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Source Material: Skrillex, Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites

by Philip Sherburne

Skrillex, it seems, was made for memes. From Hipster Runoff to the self-explanatory Tumblr blog Girls That Look Like Skrillex, the electro-dubstep upstart -- or at least the version imagined by snarks and Cheeto-munching forum monkeys -- leads a vibrant second life in avatar-land.

The latest viral emanation from planet Skrillex happened in December, when the man born Sonny Moore posted a YouTube clip of Aphex Twin's "Flim" to his Facebook page, accompanied by the note, "my favorite song of all time fyi." (Gotta love that "fyi," especially coming from a guy who's never worked an office job in his life.) His evangelism clearly had an effect: since then, the post has accrued 8,325 comments (and counting). A few listeners, though, felt like there was something missing from Aphex Twin's chiming electronic balladry, as indicated in comments like these:

"i was hoping for a drop."

"Still waiting for the drop.......no?"

"I was waiting for a drop that never happnd lol"

"i didnt even here a nice drop-___-....i thought it was suppose to have atleast a good drop?????"

The drop, as any fan of today's super-sized stadium rave could tell you, is the moment in a dance track, right after the breakdown (a tension-building passage, often beatless, characterized by whooshing white noise), when the bass and drums return with supersonic impact, a brick wall of sound that contorts faces and jumbles guts. That roller-coaster path from extreme to extreme defines much mainstream club music right now, and many listeners, it would seem, don't ever want to get off the ride.

Some wag cut and pasted all the drop-related comments into a single thread, making it look like Skrillex fans are nothing more than thrill-seekers with tin ears. Some of them surely are; you find them everywhere. But that's not (entirely) Skrillex's fault.

Whatever your feelings about the result, the guy seems genuinely dedicated to introducing his fans to the music that inspired his own. In interviews, he's bigged up not just obvious touchstones like The Prodigy and Nine Inch Nails, but also Aphex Twin, Squarepusher and even Autechre. Using his 2011 EP, Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, as a launching pad, we've fleshed out his list of influences and listed a few more records without which Skrillex might never have gotten his bumper car out of the gate.

Come To Daddy

Aphex Twin

If you could pick only one record to sum up Richard D. James' schizoid musical personality, it'd have to be 1997's Come to Daddy EP. Not only does it contain his apex of ugliness -- the grinding, gurgling title track, complete with po-faced death-metal vocals -- it also features "Flim," a delicate breakbeat lullaby that's the epitome of innocence. There are no duds, in fact; further highlights include the mournful closing song, the warped acid of "Funny Little Man" and the convoluted drums of "Bucephalus Bouncing Ball," a rhythmic tour de force that seems to defy gravity itself.

Untitled

Korn

Korn enlist some big names for album No. 8, but that doesn't stop them from creating freaky tunes of Stephen King-like proportions. As producers Atticus Ross and Alan Moulder of NIN fame spatter Korn's dark palette with industrial flair, drummer duty is split between singer Jonathan Davis, Missing Persons' Terry Bozzio and Bad Religion's Brooks Wackerman. The result is a coalescence of explosive, metallic percussion that prevails alongside proggy, celestial guitars and Davis' gravel-chewing bawls. Listen to "Intro," "Kiss" and "Do What They Say" and you may start sleeping with the lights on.

O.M.G.!

Rusko

Given his production work for Britney Spears, T.I. and Rihanna, eyes are on Rusko as dubstep's first potential mainstream crossover artist. But the 25-year-old Leeds producer's debut album doesn't forget where he came from: Opener "Woo Boost" is a gnarly, mosh-inclined wobbler in the tradition of his anthem "Cockney Thug," and there's plenty more where that came from. But forays into digital dancehall, robotic R&B and futurist electro-funk -- with a generous helping of Zapp-influenced vocals -- show that Rusko is too clever to stay shackled to a single style, even if it's one he helped create.

Their Law The Singles 1990 - 2005

The Prodigy

This career review features the key tunes from their first four albums, including highlights "Charly," "Smack My Bitch Up" and U.K. No. 1s "Firestarter" and "Breathe." Visceral and atavistic in style, this is testosterone-fuelled dance music that proudly spits forth its punk ancestry with every word and only hints at the excitement generated at their aggressive live shows.

That Total Age

Nitzer Ebb

When Marilyn Manson first painted his fingernails black, he may have been doing it to this very album. Inspired by the dancefloor beats of Soft Cell and the industrial textures of D.A.F., 1987's That Total Age helped pave the way for Nine Inch Nails and the aforementioned Antichrist Superstar. "Join In The Chant" was a hit in all dark clubs where cloves were smoked.

For Lack Of A Better Name

Deadmau5

Is success going to Deadmau5's big, red-eared head? With his hook-laden electro-house continuing to convert fans by the legion, the mischievous Toronto producer frontloads his new album with three minutes of pummeling snares, then dives into a three-track passage that's more prog rock than progressive house, complete with electro-funk lashings, horror-core organs, an Auto-Tuned chorus (of course) and even rapping. But the mouse climbs back on its wheel for the latter half, delivering all the chugging beats, whooshing effects and cheeky, squelching riffage his fans have signed up for.

The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste

Ministry

Ministry's debut album was pretty tame, compared to what came later -- vaguely sneering new wave mixed with punk-funk á la Duran Duran. The Land Of Rape and Honey was more abrasive, as you'd guess, but The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste was something else entirely, from its blast beats and metal guitars to acid-house sample play and echoes of the doom-core rave then happening over in Belgium. It's all gloriously overblown, but it also feels truly menacing, right down to the power drill of "Thieves."

The Land Of Rape And Honey

Various Artists

After a year turning up everywhere from the Olympics to Gossip Girl, Toronto's Deadmau5 -- primed for the limelight -- returns with the follow-up to 2009's For Lack of a Better Name. Despite the exposure and the attempt at math, not so much has changed: he's still at his best with charging electro-techno and insidious riffs, not so much with the radio choruses and aggro female rapping. Instead of meeting the people halfway, he'd be better off making them come to him, because his big-tent grooves are powerful enough on their own terms.

Skream!

Skream

Dubstep's first artist album (as opposed to DJ mix) arguably came back in 2002 with Horsepower Productions' In Fine Style, but Skream's 2006 debut album was the LP to represent the genre as a fully formed entity, with coiled, half-time beats, high-plains-drifting flutes and a writhing, malevolent low end. Far different from the aggressive shape it would take upon hitting the States, dubstep here is as meditative as it is muscular, though tunes like "Midnight Request Line" prove quiet can be just as lethal as loud.

Pretty Hate Machine [2010 Remaster]

Nine Inch Nails

This 1989 debut would set the stage for an industrial revolution. Drawing from the metallic menace of bands like Skinny Puppy and Ministry, as well as the post-punk paranoia of Joy Division, Trent Reznor created a masterpiece, a well-oiled machine run on keyboards, drum machines, guitars and samples that, somewhat ironically, released a beast of raw emotion. The only things to remind us a human is behind this madness are those feverish howls and those lyrics of existential dread, all fed straight from the self-loathing depths of Reznor's boiling psyche.

Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has A Body Count

From First To Last

Before he was Skrillex, Sonny Moore was the frontman for From First To Last, a melody-conscious band teetering on the border between pop punk and emo. Contrast is the order of the day, as the band shuttles between serrated riffs and clean, placid passages; Moore's close-harmonized vocals sketch an arc that soars far past the bounds of bathos, when they're not dissolving into Drano-drinking yowls. It doesn't necessarily sound like Skrillex, but you can hear Moore's fondness for emotional overload in every gut-wrenching measure.

I'm Not A Fan But The Kids Like It

Brokencyde

Every punk band picks its battles, and Brokencyde's is the generational divide. In this case, they antagonize at all costs with all manner of fluo overload (trance stabs, 808 beats, screamo screaming, Auto-Tune) proven by biology and focus groups to make adults crazy. Roping in E-40 for a guest slot, Brokencyde are shameless about their gangsta cribbings; for all their crunk swagger, the roots in their gel-streaked hair run deeper than their appreciation of hip-hop. But the title is a sly jab at graybeard critics; the kids will have their say.

In Fine Style

Horsepower Productions

Horsepower Productions' debut album is a landmark moment in dubstep history, marking a turn from skippy U.K. garage toward a darker, bassier sound. Arriving in 2002, the album collected several singles already released on the Tempa label along with new material. The formula is simple: take 2-step's nimble, needle-nose percussion, add layers of reggae clang and send it scooting along atop heaving waves of bass. But Horsepower manage to keep the variations fresh, whether it's the addition of sprightly harpsichord ("Django's Revenge") or fat, techno-jazz synthesizers ("Stone Cold Soul Vibes").