Zeds Dead + Dillon Francis + araabMUZIK + Midnight Conspiracy | Preview

Zeds Dead

Claire Fishkow; clairefishkow.com

A lot of ink has been dedicated to understanding, dissecting and bigging up electronic music’s colossal takeover of popular music. While the four artists teaming up at the Congress on Friday 2 aren’t the deadmau5s, Diplos and Skrillexes that you’re probably reading about (or watching on the Grammys), taken as a whole Zeds Dead, Dillon Francis, araabMUZIK and Chicago’s own Midnight Conspiracy do serve as a snapshot of what the press is freaking out about—and the kids are raving to.

For the most part, it’s dubstep. And that’s what headlining duo Zeds Dead is pushing, though in its own unique fashion. Toronto natives DC and Hooks’s output is not short on the genre’s teeth-baring bass wobble, but Zeds Dead is elevated by hip-hop beats (“Rudeboy”) and oddball samples (the Moody Blues, Aretha Franklin) that freshen up the experience.

Supporting acts Dillon Francis and araabMUZIK also give prevailing sound trends a twist. Francis is putting his stamp on dubstep, but it’s his experiments in moombahton, the burgeoning Latin-centric genre, that move north of the equator to reveal the sound’s more populist potency. araabMUZIK, on the other hand, is taking dance music and putting it squarely in the hip-hop world by sampling rave classics and pounding them out with a mastery of the MPC that rivals Kanye West.

Giving the night a solid foundation, Louis Kha and Mikul Wing of Midnight Conspiracy officially debut their new live show: a lights and laser fest shooting out of a life-size version of their Eye of Providence logo. The duo specializes in electro, and here it rounds out a what’s what in EDM showcase, and what’s sure to be a sweaty dance party.