Full, Uncut Interview with LNDN

Recorded April 23rd on Zoom, this is my full conversation with Lynden Grosso, aka LNDN. Topics included: his penchant for producing screwface-inducing sounds and love for big room, inspiration from David Guetta and Future Rave, his increased production schedule during the pandemic, the Vancouver community and his house full of artists, and finally, what the future holds for LNDN, a fair amount of which you can hear in his episode of My Mixtape which premieres this Saturday, May 1st at 11 PM EDT on Radio Humber. Dig into our conversation below and be sure to follow his socials at the bottom.

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Throwback Thursday: Benga - Acid Lie

For this week's installment of my Throwback Thursday series, it is my pleasure to re-introduce the world to one of the most twisted, raucous, raunchy, ratchet-before-ratchet, heavy stomping bass, acid overloaded tracks I've ever come across. Benga's "Acid Lie" the B side from his 2011 Faithless EP.

I first came across this brooding brilliance from Benga while listening to Annie Mac Presents August 12th. In fact it remains one of my go to radio shows, as it's packed with so much great music, much of it released following the BBC's live shows from Ibiza. Whether it's Skream's "Anticipate," Jack Beats remix of Aloe Blacc's "Green Lights," David Guetta's "Glasgow," the first play of Fake Blood's "Deep Red," The 2 Bears "Take A Look Around" or the debut of Knife Party's minimix, Annie Mac brings out all the stops. I've added the full two hour show to my dropbox for your listening and downloading pleasure, here. You'll find Benga and his "Acid Lie" shortly after the 23 minute mark.

Benga strikes an incredible atmosphere right off the get go - bassline ringing, immediately infecting your pulse with inescapable intensity. The anticipation of the action to come, reaches a fever pitch with Benga's finely crafted and well thought out foundation of sound, swirling and climbing ever higher. The acid level rises, swallowing its listeners, melting their flesh like Jesse Pinkman and Walter White's hydrofluoric concoction in the first season of Breaking Bad. The fluid nature and continual movement Benga injects into "Acid Lie" propels the track forward, leaving no sound unchanged or unaltered. It's his boredom with repetition of the same old, same old, that really makes Benga's "Acid Lie" such a powerful, progressive and inescapable masterpiece. It embodies the Terminator endlessly chasing you down, forever haunting your dreams like Freddy Krueger.

Benga has stormed back onto the scene in the last month dropping "Make Moves," an uncompromising auditory attack, and just today he's uploaded "Power" another track from his upcoming Future Funk EP, due to be released February 26. Something tells me Benga has big things in store for 2016, so keep your ears and eyes peeled on his movements.

SUPPORT BENGA: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER

Origin of EDM

As show-runner for Enlightenment For Your Ears, I've become accustom to using the phrase Electronic Dance Music (EDM) to describe what, for years before, could only be terms techno. The phrase EDM has ballooned and become the synonymous term associated with techno music. It's use has especially seen such widespread use in North America, the true creators of techno and deejay-ed music. The first man to cue and mix multiple records, and therefore be deserving of the title DJ, was Ray Newby in California , in 1909. That's right, we, North Americans, are responsible for the creation of techno music and deejaying, however, as has become the case throughout history, the cultural hotbed that is Europe took over and has begun to sell us back our DJs and our techno music. Europe has be able to go as far as convincing us that our techno and deejay-ed music must be imported, despite our creation. As has become the norm, the Europeans have found a way to make techno their own.

In 2008, eleven years after the original DJ Mag Top 100 Armin Van Buuren won for a second time, and the culture and semantics of techno music would change forever. Notable French DJ Sebastien Leger used the term Electronic Dance Music to describe his style, he pledged to step away from the electro-house with which he was associated. "Electro-house has almost become an insult for me because there's so many cheesy records," he says. "I want to make it impossible to predict what I'm going to do next." This all comes from a place deep inside Seb Leger, a confirmed hater of flippant French donkey David Guetta, who only last year reached the top spot of the DJ Mag Top 100. This year has been monumental in terms of the backlash in response to the voting and placement of this years DJ Mag Top 100. In the 16 years of voting, there have been only eight winners, with AVB winning five, Tiesto taking three, and both Pauls, Oakenfold and Van Dyk taking two each. Single winners Carl Cox, Sasha, John Digweed, and the aforementioned greasy Guetta. The backlash from DJs and fans alike show the disdain for these DJs and the plain fact that AVB can win his fifth title, while the list of 100 is nearly impossible to crack without morally reprehensible actions such as SHM and pandering for votes. The reality is we are here/hear for the art that is EDM, a term coined by virtuoso Sebastien Leger, back in 2008.

Read more here:
Seb Leger Facebook post
Brief history of DJing
DJ Mag Top 100 - Past Winners
Electronic Dance Music