At the Islands with Pendulum

This week I'd like to move away from rock a little and transition into a new style- Electronic/Drum'n bass.  Pendulum is one of the most popular Drum'n bass acts of the 21st century. This is partly because they're really good but also because the genre hasn't really been "alive" that long.  For those of you that don't know what drum'n bass is here's a basic definition:  a form of electronic music that is around 160-180 bpm (beats per minute) that incorporates elements from hip-hop, metal, jazz, reggae, and even classical.  The group originally consisting of producers Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen, was created in 2002 in Australia but based in the UK, eventually adding two more members later in their career.  In 2005 they released their first full length album- "Hold Your Colour," featuring hit singles "Tarantula" and "Slam."

But there career really didn't take off and reach its full potential until they made their debut on BBC's radio 1 essential mix in 2005 (for those of you that don't know what an essential mix is it's basically 2 hours of epic electronic music).

Their third full length album, "Immersion," is probably my favorite for various reasons but the biggest one is definitely the quality of songs it contains.  A few of these include the very popular "The Island- Pt. I" and "The Island- Pt. II" (part two is just a dubstep remix of part one by the way).  Both of these songs are really cool and super chill that create a great party atmosphere.

Another great song off the album (and my personal favorite) is "Salt in the Wounds."  Although the song is a little more dubstep oriented at the beginning, it has a really cool melody, and isn't so glaringly obnoxious towards the middle of the song.  "Self vs Self" is one of the cooler tracks off of the album because it is not really an electronic song as much as it is a remixed metal song.  The song features a band called: In Flames, a heavy metal band out of Sweden with strong Iron Madden and Black Sabbath roots.  I feel like the electronic accompaniment goes really well with the electric guitar, creating a really interesting balance between instruments and creating an overall mood that is very unique to this style of music.

Pendulum is a really cool band although they haven't put out anything recently, which is very disappointing, but I'm glad they've recorded what they have because it's really good music.  Although they can get a bit repetitive after a while...I can only take so much bass.

 RIYL: Prodigy, Daft Punk, Deadmou5, Photek

-Brooks Gonzales