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46-576: Bangarang received mixed reviews from music critics, but was a commercial success upon release, charting within Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Its lead single, " Bangarang ", charted in multiple countries worldwide and reached the top 10 in Australia and Belgium. Due to strong digital sales following the album's release, " Kyoto " and " Breakn'

92-442: A Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording . Sirah forgot to close the window before recording it, and thus birds are audible in the recording. Jon Dollan from Rolling Stone noted "the laser-blasting inanity of the track, which ends with someone bragging, 'I'm eating Fun Dip right now/Not givin' a fuck.' Not a bad credo for music that makes a disco sugar high feel downright pornographic". Garret Kamps from Spin gave

138-688: A normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 60, based on 10 reviews. Dan LeRoy of Alternative Press felt that the album's "go-for-the-throat" songs and "uncomplicated, catchy fun" do not reveal "much about Skrillex's long-term prospects." Evan Rytlewski of The A.V. Club said that, although Skrillex is a "more skillful producer than his detractors give him credit for", he still resorts to "gimmicks" in order to reach his audience. Gavin Haynes of NME found his music artificial, albeit with occasionally "good results". AllMusic 's Jon O'Brien observed

184-524: A "cinematic masterpiece", giving particular praise to "Ghost Spores" as "reinvigorat[ing] the soul with its harp-tinged melody and orchestral instruments that once again highlight Varien's idiosyncratic musicianship." Kaelar's next EP, My Prayers Have Become Ghosts , was released on October 31, 2016, via Monstercat. In 2017, Kaelar announced a hiatus from the Varien alias and removed all of his social media accounts. Across two interviews with EDMSauce , he cited

230-410: A "concussive collection of blips and bursts that sounds like something Moby might hear in his head during a heart attack". Breakn' a Sweat was written for the 2012 documentary film Re:Generation . It has been described as combining "proggy guitar hooks, psychedelic organ chords, and Jim Morrison samples with a snarling, Prodigy -esque vocal and a filthy slab of dub bass". It has been highlighted as

276-421: A "lack of progression" from Skrillex and called the release "disappointingly formulaic". He also felt that even the more unconventional songs are "more headache-inducing than thrilling." Deviant of Sputnikmusic panned its songs as "the same big-boy slab of molten bass drops and screeching whistles", but without a "spark" or "sense of attitude", and accused Skrillex of producing "the same half-assed bass trends". In

322-574: A Sweat " charted in multiple countries as well. "Breakn' a Sweat" was featured in the 2012 documentary film Re:Generation . Music videos have been released for "Breakn' a Sweat", "Summit" and "Bangarang". The Bangarang had sold 595,000 copies in the United States by March 2014, and on July 11, 2016, it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Musically, while Bangarang prominently uses elements of electro house , dubstep and progressive house , it

368-632: A compilation album of trailer cues that he wrote for the purpose of film, television, and video game licensing. He released a followup, Pick Your Poison Vol. 2 , a year later. In 2014, Kaelar teamed up with Two Steps from Hell on a private trailer cue compilation entitled Open Conspiracy . 2014 saw an abundance of licenses for Varien. His music was used in trailers and promotional media for 300: Rise of an Empire , Bones , The Purge: Anarchy , Face Off , America's Next Top Model , PlanetSide 2 , and Monsters: Dark Continent . Los Angeles-based singer Roniit's song "Runaway", produced by Varien,

414-663: A connection to music from a very young age, and his family supported his passion. At the age of 11, Varien began playing the guitar and attempting songwriting, and he joined a number of bands experimenting with genres of rock , grindcore , metalcore , and jazz . Kaelar developed perfect pitch when playing the keyboard at age fourteen. Kaelar was in multiple bands in high school, playing grindcore , metalcore , screamo , post-hardcore , and power metal before joining his school's jazz band for two years. He cites these years as pivotal to his artistic development, learning sheet music, jazz theory and improvisation. He also cites this as

460-452: A crocodile and after the children's heist cause the loss of his hand, where it is replaced with a hook (Captain Hook's hand was cut off by Peter Pan and fed to the crocodile in the story before being replaced with a hook). The song has charted in multiple countries worldwide, including Australia , Austria , Belgium , Canada , Finland , France , Netherlands , Norway , New Zealand , Sweden ,

506-423: A group of bank robbers who have stolen several briefcases of cash. They succeed in stealing the cash, and the video concludes with the gang's leader leaving one of the cases with the ice-cream man, walking away happily eating the same ice cream. Drawing from the song's 'Peter Pan/Hook' theme, the video features references to Captain Hook in the ice-cream truck driver's style of moustache, his right hand's tattoo of

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552-530: A positive review for MSN Music , Robert Christgau called Bangarang an "electronical vista" and said it is "a pop record because its shamelessly hedonistic barrage of proven dancefloor tricks will obviously be more fun at home than in a club." August Brown of the Los Angeles Times felt that, although Skrillex continues his "singular, manic sound", the "quick" tracks that defined his previous work are "more skillful and sonically intriguing". Ben Rayner of

598-520: A very Zen experience. Very spiritual. Wake up. Do yoga . Make music. No regard for the club. No regard for where it will be played or comparisons to my past music or anything else that's going on. I’ve never gone to any of these places I’m exploring right now. I want people to listen to it and think ‘is this Varien?’ Psychedelic, worldly, ethnic, trippy... People have never seen me go there. Yet." The Ancient & Arcane met with critical acclaim upon release, with EDM website Dancing Astronaut calling it

644-463: Is "on the same playing field," as Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor. The articles states, "It's hard to place someone on the same wavelength as Reznor, but Kaelar's Varien moniker has achieved immense success and garnered an unprecedented vision for music, something Reznor accomplished just as flawlessly. Varien is now coming around and finding himself as musician and artist." On December 12, 2019, Raver Mag commented on Varien's prominent return to

690-486: Is an American composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Varien has incorporated or experimented with such styles as industrial , metal , orchestral , neofolk , and ambient music . He is known for his work on film soundtracks, along with his unconventional approach to electronic music, including many live instruments not normally found on tracks within his genres. Kaelar was born on May 15, 1990, in Tampa, Florida . He had

736-563: Is more diverse than his previous material, including multiple influences of trance , drum and bass , rap rock , experimental rock and ska . It uses syncopated rhythmic build-ups, technical breakdowns , "chopped-up" vocal hooks and vocal samples throughout its composition. The first track, "Right In", has multiple influences of dubstep and electro house and has been described as "one long adrenaline rush of stabbing keyboard chords, sawed-off vocal samples and Skrillex's trademark: squirming, squalling synth lines". It has also been compared to

782-565: Is turning the elusively thwumping U.K. dance music called dubstep into high-fiving dance-floor heavy metal." Rolling Stone later named Bangarang the fourteenth greatest EDM album of all time. Christgau named it the sixth best album of 2012 in his list for The Barnes & Noble Review . Bangarang won the Best Dance/Electronica Album award at the 55th Grammy Awards , as well as the Best Dance Recording award for

828-474: The Toronto Star found it "far smarter than Skrillex's reputation for doling out cheap, bludgeoning bass-bin thrills would let on", and wrote that it displays "a remarkable gift for bending innumerable breeds of club music to his will". Garrett Kamps of Spin called it "spracked out and ridiculous and fun and sometimes disposable". Rolling Stone magazine's Jon Dolan called Skrillex "a magician" whose "trick

874-519: The Mnet charts and was licensed for Korean television shows like The Return of Superman . On October 2, 2018, Kaelar was quoted in RPGamer talking about his youth and which RPGs and video games inspired his career as a producer and composer. Kaeler comments that he always knew that he wanted to be a video game composer when he "grew up," and that if the opportunity came to his he would go for it. He explained in

920-769: The United Kingdom and the United States . In Australia , the song became a commercial success, reaching the top five within the ARIA Charts whilst spending more than 20 weeks within the top 50. It has also been certified 4× Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). In the United States , the song entered the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart at number four due to strong digital downloads . However, on

966-426: The title track . Sales figures based on certification alone. Shipments figures based on certification alone. Bangarang " Bangarang " is a song by American electronic music producer Skrillex . It was released as a single from his EP of the same name . It features guest rap vocals from American hip hop recording artist Sirah . "Bangarang" intersperses Sirah's rap vocals throughout

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1012-743: The EP as being the physical manifestation of his struggles during his hiatus, in contrast to the "fantastical" narrative of The Ancient & Arcane . On July 13, 2018, Kaelar is featured in an exclusive EDM Sauce interview talking about direct influences of his work, which includes Y2K Era, Fight Club , The Matrix , BBs forums for Final Fantasy , Rage Against the Machine , A Perfect Circle , Nine Inch Nails , KoRn , and "cool new electronic music like Drum n Bass, Trip Hop, etc," as what he declares as his "favorite era [of music]." The EDM Sauce article features Varien's statement about his 2017 hiatus, declaring that he

1058-540: The EP as soul-searching, expressive, personal, raw, and featuring numerous gaming influences. Kaelar also described it as having "so much Metroid it's not even funny!" In the Dancing Astronaut premiere and interview the author, Robyn Dexter, quoted Varien and the newly released EP as "consistently [surpassing] genre constructs and [proving himself] a true mastermind of the electronic music realm." In January 2018, Varien played at MAGfest , an organization dedicated to

1104-713: The VIXX track "Scentist" [in 2018] which went to number one in Korea in April, and then number three in October in Japan. This marked my first official placement in the K-Pop realm of which there is so much more to come. I was credited as producer, songwriter, and arranger.” Kaelar's next full album release, "The Second Industrial Revolution" was on December 5, 2019. The album was renowned and extolled by critics, and

1150-551: The appreciation of games and video game music. On January 1, 2019, featured in Big Shot Magazine , Varien speaks of that performance and describes himself as being fully "back [from his hiatus]" and that he "felt that feeling of performing again for the first time in so long." On January 1, 2019, in Bigshot Magazine, Kaelar looks back on his 2018 musical highlights throughout the year and reflects,"I’d definitely say landing

1196-465: The article, "The thing is video game [composers themselves are], and especially the JRPG community, [are] very much a Fort Knox. There's a limited amount of people and they’re the best." Alex Fuller from RPGamer commented on Varien's talent, "It's readily apparent how he has been able to utilize his gaming influences both in his electronic music and well as his soundtrack creations. It's easy to be able to see

1242-465: The industry, "After a well-documented ghosting of the music industry, he returned just over 12 months and since then has been on what can only be described as a production rampage, releasing not just electronica but also #1 K-Pop hit singles and soundtracks for movies like John Wick 3 and Replicants ." Kaelar stated in the interview that when writing The Second Industrial Revolution he drew a lot of his time from writing K-Pop because that's what taught him

1288-772: The issue date of March 3, 2012, the song debuted at number 95 on the Billboard Hot 100 . It since reached a peak of number 72 and spent more than 20 weeks on the chart. It has sold over one million copies in the US as of January 2013. In the United Kingdom , the song reached a peak of number 24 and spent a total of 16 weeks inside the UK top 40. Sales figures based on certification alone. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. Streaming-only figures based on certification alone. Varien Nikki Kaelar (born May 15, 1990), better known by his stage name Varien ,

1334-567: The mechanics of writing hooks and catchy rhythms. Kaelar states in the Raver Mag feature that he believes art, poetry, theory, philosophy combined with razor sharp logic, rationality, reasoning, and critical thinking can assist in practical ways of dealing with the world. In the interview, he also states that if he had the choice to bring whoever he wanted to dinner dead or alive, he would choose Lana Wachowski, David Foster Wallace , Chuck Palahniuk , Marilyn Manson , and Brit Marling . He concluded

1380-560: The most unusual track on the release by several music critics. "The Devil's Den" features guest contributions from Wolfgang Gartner and has been described as " Daft Punk -go- Dirty Vegas ". It uses elements of trance, techno , ska and rave . "Right on Time" has been described as "a percussive, hard house collaboration with 12th Planet and Kill the Noise which eventually builds into a feverish slice of happy hardcore ", and although it has been complimented for its uniqueness in comparison with

1426-462: The opener on his previous remix EP More Monsters and Sprites , " First of the Year (Equinox) ". The title track, " Bangarang ", also uses heavy influences of Moombahcore and has been compared to the previous track. It uses "chopped-up vocal hooks" performed by American rapper Sirah , with the last line of the song saying "I'm eating Fun Dip right now/Not givin' a fuck". It has been described as having

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1472-496: The pits of [Kaelar's] deepest depression," and "[lifted him] through the dark times" as well as resulted in a physical relocation of Kaelar to the Northern European country of Finland. The Broadway World Music article also states, "Adored by critics and followed with a feverish, almost cult-like manner by fans, elusive US electronic producer Varien ... continues to push the boundaries of his chosen genres from his position within

1518-401: The polished normalcy of much of today's electronica, carried through as the album begins its descent into darkness." Referring to the album, Varien speaks about wanting to connect with his imperfect, marginalized and "weird" audience, saying, "Throw away the shrink wrap and throw yourself into the abyss with me." It was also stated that the album The Second Industrial Revolution was produced "in

1564-547: The psychological impact of social media as his reason for going on a blackout, also saying he "needed a break from it.". In 2018, Kaelar announced via his YouTube channel that he would continue producing music under the Varien name, after his hiatus had allowed his to "take a deep breath from it all". As of 2018, Varien has released music on his own imprint, Kitsune Soundworks. In April 2018, Kaelar wrote, arranged, and produced K-Pop group VIXX 's lead single for their album Eau de VIXX , "Scentist". The track went on to hit #1 on

1610-808: The rest of the record, its use of repetition has been criticized. " Kyoto " is a " rap-metal fusion" that is also the second track to feature Sirah. It has been compared to rap rock artists such as Linkin Park and Travis Barker . "Summit" is the final track (with the exception of the iTunes edition) and features English singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding . It is an electronic song that has elements of chillstep and uses Skrillex's "chopped up", Auto-Tune vocals. Goulding's vocals have been described as "ethereal" and "delicate". The iTunes edition of Bangarang includes an "Orchestral Suite" performed by Varien and arranged by Van Dyke Parks . Bangarang received generally mixed reviews from critics. At Metacritic , which assigns

1656-492: The shadows of American musical counter culture. [His] is a unique space, flexing across countless areas within music but continually refusing to compromise or dilute his work." On December 23, 2019, Relentless Beats reviewed the album and stated it to be a complete masterpiece as well as one of their favorite albums of 2019. In the review they stated, "Overall, The Second Industrial Revolution truly blew me away. The transitions from grungy, distorted basses to soft, elegant melodies

1702-437: The song a positive review, calling it a "massively enjoyable, massively concussive collection of blips and bursts that sounds like something Moby might hear in his head during a heart attack , so thoroughly and dyspeptically is dubstep 's characteristic bass wobble distorted and pushed into the red. That remains [his] signature trick   ..." Rolling Stone named the song the 22nd-best song of 2012. A music video for

1748-420: The song premiered via YouTube on February 16, 2012. It depicts a group of three young boys robbing an ice-cream truck in an elaborate heist. During the robbery, the ringleader of the boys amputates the truck driver's hand by slamming a door on his wrist. While the other boys celebrate, he throws his ice cream down in disgust. When his gang have grown up to adulthood, they perform a similarly elaborate heist on

1794-546: The song. The song's title and lyrics reflect the battle cry of the Lost Boys in the 1991 movie Hook . "Bangarang" is one of Skrillex's most commercially successful singles. It has charted within the United States , United Kingdom , Australia , Austria , France , New Zealand , Norway and Sweden . A music video for the song premiered on February 16, 2012 via his official YouTube channel. "Bangarang" received airplay on some modern rock radio stations. The song won

1840-399: The sort of scenes or environments that one would expect from a JRPG while listening to those particular tracks." Varien's collaboration with Materia Collective was mentioned in the interview and the official remix with Undertale is featured. On October 26, 2018, Varien released his next EP, Death Asked a Question , through Most Addictive Records. | In an interview with EDM Joy, he described

1886-708: The time he developed a profound interest in electronic , folk , and metal music. He decided to focus on solo composition and began producing in 2009, with music in video games serving as his most longtime influence to date. He cites Shin Megami Tensei , Final Fantasy , and Metroid as his biggest influences when it comes to games, as well as the works of the Wachowskis . In August 2010, Kaelar achieved online virality with his slowed-down remix of Justin Bieber 's " U Smile ", titled "Justin Bieber 800% Slowed Down". He

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1932-572: Was being "ground down" by the industry and needed a break from it all. Kaelar stated that he returned with a newly radically and positive mindset surrounded by a community of support and friends. The author, GLU[15], declares, "Varien is an enigma. Creative on levels I don't think we have yet to catch up to; [Nikki] has been building a fan base for years. The Floridian producer effortlessly dominates any genre he touches." On October 26, 2018, Kaelar released an EP, Death Asked A Question, premiered through EDM website Dancing Astronaut in which Kaelar describes

1978-442: Was effortless and the story lies in these musical parallels. On one hand, the world Varien created was dark and meaningless, yet on the other it was beautiful and full of life." And concluded, "Everything Varien touches seems to turn into gold, no matter the genre." In 2019, EDM.com described him as " Trent Reznor dark lord of this generation in electronic music". As one of Varien's most prominent features, EDM.com states that Kaelar

2024-462: Was interviewed by Entertainment Weekly and MTV about the track. In July 2011, Kaelar released his first Monstercat single "The Force" under the alias Halo Nova. He subsequently released two more singles under the alias before abandoning it and continuing to make music under the alias Varien. One of the first subsequent releases as Varien was a remix of Ephixa 's song "Division". On February 26, 2013, Kaelar released Pick Your Poison Vol. 1 ,

2070-404: Was quoted as being uncompromising, daring and utterly raw. Broadway World Music reviewed the album, "At its essence the album is a celebration of this "imperfect", exalting the artistic beauty and freedom that lies in surrender to that. From the very start of the album, in titular single 'THE SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION', there is a grainy, clipping quality to the production this is far removed from

2116-501: Was used in multiple trailers and TV spots for the film The Loft . On August 5, 2015, Kaelar released his first LP, titled The Ancient & Arcane , on Monstercat. Prior to this, he had released two tracks, "Beyond the Surface" and "Aether and Light". In an interview with UKF , he elaborated on his songwriting process for the album, saying: "I make so many other types of music so I thought I’d sit down and write – no theme, no story. It’s

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