Wave and its less frenzied need for harsh electronic beats and synthesizers. As the song continues, it swells into a roaring chorus, elements overlapping each other as if the singer just cannot express the depth of his feelings through the music itself, which strains against the weight of it. The more mellow backbeat complements the other New Wave picks.