On December 3rd of 2011, Adele’s blisteringly good record “21” spent its 39th consecutive week in the Billboard Top 5. A feat no other record had done before, besting Michael Jackson’s “Bad” from 1987.  That was just one of a number of incredible feats for this British born female soul singer. Others included a record 14 weeks atop the Triple A chart (KZYR’s format) and 13 weeks as #1 on the best selling album chart- the longest reign since “Titanic.” In addition, her grand ballad “Someone Like You” is the first piano and female vocal only song to hit No.1 on Billboard Hot 100.  It’s not a stretch to say it was the year of Adele.

However, there were other music stories of 2011. Some were largely anticipated like Coldplay’s return and Pandora music service emerging as an industry force, while others were subtle but attracted tons of followers like the Electronic Dance music movement.

The question is, is this musical development a fad or will it have real staying power?  Are the neon glow tubes of Electronica music and acts like Skrillex and LMFAO destined to the music trash bin of yester yore like disco? Or are they truly a new genre of music and DeadMau5 will be considered the Trey Anastasio to Bassnectar’s Jerry Garcia?  

The vibe is super cool right now and the shows take listeners to another level.  It’s a community dance affair and the acts are selling concert tickets like mad. This past year, The Electric Daisy Festival in Las Vegas drew 230,000 while a similar event in Miami attracted 150,000.  These acts, like Skrillex, present a new dynamic to the industry.  They still sell significant numbers of albums or mix tapes, but their impact is also felt in tours and social media influence.

You may not have even heard of Skrillex but as of this writing he has 2.6 million Facebook friends and 570,000 Twitter followers.  He is one guy and he is 23 years old.  His “album” (really an ep) is called “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.” It aptly describes this genre. They adore the old school rock (thus the David Bowie reference) and wish to make it their own with attitude and panache (is he referencing fairies or the iconic soft drink?). Though dance grove orientated music tends to swain with age and lyrically these acts are not bringing much to the table, their energy and passion will win the day and I say this trend is here to stay for a while. However, it will need some new creative forces to extend its impact and avoid the fate of Disco.  Artist will need to make a progressive push forward musically and lyrically I feel before it grasps a firm place in the echelon of rock.

However, you will get a chance to decide for yourself when Snowball Festival brings the Grateful Dead like figure of the movement, Bassnectar, to headline along with other electronica DJs like the just announced DJ Skywalker and Denver’s Flashlights.