Skrillex's "Leaving" Leaves Much To Be Desired

Although cursed with a rep as being an aloof genre of music, electronica can be a spectacular collage of "wish you were here" excursion sauntering. Skrillex, Sonny John Moore to the community of mere mortals, only scratches the surface with "Leaving", his opening salvo of 2013. I realize an EP is usually meant to be just an appetizer to get the palate psyched up for what gustatory aficionados hope will be an unqualified banquet but Skrillex could've maximized this opportunity had he given the wider universe more of a top heavy sampler platter of beats 'n' boldness. Dropping eardrums on "The Reason" is like travelling through various sections of town in your convertible. The opening landscape consists of a mentality not at all unlike dawn's sunlight casting its glow on an eager populace. Then the shift is rather stark, plunging into the more ominous warehouse district with its disapproving snarl haunting your every move. Finally we roll back into the sunlight kissed respectable neighborhood. Believe it or not "Scary Bolly Dub" pulls off as close to a reggae frosted island backdrop as electronica ever seems to get. I'm not all that jazzed about the sawed off blitz of noise that follows. Try to wrap your perceptions around the drugged out flailings of an overstimulated robot being let loose to strike fear into the hearts of townspeople who only want a late evening sip of reduced inhibitions. The jerky melding of keyboards sort of hints at what could be but doesn't deliver the knockout blow. The closing track goes by the moniker "Leaving". That makes sense since the gnawing repetition of that word may just have your social gathering begging to march out the door with not even so much as a main course entree to show for themselves. Here we've got a light as air swirl of froth with a judicious smattering of drum taps. There's nothing too praiseworthy about it outside of its potential use as night club chill out fodder. The point of a musical sampler is to leave the audience hungry for more. Skrillex still has to answer for the unaddressed growl in my "tummy". What an engaging trio of stories these snippets could have been had their creator committed to the leg work needed to fashion solid storylines.